It’s a scene most every gardener can relate to: for weeks, you eagerly anticipate the first ripe tomatoes (or zucchinis, or peppers, or melons… you get the gist) in your garden. The days grow hotter, the green tomatoes on the vine remain stubbornly green, you wait impatiently. Then, all of a sudden, you have bushels of ripe tomatoes crowding your kitchen counter. At first, your friends, family, and coworkers enthusiastically accept the gifts of mouth-watering, ultra locally grown produce. But after eating tomatoes once, twice, perhaps three times a day, the fruits of your labor no longer seem so enticing. What’s a gardener to do?
That’s where Glean Kentucky comes in. Our network of partner agencies is primed to connect your surplus harvest with those in need of nutritional assistance. Your family members may not have much use for freshly harvested tomatoes after weeks of endless tomato concoctions, but a family struggling to make ends meet certainly will. Glean Kentucky staff and volunteers will happily arrange to pick up your surplus garden bounty from your doorstep and deliver it directly to our nonprofit partners who work to feed people across the Commonwealth.
Our Plant It Forward is highly flexible. Maybe you just have a basket or two of extra veggies you would like to donate from your home garden, or maybe you would like to work with a church or community center to plant entire garden beds for the sole purpose of donation. Regardless of scale, we want to work with you!
Interested in learning more and getting involved? As you order seeds and plan your garden this year, add one thing to your list – a quick email to your local Field Coordinator! Send us a note about your interest in Plant It Forward, and we will work with you this summer to ensure your extra fruits and veggies go to great use.
Contact your local Field Coordinator:
Central Kentucky: madison@gleanky.org
North Central Kentucky: info@gleanky.org
South Central Kentucky: jerilyn@gleanky.org
