For home gardeners around the state, July marks an exciting month of harvest: leafy greens, berries and beans. But sometimes the growing season is too good. Shelley Brinkmann says her family garden often out produces what they can eat.
“You harvest things ripe, all at once. So, all of a sudden you have five pounds of wax beans a day for a week, and you can only eat so many wax beans,” Brinkmann said. “The labor intensity of putting them up for the year, blanching and freezing and canning becomes a lot.”
The University of New Hampshire’s Extension program is offering a solution. Plant a Row works with New Hampshire 4-H to connect participants with local food pantries, so that extra fresh produce can be donated to those in need, instead of going to waste.
The program began during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to foster connection and address food insecurity while navigating social distancing guidelines. Members received mail-in growing kits, and traded advice via Facebook.
Plant a Row participants can include anyone from novice gardeners to small farmers. The Brinkmanns fall somewhere in between, growing their own produce on a two-acre garden at their home in Lee. Brinkmann said her family joined Plant a Row in 2020, after the pandemic left her and her husband without work.
“At the time we weren't far from paycheck to paycheck ourselves,” Brinkmann said. “You can work really hard and things can happen, and you need help.”
Allison Bussiere, a food systems coordinator for Gather, a food access organization based in Portsmouth, says with food insecurity on the rise in the state, programs like Plant a Row are more critical than ever. In 2023, demand at Gather increased 43%, while food donations declined 29%.
“We’re really trying to fill that gap with more nutritious food,” Bussiere said.
Bettina Sietz, who helps coordinate Plant a Row, said food insecurity doesn’t always look like a lack of food. It can also mean trouble getting nutritious meals, due to the cost of fresh produce.
Since its start, nearly 600 households have participated in Plant a Row. For the Brinkmanns, it’s a family affair. They garden together, and when produce is ready to donate, their children Eloise and Coolidge bring the donations to a food pantry down the street. Shelley Brinkmann hopes they’ll learn the importance of giving back.
“I think it’s a great life lesson… it doesn't have to be $1 million or $1,000, it doesn't have to be 50 pounds of tomatoes,” she said. “If we have two pounds of extra wax beans, we can give that to somebody and that's a couple of meals.”
Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify how Plant a Row is administered.
