A garden to feed the masses

Kelly Hanson had just made a Facebook post last month when he received an unexpected request.

The Hayden Realtor had boasted about his bountiful vegetable garden, he said, and his friend, Carolyn Shewfelt from Community Action Network, posted a comment.

The nonprofit's community garden needed help, she wrote.

"You do so well on your own garden, why not help us with ours?" he remembered her typing.

The garden, which provides food for low-income families across North Idaho, wasn't seeing its potential output, Shewfelt wrote.

Maybe an experienced green-thumber like Hanson could help out.

Not a bad idea, he figured.

"I don't have time to go to food banks and help hand out food. But gardening is my passion," said Hanson, 57, adding that he has been gardening all his life. "I thought I could contribute my passion for gardening to help."

But others need to pitch in, too, he said.

That's why Hanson, in conjunction with CAP and the University of Idaho - Kootenai County Extension, is spearheading a movement to revamp efforts at the community garden.

They are sending out a call for more volunteers and experienced gardeners to lend a hoe, Hanson said. They're courting businesses to donate cash and supplies.

Those with no dollars to give can contribute time and sweat on a plot.

The goal: To get maximum produce out of the 20 plots at 10th and Foster, and feed the growing number of families struggling to afford groceries.

"It's not just homeless people (who use the food bank)," said Hanson, who also donates produce to food banks from his personal garden. "It's people who have lost their jobs or large portions of their income."

Shewfelt said demand has swelled at the food bank.

Between 2009 and 2010, she said, it served 2,973 more households, 312 more homeless individuals and distributed 229,820 more pounds of food.

"That puts it in the scope of things," she said.

Produce from the garden provides more food on families' tables, she said.

"Any money they can save on food, they can use on other vital resources of sustainability," she said, adding that the food bank in Kootenai County serves about 10,000, with any excess going to local soup kitchens and mill sites.

But the garden has had hang-ups.

Recruiting gardening volunteers has proven difficult, Shewfelt said.

Those who did contribute lacked gardening experience, and weren't terribly organized. Someone was grabbing produce at night.

"We're really trying to get it (the garden) where it is most effective," Shewfelt said.

Hanson says there's potential.

He is seeking donations, he said, and making appeals to organizations - church groups, scout troops, youth groups - to plant, weed, water and harvest.

"I can't just do all this myself," he said. "I'm just trying to get the community motivated and mobilized."

His vision is a finely tuned machine: Different groups and individuals scheduled every day to work.

Even if folks can only make it out once or twice, he said, it would make a difference.

"There are so many groups that could come out for a weekend and weed," he said.

He'd also like to see experts like master gardeners lend some time.

"I'd like people who say, 'I love tomatoes, I'll take this plot and grow tomatoes on it all season,'" he said.

Help is also coming from Miranda Hamilton, nutrition adviser from the UI extension. She is also involved with Plant-A-Row, which seeks produce donations from individual gardens.

She is busy garnering Plant-A-Row contributors and master gardeners to help out, she said.

"I think the highest rise ever happened in February for the cost of food," Hamilton said. "Employment is not looking any better, and the economy isn't looking any better. More and more people are going hungry."

A big help, Hamilton said, is a Dalton Gardens woman donating her yard to be used as another community garden.

"The landowner said, 'I have these two acres, I'd really like to see them used to feed the hungry,'" Hamilton said.

Hanson sees a lot of promise for the property off 15th Street.

For now, he needs $1,800 in donations to fence it.

"If 20 businesses were to donate $100, that would fence the property and go a long way in getting it in place," he said.

Hamilton is holding meetings about the gardening efforts at 9 a.m. every Wednesday at her office at 1808 N. Third St. in Coeur d'Alene.

She also has free seeds for folks who want to grow food on their own to donate.

For more information, call Hamilton at: 446-1680, or Hanson at: 964-1190.

Hamilton hopes to see copious amounts of produce generated.

"I'd like to get 50,000 (pounds)," she said.