Asmall but dedicated group of volunteers began planting Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s Giving Garden on May 14. The garden will benefit local schools and food banks, including ShareNet.

The clearly passionate group had the good omen of a mild, sunny day for their start, all too rare this spring.  The Co-op does not have its own site yet, but Farrago Farm and Vineyard owners Kathy Curry and Paul Hughes donated land for the Giving Garden.

According to Co-Op President Kinley Deller, the group is a registered Washington State Co-op. Its main goals are to provide reasonably-priced farm-related products to local producers through bulk buys; to network area agricultural and gardening resources; strengthen ties between local consumers and producers; and, via the Giving Garden, provide fresh food to schools and others in need locally, such as food banks.

They intend to use money generated from the sale of membership and capital shares to finance their bulk buys (such as seed potatoes and hay) and “point-of-sale business operations.”  Benefits of membership include: reduced purchase cost on items purchased by the Co-op in bulk, access to Co-op owned tools and equipment, reduced cost for classes and events, a members-only newsletter, and the right to earn dividends on purchases made through the Co-op.

Two years ago the group made an admirable foray into the daunting task of  improving school nutrition, creating a garden at Wolfle Elementary School intended to be a teaching and motivational forum for students, and to provide some almost unheard of fresh produce for the cafeteria. Students enjoyed peas and salads after the group cleared such hurdles as processing the produce within a warming facility as opposed to a cooking facility, and the interface between the health department and the district’s food services division.

This program lost some momentum last year due to budget cuts and teacher displacement, but the group may now have a chance to pursue funding from the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network’s Fresh Food in Schools project, which hopes to make produce available in ten Western Washington school districts. Hopefully Kitsap will be one of them.

Deller has been involved in sustainability and community development since obtaining his Environmental Studies and Sociology degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla.  Curry is also the group’s web designer (www.growkingston.org).  Hughes did the original rototilling for the garden.  Laura Lyon writes a blog (www.modernvictorygarden.com) and is helping to get the Giving Garden organized.  Julia Zander is the Co-op secretary, and also manager of the Bremerton Farmers Market.

The Giving Garden emerged from the Co-op’s 20-year Vision meeting, among other ideas such as growing for those in need, educational projects, and a storefront in which to sell supplies and materials.  Its site, Farrago Farm, was formerly a cattle operation, then a horse farm, and now grows grapes on the nine-plus acres not occupied by the Giving Garden.

On the garden’s first planting day, about 10 volunteers laid out the rows, and put in peas, potatoes, and bush beans, with the first harvest expected in about 60 days.  An ambitious variety will be planted later: carrots, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, beets, cauliflower, onions, squash, pumpkins, and sunflowers.

The garden needs volunteers willing to commit to some scheduled hours, particularly their standing work day, Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.  The Co-op needs a permanent site, preferably a warehouse on commercial property, and in the meantime a place to store hay.

It’s a lot of work to organize and sustain a project like this, and ShareNet is honored by the Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s commitment to having local residents in need benefit from this harvest. Please contact them through their website if you can help.