AUBURN - The first thought of many when thinking about a garden is a fairly large sized space in a yard, but for the Food Bank of Central New York, all the essentials of a garden fit into a space no bigger than a bucket.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Robert Thurston carries a potted tomato plant and groceries from the First Love Ministries Food Pantry Wednesday afternoon. The Food Bank of Central New York provided pantry clients with plants as part of their “Garden in a Bucket” program.
Robert Thurston carries a potted tomato plant and groceries from the First Love Ministries Food Pantry Wednesday afternoon. The Food Bank of Central New York provided pantry clients with plants as part of their “Garden in a Bucket” program.
The Food Bank of Central New York provides food to 288 emergency agencies in 11 counties in central New York, including Cayuga County and food banks at the St. Alphonsus Church Pantry and First Love Ministries Food Pantry.
On Wednesday morning, Robin Neal, a dietitian with the food pantry, visited both Auburn food pantries to distribute gardens in buckets.
Neal said that this was the fifth year for the program and it's been well received, with more than 800 buckets to be distributed this year in each of the 11 counties served and more than 1,000 previously distributed.
The idea began as an extension of the basic tenants of the food bank's mission.
“The idea is to serve the hungry,” Neal said. “We are here and the idea of this is to help people meet those needs.”
Recipients were given a bucket which contained soil and a patio tomato plant already planted.
All the clients need to do is take the buckets home, find a warm, sunny place to put it and water.
Neal said the reasoning behind choosing tomatoes was twofold.
“They are a hardy plant,” Neal said. “They are easy to grow and they produce a lot of fruit. And here locally, tomatoes are expensive to buy fresh, so this way people can have their own.”
Neal pointed out that foods such as tomatoes are also nutritious and that seedlings can be purchased with food stamps, making gardening a more viable option for lower income families.
Neal said the food bank will often follow up with clients to see how their plant is doing. Neal said the feedback the food bank has received has been tremendous over the last five years.
“The plants will usually get anywhere from 15 to 20 tomatoes per plant,” Neal said. “And people have responded really well and have been really interested in what we have been trying to do with this program.”
Joseph O'Connor, of Auburn, took one of the available bucket gardens from the First Love Food Pantry.
O'Connor said that when he was growing up, he helped his parents raise personal home gardens and that he was going to use this to pass along that tradition.
“My daughter has always wanted to grow a garden,” O'Connor said. “So this is a good way to do that with her and get her interested in gardening and it is going to help grow some food for our family.”
It is this kind of experience the food pantry hopes clients can get from participating in the Garden in a Bucket program.
“We hope that first people get to use the fruit from the plant,” Neal said. “But we also hope people learn about planting their own gardens and growing some of their own foods. We also hope that people with gardens will hear about this and consider growing a little extra and helping by donating to their local food pantries.”
Neal said that of the approximately 50 plants available in the Auburn area, most were not taken on Wednesday and would remain available at the St. Alphonsus and First Love food pantries.
On Wednesday morning, Robin Neal, a dietitian with the food pantry, visited both Auburn food pantries to distribute gardens in buckets.
Neal said that this was the fifth year for the program and it's been well received, with more than 800 buckets to be distributed this year in each of the 11 counties served and more than 1,000 previously distributed.
The idea began as an extension of the basic tenants of the food bank's mission.
“The idea is to serve the hungry,” Neal said. “We are here and the idea of this is to help people meet those needs.”
Recipients were given a bucket which contained soil and a patio tomato plant already planted.
All the clients need to do is take the buckets home, find a warm, sunny place to put it and water.
Neal said the reasoning behind choosing tomatoes was twofold.
“They are a hardy plant,” Neal said. “They are easy to grow and they produce a lot of fruit. And here locally, tomatoes are expensive to buy fresh, so this way people can have their own.”
Neal pointed out that foods such as tomatoes are also nutritious and that seedlings can be purchased with food stamps, making gardening a more viable option for lower income families.
Neal said the food bank will often follow up with clients to see how their plant is doing. Neal said the feedback the food bank has received has been tremendous over the last five years.
“The plants will usually get anywhere from 15 to 20 tomatoes per plant,” Neal said. “And people have responded really well and have been really interested in what we have been trying to do with this program.”
Joseph O'Connor, of Auburn, took one of the available bucket gardens from the First Love Food Pantry.
O'Connor said that when he was growing up, he helped his parents raise personal home gardens and that he was going to use this to pass along that tradition.
“My daughter has always wanted to grow a garden,” O'Connor said. “So this is a good way to do that with her and get her interested in gardening and it is going to help grow some food for our family.”
It is this kind of experience the food pantry hopes clients can get from participating in the Garden in a Bucket program.
“We hope that first people get to use the fruit from the plant,” Neal said. “But we also hope people learn about planting their own gardens and growing some of their own foods. We also hope that people with gardens will hear about this and consider growing a little extra and helping by donating to their local food pantries.”
Neal said that of the approximately 50 plants available in the Auburn area, most were not taken on Wednesday and would remain available at the St. Alphonsus and First Love food pantries.
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