Is it spring yet?

It's the last Sunday in March, and I'm sitting in my guest room overlooking the little nameless pond in Huron Farms. In early March, the pond thawed from the rigid chunk of ice it'd had been since early November. And now it's teeming with life again. There's the two swans who make a home here all summer, a handful of Canadian geese, a muskrat or two, the Blue Heron who visits every few days. Everyone's back. Although it's a gray, cold, windy day, spring is definitely on its way to Dexter. And boy am I grateful. 

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice in Ann Arbor to hear a presentation on community gardens. They're encouraging churches and other faith-based communities to plant gardens they can all tend together, and help feed the hungry in Washtenaw County. There are lots of good reasons to do this -- lots of reasons I'll get into further this spring. But one idea really stuck in my head. 

It's called "Plant a Row for the Hungry", and it goes like this: Gardeners agree to plant an extra row or square or whatever they can spare in their vegetable gardens. Come harvest time, there's one collection spot where people bring in their produce. A volunteer brings all that produce to a food bank (we'd use Food Gatherers, because they're all set up to do this already), where it's weighed and then delivered to needy families. We keep a running tally of how much food we've collected, and at the end of the harvest we hold a little shin dig to celebrate. 

That's it. So simple. Someone really should do this. 

So why not me? Well, there's lots of reasons why not. I've got a husband in law school, which makes me practically a single mom. Three kids. A full-time job, and a very tiny garden. 

But I can't stop thinking about this idea. How simple it sounds. How much of a need there is for fresh food in our county's food banks. How desperate and chilling these economic times seem, at least here in Michigan. How filled up we might all feel if we were able to do something, even if it's just putting some seeds in the dirt and watching some sprouts grow. How really good and awesome this could turn out to be. 

So I'm starting this, today. Expect to be hearing more from me about this. If you're a store owner in Dexter whom I deal with, expect to hear from me about how you can help. If you're a home owner in Dexter, expect to hear from me about how easy it is to start a garden. If you're already a gardener, expect to hear about what kinds of produce really is in demand around here (here's a hint: it's not tomatoes or squash.) If you're a church leader or school leader or Scouts leader and you want to join in, keep on coming here as the plan develops. And If you're someone else, somewhere else, and you're interested in how this all turns out, watch this space. I'll keep you all posted.