Gardening Weekend: Plant a Row for the Hungry

This weekend was a beautiful time to start the vegetable garden. I planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, and basil.

One of my favorite bloggers, Los Angelista, wrote about Feeding America and Plant a Row for the Hungry (her post here). To encourage her readers, she had a contest for a Gro Good kit from Scotts, and I was lucky enough to win it (her announcement here)!

The idea behind Plant A Row is to plant an extra row of produce each year and donate the surplus to a local food agency or soup kitchen. If every gardener took this extra step to help our neighbors, we could make a significant impact and help reduce hunger. I was surprised to learn on the Feeding America website that one in eight Americans face the threat of hunger. Check out their website for plenty of information on food insecurity and poverty in America and how we can help in our own local neighborhood.

This weekend was warm and sunny on Saturday, and bright and breezy on Sunday. I enjoyed the movie The Soloist on Saturday after a day of gardening. It had a wonderful message about the power of relationships to transform us, and although they may not always bring us complete healing, they bring us to a new level of understanding and growth.

I also had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday with my family, and then in the late afternoon a walk around the neighborhood to see the colorful Spring blossoms.


It looks small now, but with some sunshine and loving care and a bit of good luck, I'll have an overflowing garden in Summer.

Trellis full of white blossoms

My azaleas always burst forth in brilliant pink by Mother's Day.