don't throw
And in this case I am not referring to the rest of the table.
Although plants can be harvested year-round when mature, fall is commonly known as agricultural and gardening harvest season.
It's time to finish harvesting carrots, chayotes, beets and turnips. It's also a time to ask yourself difficult questions: Why do I grow so many vegetables? What will I do with all this extra food? Why do I plant turnips? Why does it get dark so early? What happened to the Fathers?
But some grafts are intentional.
It's easy to get excited and carried away when it's time to plant. Most of the 10,000 varieties of tomatoes are very attractive. Planting just 20 packets of seeds will give me enough tomatoes to feed half of Poway in the year 2525.
Then you pat your forehead and realize… It could have had a V8. No, not a car. It's a tomato drink that you can make yourself, bottle, and sell at Vons. It doesn't work that way, but your heart is definitely in the right place.
My leftovers, excesses, and, needless to say, my food scraps, are donated to family, neighbors, seniors, and community food donation programs.
As a volunteer at my church for many years, I have "saved" a variety of foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables. While we accept food donations from local grocery stores, these donations tend to be fresh produce; not just canned goods or canned goods.
I sometimes see people throwing leftover oranges and avocados on the side of the road as a sign that people are helping themselves. Very wise
Every year I plant pumpkins and give them all away in October. This year I gave away the 75 pumpkins I placed in my garden for friends, neighbors or visitors to bring. Of course, I always provide fast service, no matter how long it takes. Shoplifters are welcome. Plus, I offer a free gopher with every pumpkin. This year there are no barrels... just like last year.
It's not hard to find someone to donate fresh food to for free. Share your gifts with parents and close friends. It's not always easy for those who are injured and need to use a wheelchair to get to the store.
Of course the food must be fresh, in good condition, edible and not rotten or partially rotten.
It should be something you want to eat too.
According to Foodfinders.org, "Our daily food rescue program is unique among food banks because we rescue everything from dairy and baked goods to deli, meats and prepared foods, as well as canned and packaged foods. Our program is called ' Rescue, 'good food, edible and perishable products destined for the landfill.'" Food Finders is a Southern California food rescue organization that connects donors with people in need.
Food rescue means recovering healthy, perishable food and quickly providing it to those who need it. Feeding hungry people with additional food donations is an important part of resource conservation.
Excess food can come from restaurants, supermarkets, company cafeterias, schools, special events, and catered dinners.
Donations can go directly to missions, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior programs, soup kitchens, day care centers and community centers where they are used to feed disadvantaged and food insecure people.
In California, that's about 1 in 5, or 8.8 million people. According to Feeding San Diego, there are 330,000 people in San Diego County.
Food banks are organizations that collect food from various sources and distribute it to hungry people through local service agencies. The California Association of Food Banks has 43 member food banks. Its flagship programs include Farm to Family, which partners with farmers and packers to provide fresh produce. Source: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/food/donation.
Food donations are supported and supported by the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act and the California Health Code, so donors are protected from liability when donating to nonprofit organizations.
Not all organizations will accept fruit and vegetable donations from families. The San Diego Food Bank cannot directly accept donations of household items. However, they partner with Produce Good (oranges and avocados) 760-492-3467; The Food Bank also collaborates with the Elderly Gleaners. 619-633-9180 or https://seniorsgleanerssdso.org/contact/
What is a collector? “Over the centuries, foragers have collected food that would otherwise have gone to waste. This term comes from landowners who donate part of their fields or crops to the poor, to harvest, harvest little by little.” According to their website, "Our teams collect just one or two trees from yards, orchards and farmland. If you have produce to donate, contact us. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt."
If you're interested, check out Jeff Zevely's entertainment segments on CBS here.
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/zevely-zone/senior-gleaners-pick-surplus-fruit-and-feed-san-
diegos-gose/509-d355ec38-9074-4455-8327-d9aac71fd345.
For those of you who think collecting and distributing your yard waste will be a problem, they have their own network of volunteers who will go to local homes and small farms to collect donated produce. They distribute the crops to nonprofit food distribution organizations like Food Bank and Feeding San Diego.
The San Diego Food Systems Alliance lists local waste collection organizations at https://www.sdfsa.org/gleaning.
You can also volunteer with them. I don't know why they included the "senior" category. This program is also open to children. Also for second and first year students.
Another option is The Community Food Connection; 858-748-1875. Also consider Christian community service agencies; https://www.ccsasandiego.org; 858-274-2271.
Inedible fruits and vegetables can always be composted or placed in the green bin.
It is the season of giving and lasts only from November to October. Even a small donation can make a big difference to those in need.
If you noticed, I didn't tell you any vegetable jokes because... well, I didn't. So if you do this, the lettuce will definitely know.
Schmidt is a Poway resident and has more than 40 years of landscaping experience.
