Rappahannock Plant A Row

The sunny weather and abundance of plants for sale brought gardeners out in force to the Waterpenny Plant Sale on Saturday, April 25. Many gardeners and volunteers stopped by the Plant a Row table to say “Hi” and learn more about the program. Eighteen new gardeners and volunteers signed up for Plant a Row and the coming Food Pantry, bringing our total participants to nearly 150. We shared with gardeners from the DC suburbs, Prince William, Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, New Jersey and as far away as New York, about Plant a Row and hinted that they might look into such a program in their own areas. We also spread the word about the Fauquier Community Action Committee and its many good works, including the Warrenton Food Bank and the coming Rappahannock Food Pantry.

Thanks to Fred Eggers & Bruce Westfall for helping to set up; Dot Waller, Kathy Eggers, Lillian Aylor, Nadya Brzobohata, Sharon Pierce, Steph Ridder, Marge Montague & Ellen Berg for staffing the table; and Ingrid Oliphant & Molly Peterson for photographing it all.

See our Photo Gallery for images from the plant sale.
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Fred Eggers on left, Jed Duvall on right, seated.

Volunteers Fred Eggers, Pat Curry, and Jill and Jed Duvall staffed the Plant a Row table at the ECOW Plant Sale Saturday, April 18. The sky was fair, the temperature balmy but the crowd sparse for much of the day. Nevertheless, three new gardeners signed up for Plant a Row and others who stopped by learned the latest about the program and the coming Food Pantry.

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Rappahannock Plant a Row turns out for the ECow plant sale on April 11

Plant a Row showed its face on April 11 for six hours at the ECow plant sale, on a cold, windy, rainy day, and recruited more volunteers. The sun came out just before we packed up.

The Plant a Row volunteer who was manning the table at the end of the day was Warren Hackney (pictured). He agreed to do a shift after coming from working at the food bank in Warrenton. The other souls who braved the weather were Nina Laing, Sharon Pierce, Michael Rainger and Hal Hunter.

We plan to have a table at ECow on April 18th & May 2nd as well.

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Meet Trista and Mimi on April 13, 2009

The Plant a Row leadership committee will meet at The Link at 3:00 pm on Monday, April 13, to talk about procedures for receiving, processing, and distributing produce and eggs with Trista Scheuerlein and Mimi Forbes.

Trista Scheuerlein is Program Director for the Headwaters/Public Schools Farm-to-Table program, and the person who suggested that we start a Plant a Row program in Rappahannock County. She has volunteered to supervise the intake process, including training other volunteers.

Mimi Forbes will be Director of the Rappahannock Food Pantry, as an employee of the Fauquier Community Action Committee, the source of the processed food that will be distributed.

Any questions – please contact Hal Hunter hal@rappahannock.com

Again you are invited to join us @ the Link 3:00pm, Monday, April 13, 2009
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The Plant a Row for the Hungry program in Rappahannock is well underway. We now have planned events, committee members, volunteers, gardeners, growers & land owners ready to GROW and donate fresh produce to hungry individuals and families here in Rappahannock. We have several land owners around the county who are willing to designate parcels of their property to growers/gardeners who do not have access to land of their own.

If you are interested in establishing a garden for Plant A Row please contact Cherl Crews by email, cielo@livingsky.org, or phone 540-937-2737 and soon you may be reaping the rewards.

In addition to matching Land with Hands, “PAR” is in the process of developing a website. If you have already signed up as a gardener and have a garden that you would like us to feature on the website, contact me. We will set an appointment for either myself or our photographer, Ingrid Oliphant, to visit, photograph and document.

If there is anyone who is not familiar with the Plant a Row Program and would like more information, please feel free to contact us by email at PlantARowRapp@Aol.com.

Happy Growing,
Cherl Crews, Land & Hands Coordinator
Plant A Row, Rappahannock County
04/01/09