9:17 a.m., May 8, 2009----Delaware gardeners are beginning to put in warm season vegetables, like beans and cucumbers, summer squash and celery. While most of these gardeners are eager to feast on the fruits of their labor, a group of gardeners at the University of Delaware won't get to taste a single carrot they grow.

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And they wouldn't have it any other way.

One hundred percent of the produce from this community garden will go to the Food Bank of Delaware to benefit those in need.

UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will start planting crops at its Garden for the Community on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16. Grad students, undergrads, faculty and local volunteers will put in a 15,000-square-foot garden, which will be planted in lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, collards, snap beans, squash and more.

“The Garden for the Community represents the core mission of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources -- helping to feed the world in a sustainable manner,” says Tom Sims, the associate dean who is overseeing the project for the college. “We are privileged to manage UD's 350-acre agro-ecology teaching complex and very happy to provide this land so that our students and community partners can help the Food Bank meet its mission, a community without hunger.”

The garden is actively seeking one-time volunteers for the May 15-16 planting sessions, as well as regular volunteers throughout the growing season, says Alyssa Collins, a post-doctoral researcher who is coordinating the project.

She says the garden builds upon and expands a successful effort by grad students who had small gardens for the past several years, providing surplus food to the Food Bank. This year, however, the decision was made to host a single organized garden that is expected to yield at least 3,000 pounds of produce by the end of the summer.

Collins has worked in agriculture for 10 years and grew up in a family that farmed blueberries in Tabernacle, N.J. But she is reluctant to call herself an experienced home gardener and says she will be relying on Master Gardeners to help oversee the garden's management.

The Master Gardeners also will be instrumental in making the garden a community resource. “With interest in gardening increasing, the garden can be used as a teaching tool and demonstration area for Food Bank culinary workshops and Cooperative Extension programs,” says Collins.

The Garden for the Community project is a partnership between UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners program, the Delaware Department of Agriculture and others in the community. The partnership supports the statewide “Delaware Does More” effort of the Food Bank of Delaware, The United Way and The News Journal.

To Help:

To volunteer in UD's Garden for the Community, contact Alyssa Collins at (302) 831-2882 or [aacollin@udel.edu]. Volunteer hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15, and 9 a.m. to 2 pm. on Saturday May 16. Lunch and ice cream will be provided for all volunteers.

The garden also is in need of gardening tools and other supplies; businesses that are willing to lend a hand are encouraged to contact Collins.