8:07 a.m., May 5, 2009----A community garden collaboration, a Plant a Row initiative and a gleaning project are just some of the programs that Delaware Cooperative Extension is kicking off to fight hunger in Delaware. It's all part of Extension's Call to Action to Fight Hunger in Delaware, which was created earlier this year in response to the economic crisis.

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The community garden is a partnership by Delaware Cooperative Extension with the Girl Scouts, St. Joseph's Center for Community Service and the Food Bank of Delaware. On Saturday, May 9, these groups will gather in Clayton to break ground on “St. Joseph's Bountiful Harvest Community Garden.”

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

The garden was designed by Anna Stoops, agriculture agent for New Castle County Cooperative Extension, who encouraged its organizers to think small.

“At 1,400 square feet, the Bountiful Harvest garden is compact,” notes Stoops. “Some of the Girl Scouts and others who will be tending it have never gardened before. What's new and exciting now may not be as much fun when weeding needs to be done on a hot July day. So I wanted to make sure that no one gets overwhelmed.”

Little but mighty could be the logo for Stoops' garden design. She developed a plot that maximizes every square inch. Succession planting will increase the garden's bounty.

She also incorporated a Three Sisters Garden in which corn, beans and squash are interplanted in the Native American style for maximum yield.

Stoops says that Extension also is organizing gardeners to take part in its Plant a Row program. To take part, gardeners are asked to plant one extra row of produce now, to be earmarked for the Food Bank of Delaware at harvest time. “Of course, if you end up with a bumper crop in the rest of your garden, we hope you donate this produce, as well as your extra row,” says Stoops.

Stoops also is talking to commercial growers and producers to secure gleaning partners. Gleaning is the collection of leftover crops after a field has been commercially harvested. Although it hasn't been widely practiced in Delaware, it's common in other parts of the U.S.

“Cooperative Extension recognizes the impact that our current economic downturn is having on Delaware,” says Jan Seitz, associate dean and director of University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. “We have taken up this Call to Action to help Delawareans get through these challenging times. I hope that everyone who is able joins us in fighting hunger through the Plant a Row, community gardening and gleaning programs.”

To Help:

Fore more information about the Plant a Row program, call Carrie Murphy at (302) 831-2506 in New Castle County; Maggie Moor-Orth at (302) 857-6426 in Kent County; or Tracy Wootten at (302) 856-7303 in Sussex County.

For information about other aspects of Delaware Cooperative Extension's Call to Action to Fight Hunger in Delaware program, contact Maria Pippidis at (302) 831-2506.