Gardening

The Gardening program offers home gardeners support in a variety of forms so they may improve personal food security, share with their neighbors, or donate excess homegrown food to hunger relief programs.

The program also oversees Give & Take tables and sheds located in communities across the county. Give & Take sites provide a place where gardeners can give homegrown produce and anyone in need of fresh fruits and vegetables can take what they can use at no cost. What started as 10 sites in 2020 has grown to nearly 20 locations across Waldo County!

Through our Grow Your Own resources, the Gardening program also provides home gardeners with free tips, training, and services delivered by our partners UMaine Cooperative Extension Waldo County and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. 

“I just wanted to share how much I love having the Give & Take stand in Frankfort. I love tending to our garden, giving things we’ve grown to people in our community, and using the opportunity to talk with my kids about nutrition, inequality, local food, sharing, mutual aid, and community.”

- Michele Christle, Give & Take Volunteer

"The residents at the motel act like a family, each helping each other and sharing the little that they have. I shared the twelve seedlings I got, and when the vegetables are harvested, they will be shared with the people in all twelve units. I believe that the seedling program should be expanded if at all possible." 

- Local resident

“I began volunteering at the Wales Park Give & Take location in 2023, donating vegetables from home gardens in Belfast and Boston. As a Master Gardener Volunteer, I helped turn a section of the community garden into a dedicated Grow A Row plot to grow produce for the site. I grew things I've never grown before, like black eyed peas and watermelon, and was able to share them with the community.”

- Dave Ilett, Give & Take and Grow A Row Volunteer

“My wife, age 70—please don't tell her that I told you her age!—has never planted a garden before this year. The seedlings that you offered inspired her to try and grow her own veggies. Now that the rain has finally stopped, the plants look very healthy, and we are looking forward to tomatoes and cucumbers grown right here at our home.”

- Local resident

Distributing fee organic vegetable seedlings