County Garden Plot

After years of collaboration, Waldo County Bounty and the County Garden in Swanville took our shared commitment to food security one step further by establishing the WCB County Garden Plot in 2025. This is an exciting new area of growth for Waldo County Bounty, and we are grateful to the many volunteers and to the County Garden for helping make it possible! We use our plot at the County Garden to grow and distribute more high quality produce for local food pantries, Give & Take stands, and other hunger relief agencies in Waldo County.

The County Garden in Swanville has a long history of growing food for local hunger relief agencies, including an estimated 200,000 pounds of produce in 2021. WCB has facilitated this work by donating seeds and fruit trees, gleaning crops, picking up and distributing fresh veggies, and providing Give & Take stands where to food can be share with the community.

In 2025, the County Garden began lending WCB a full 1/3 of an acre (or 16,000 square feet) of farmland. WCB rallied volunteers, including Master Gardener Volunteers through our ongoing partnership with the UMaine Cooperative Extension, and together we planted row after row of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, swiss chard, basil, lettuce, melons, winter squash, and more for local food security!

Watch drone footage of the Waldo County Bounty plot at the County Garden in Swanville.

Throughout the growing season, WCB invites volunteers to regularly help out at the garden, often with weekly opportunities. If you’re interested in giving a helping hand, fill out our volunteer form.

“Having access to this plot meaningfully expands our programming,” said Viña Lindley, WCB Board Member, who also serves as the Home Horticulture Professional at UMaine Cooperative Extension Waldo County. “We look forward to continuing to find more ways to support and collaborate with the County Garden.”

County Garden Director Dale Cross shared a similar perspective. “It was a pleasure working with WCB and seeing the boxes of freshly picked vegetables being distributed throughout Waldo County. Wonderful collaboration!”

The County Garden in Swanville also operates an innovative gardening program through the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center (MCRRC) that offers a way to contribute to the community for men serving their final months in the Maine Department of Corrections. After a lengthy vetting process, Reentry Center residents spend an allotted time growing nutritious fruits and vegetables for food pantries, churches, the YMCA, and other organizations in Waldo County. The program offers residents a way to reconnect with the community as they approach the end of their sentences, and this has led to significantly reduced recidivism rates, the rates at which offenders return to the prison system. As this is a program of the Maine Department of Corrections, the residents are never at the County Garden at the same time as the WCB team and volunteers. Learn more about the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center gardening program here.