Have you ever had an idea that started out small and then expanded to take on a life of its own? That is the story of the Home Gardener Produce Exchange/Donation that started five years ago at the Sebastopol Grange. In the early months of 2019, Granger Dena Allen set in motion her vision of creating a space to share surplus homegrown produce. She recognized that many of us grow more than we can eat or save and was looking for a solution of what to do with the surplus that gets ripe at the same time.
Our pilot season of the Produce Exchange in 2019 was very small as we set up tables in the lobby of our Grange Hall several times a month. Even with low participation, we enjoyed trading our excess produce for fruits and veggies we did not grow and had the added benefit of chatting with other home gardeners. It felt good to redistribute food to those who wanted it, while reducing food waste in the process. Donation is included in our name because at the end of the event we could box up what was left and take it to our local food pantry.
In retrospect, it was lucky that we had the pilot year under our belts before we entered 2020 and the challenges of the pandemic. We moved the event outside the Grange Hall and asked attendees to mask up. Participation went way up, fueled by an increase in gardening and the desire to be out and social. We asked people to grow some Bounty for the County to help others with food needs. For many Grangers and locals, the joy of being out among others filled a special need for human interaction and good healthy food. Many people stayed to chat and to listen to the musicians jamming after selecting their produce. In truth, the Produce Exchange was one of the very few events that took place at the Grange Hall that year and really helped keep our community connected.
For our third and fourth years (2021 and 2022) we focused on expanding and building relationships with partner organizations. We continued to invite those from within and outside the Grange to come and experience the Produce Exchange/Donation for themselves. Each time we were in a local newspaper, or someone told friends in good old-fashioned word-of-mouth, we were joined by more local food lovers who happily placed their bounty on the share tables and gladly selected tasty produce to bring home. We partnered with the Community Seed Exchange in Sebastopol to bring, organic, non-GMO, openly pollinated seeds to gardeners. Many participants learned of the Community Seed Garden and its mission to cultivate locally adapted seeds that can withstand some of the rigors of climate change. We partnered with the Sonoma County Food Recovery Coalition to develop a How to Set Up a Produce Exchange and a sample flier (English and Spanish), (documents are available). Lastly, we partnered with the UC Extension Master Food Preserver program. At each Produce Exchange/Donation, Master Food Preservers set up a table with samples, recipes, and literature to offer suggestions and advice on the science and the art of preserving garden bounty for year-round enjoyment.
In 2023, to celebrate our fifth season, we decided to expand our offerings while sharpening our focus. We realized that we had created a modern food mission. Our mission was to create an economy of abundance. We asked our community to join us to do more good, grow more food, and create more beauty to create a stronger more resilient community while increasing the biodiversity where we live.
Our expanded offerings included two winter events scheduled in February and April for the purpose of trading winter greens, citrus, plant starts and seeds. It was a joyous time seeing gardener friends again after a three-month hiatus, as we all began to plan for spring and summer gardens.
Along with redistributing food and starts, we hope winter produce inspires more of us to improve our skills at year-round gardening and thereby furthering our resiliency. In the spring, we offered more plant with seeds germinated from the Community Seed Exchange. The Master Food Preservers offered live demonstration events in the Grange kitchen following four of the summer exchanges. During each demo, a sample and a recipe was provided along with visual instructions for preserving Kimchi, Dilly Green Beans, Salsa, and Fruited Kombucha.
In addition to expanding the offerings of the Produce Exchange/Donation, new food related and community building ideas have emerged. We have come together on occasions of need to help fellow Grange members and home gardeners at fun filled events we call Tend & Befriend. Some examples include helping a Grange family finish building and filling their new garden boxes at their new home. We have also gathered to help harvest olives at a Granger’s home and we have assisted a senior Granger finish a conversion of an entertainment center to a garden box. These Tend & Befriend events felt like modern barning raisings–complete with a sense of accomplishment, good food and socialization.
Within our Grange we have begun to grow two more food programs to build community and resiliency. The Root Cellar is set up before each General meeting in the back corner of the Grange Hall. These tables of foods and flowers are offerings from both gardener and farmer Grangers. Folks can stop by, learn about the farms of some of our Grange members and perhaps select some flower bulbs or a dozen eggs in return for a donation.
As we continued to think about our mission of abundance and resilience, we imagined a Grange Virtual Farm. For our farm we imagine a network of growers joined together in a virtual farm, a farm in essence. The essence of what we envision is a community of growers, from people who have a few potted herbs to people who have multiple crops on acreage. We are joined together by choice, to make a community where knowledge and supplies can be shared as well as the abundance of produce and ornamentals. Each of our locations for growing are real, each can be placed on our Virtual Farm Map (no street addresses shown). We can come together in person for joy, work, learning, sharing, and building resiliency and biodiversity.
Collectively, we can start to think of ourselves as a farm as we all are tending the land in our disparate locations. We can add up our separate parts to find out how large our Grange Virtual Farm can become. Times have changed, but this is how we are a farm in the 21st century. When we inhabit a collective farm mindset, we can start to feel the impact we are having on our local community.
The Grange has historically been a group of those in agriculture and farming. Due to the stresses of the pandemic and climate change, we recognize the need to again be focused on our local food supply and security. As our Grange celebrates 125 years of existence, we have returned to our roots while reaching out new branches to connect the precious land where we live, the abundance of what we can produce, and the community we love and serve.
Collectively, we can start to think of ourselves as a farm as we all are tending the land in our disparate locations. We can add up our separate parts to find out how large our Grange Virtual Farm can become. Times have changed, but this is how we are a farm in the 21st century. When we inhabit a collective farm mindset, we can start to feel the impact we are having on our local community.
The Grange has historically been a group of those in agriculture and farming. Due to the stresses of the pandemic and climate change, we recognize the need to again be focused on our local food supply and security. As our Grange celebrates 125 years of existence, we have returned to our roots while reaching out new branches to connect the precious land where we live, the abundance of what we can produce, and the community we love and serve.
January 2024 – By Dena Allen & Carol Henderson, Sebastopol Grange #306