Somerset County 4-H Garden & Bee Club Grows Food for the Community

The Garden and Bee Club takes the community service aspect of 4-H culture to the next level! Since it was established seven years ago, they annually dedicate a large portion of their plot as a donation garden. Anyone who had the chance to view the Somerset County 4-H garden this past season would have seen a space full of tomato and pepper plants bursting with fruit.

Each year the club plans for the location and type of crops that grow best. As anyone who has worked in a garden knows, it teaches its caretakers through trial and error. Over the years the club members have honed their process and learned that tomatoes, yellow squash, eggplant, peppers, and cucumbers thrive in the donation garden space. In fact, in the 2021 harvest season the club grew and donated over 1,100 pounds of these vegetables to the community! At an average of $2.00 per pound, this adds to a monetary value of over $2,000!

The members rotate the responsibility of donation garden maintenance, harvesting, and delivery so each gets the opportunity to choose which non-profit food bank to which they will donate, including Feeding Hands, Hillsborough Food Bank, and SHIP.

This year, harvesting coincided with the devastation from Hurricane Ida, so the club was able to contribute to local communities that were hit hard by the storm like Manville, NJ. Food banks in this area were actually flooded themselves, so the Garden and Bee club’s donations were invaluable. Having fresh vegetables available is always welcome when most other donations are non-perishable items. The “Lost Valley” neighborhood of Manville was severely flooded and the club was able to set up a free vegetable stand in this area which was distributed throughout the community in one day.

In addition, all club members are given their own 4-foot by 20-foot plot that they are responsible for maintaining and harvesting. Some decide to donate all or a portion of these vegetables to food banks as well. The club chooses not to use chemical pesticides that may interfere with pollinators such as the honey bees whose hives are located nearby on the Somerset County 4-H property. This dual club allows members the unique opportunity to make connections between the honey bees and the important role they play in pollinating the vegetables in the garden.

The bee portion of the club is led by Adele Barree, a Certified Master Bee Keeper through Cornell University. Her partners in the garden are leaders Sue and Bill MacCombie, who brings the expertise as a Master Gardener. Sue emphasizes the importance of the community service for the club members, “They love picking and donating. It is always a sense of pride for the members and leaders to hand over boxes of beautiful veggies fresh from the garden.”

Somerset County 4-HJanuary 13, 2022