Grow and Share

Flats of donated herb, vegetable, and flower starts laid out on the grass for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY

Grow and Share is our newest program. It started with a community grant and a generous donation of fresh vegetables and herbs from The Hoosick Community Garden, who have been one of our biggest supporters from day one.

The idea is simple. We bring raised garden beds, soil, and rooted herbs, vegetables, and fruit plants right to neighbors who cannot get to a garden. Grow what you have. Share what you have extra of. Everything that comes up at the Community Porch is harvested, washed, and put out free for anyone who needs it as it grows.

Gardens at their fingertips

We had a garden day with the senior center to set their whole garden up for them. They got elevated raised beds, a bird bath, bird feeders, all their vegetables, herbs, and berries, a cherry bush, a lemon tree, and all their soil brought right to them.

The beds sit up high, so there is no bending and no trip across town. Now the residents have their gardens at their fingertips, and they can tend them and pick from them whenever they like.

Volunteers and senior center residents planting elevated raised garden beds together for the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY
Hands filling an elevated metal raised bed with soil and seedlings at the senior center garden day for the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY
A group of volunteers and senior center residents gathered around new raised beds on garden day for the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY
A potted Meyer lemon tree delivered to the senior center through the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY
A young potted cherry bush ready to plant at the senior center for the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY
Two painted glass bird baths set out at the senior center garden for the Community Porch Grow and Share program near Hoosick Falls NY

Neighbors growing for neighbors

The Girl Scouts

The local Girl Scout troop here in town is growing for their neighbors. Their beds are part of the porch now, and what they grow goes right back to the community.

Homeschool families

Several homeschool children joined Grow and Share. They grow for the Community Porch and their neighbors, and they earn a credit for their final quarter of the school year while they are at it.

The whole village

Neighbors stop by to help build beds, share seeds and starts, or plant a row. Every bit of it goes back out to the people of Hoosick Falls.

Coming soon

Coffee and Conversation

While we built beds this spring, neighbors kept stopping by for coffee and conversation. That gave us an idea we are working toward funding now.

Coffee and Conversation will be a weekly, no judgment spot where neighbors can enjoy each other's company, where kids can play safely, and where you might get to know people you would not otherwise meet. Coffee and light refreshments are on us. We will share more here once it is up and running.

What we are growing

Here is what is in the ground and in the beds at the Community Porch right now. As each one is ready, it gets harvested, washed, and put out free for the community.

Herbs

  • Orange mint
  • Apple mint
  • Chocolate mint
  • Spearmint
  • Peppermint
  • Basil
  • Bush basil
  • Lemon basil
  • Lime basil
  • Cinnamon basil
  • Thyme
  • Silver thyme
  • Garden thyme
  • Creeping thyme
  • Dill
  • Oregano
  • Parsley
  • Sage
  • White sage
  • Lavender
  • Lemon balm
  • Catnip

Greens and lettuces

  • Butter crunch lettuce
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Kale
  • Dinosaur kale
  • Spinach

Tomatoes

  • Cherry tomatoes
  • White cherry tomatoes
  • Jumbo yellow tomatoes
  • Jumbo red tomatoes
  • Beefsteak tomatoes

Peppers

  • Red peppers
  • Green peppers
  • Orange peppers
  • Yellow peppers
  • 12 kinds of hot peppers

Vegetables

  • White onions
  • Red onions
  • Bush beans
  • Green beans
  • Yellow beans
  • Broccoli
  • Beets
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Purple eggplant
  • White eggplant
  • Cucumbers
  • Slicing cucumbers
  • Squash
  • Sweet corn

Melons and pumpkins

  • Watermelon
  • Cantaloupe
  • Pumpkin

Fruit and berries

  • Apple tree
  • Plum tree
  • Peach tree
  • Cherry bush
  • Blueberry bushes
  • Raspberry bush
  • Blackberry bush
  • Grape vine
  • Strawberries

From the beds

Beds going together, plants going in, and the first things coming up.

Flats of donated herb, vegetable, and flower starts laid out on the grass for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
A spread of vegetable and herb seedlings, strawberry plants, and marigolds ready to plant for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
Elevated metal raised beds freshly planted with vegetables and herbs for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
Tomato plants growing in wooden planters with wire cages for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
A strawberry plant with ripening fruit in a Grow and Share garden bed for the Community Porch in Hoosick Falls NY
Fabric grow bags filled with soil beside new raised beds for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
A weathered garden bench holding planters of basil, herbs, and a strawberry tower for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
A galvanized metal raised garden bed being assembled for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY
Stacks of new galvanized raised bed kits and a pile of delivered soil for the Community Porch Grow and Share program in Hoosick Falls NY