Oct 28, 2012 – Alameda Farmers’ Market Harvest Donation Drive

Hi all, I think that ABG outreach volunteers Irene Rakochy, Lori Slicton, Alison Limoges, and I would agree that today’s Alameda Farmers’ Market Harvest Donation Drive could not have gone more smoothly; what a great way to spend a glorious late October Saturday!  It also yielded a respectable 27.9 lbs. of donated produce either bought from vendors at the market or brought from home.  Market-goers also donated $30.51 in cash, which I will deliver to Alameda Food Bank Monday morning, Oct. 29.

When I arrived at 8:15 am, Sarah Trent, Promotions Coordinator for Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Assn. (and an A.C. Master Gardener) had already set up the table and awning area, and had in place the following:

• various baskets for donations and decoration
• a large antique wooden fruit box to hold donations
• a tablecloth
• a few apples and persimmons on for table decoration
• a garland of construction-paper jack-o-lantern cutouts strung across the front of our table area above our heads
• a quart-sized canning jar labelled for cash donations to Alameda Food Bank and a dollar plus change in cash to start the pot
• a huge chalkboard sandwich sign announcing the donation program
• flyers that she taped up at each produce stall announcing the donation program
• and additional flyers she had for our table to indicate this was the produce donation site

All I added into the mix was the Alameda Backyard Growers signs, ABG literature & email signup sheet, a few small sugar pumpkins, my own donation of backyard persimmons, a few chairs (which we wound up not needing, since Sarah provided a chair and we all stood talking to passers-by our among ourselves the whole time anyway).

Alameda Backyard Growers had 7 new email signups; queries from an olive-tree owner who wants to find somebody to help pick and process his olives (Master Gardener Lori might be interested); and a great outreach possibility: Kris Palmer, a teacher at Maya Lin Elementary School, who is organizing parents and other teachers for a school gardening program, asked if ABG might be able to assist (Lori also gave her lots of information about the ACMG program and how they might be able to help as well).  38 people in all stopped to talk at our table.

Attendance at the market was steady but not too crowded; thanks to Sarah situating us next to a huge pumpkin that attendees were invited to guess the weight of, our table got plenty of attention from passers-by.

Adjoining our table, Sarah had set up an activity area for youngsters: one table covered in crayon-friendly coloring-book tablecloth and a pile of crayons; and the other a postcard-coloring table with a mailbox where kids of all ages (and there were a few adults having fun with this, too–with nary a kid in their charge!) could choose between 4 different postcard designs to color in and address to anybody in the U.S–postage to be paid and mailing to be done by the PCFMA; plus another pile of crayons, felt-tip markers, etc.  A very popular place; it made quite a few kids happy.

Alameda Food Bank volunteer Melvin picked up our produce donations at the end of the shift, but not before Sarah had found a scale to weigh it all and help calculate the weight (yay, Sarah!).

Marla Koss

October 27, 2012