"Laughing all the way to the (FOOD) bank!"

The Sharing Gardens turned 17 years old on April 15th of this year! We began in the spring of 2009 at Alpine Park; then began gardening at our present site, in Monroe, Oregon in 2010; purchased the land and farmhouse here in 2013 and moved in once we finished renovations in the summer of 2014. It's been a journey with lots of bends in the road full of both challenges and blessings. This post gives a peek at how our project has evolved over the seasons and an overview of our current situation.

Here's our farmhouse before renovations (built in 1875, the oldest house in Monroe that's still lived in). Llyn is loading mint-straw into wheelbarrows to use as mulch/fertilizer on the Gardens located behind the farmhouse.

Here's our dear home after renovations. We planted the Red Hot Pokers in the foreground underneath where that mint straw had been.

We founded the Sharing Gardens under the belief that food should be a basic right; not something to be bought or sold. We are a 'community garden' but, instead of separate plots, with a membership fee, we all garden together (no fees). The food that is grown is shared amongst the people who support the project, while the surplus is shared through local food charities.  Overview and Benefits of the Sharing Gardens

In the beginning, we were almost the only gardeners in our area sharing produce with the food charities. Much of the produce that our local Pantry had for distribution was rather nasty rejects provided by grocery stores for the tax-write off they received in exchange. Some produce was purchased new but it was still of low quality (and never organically grown).

Here's Llyn with our very first donation to the S. Benton Food Pantry. More than half of it actually came from our friends who had more established gardens.

Once we got established, our donations grew to about three tons per year! Here we are in the early days with one week's lettuce donation to Local Aid in Junction City.

Gradually our donations grew and grew till, at our peak, and for several years that we measured everything the garden produced, we were growing about 6,000 pounds per season! All shared freely. Nothing ever sold. (Actually, for three seasons we had a CSA - community supported agriculture where people paid an annual subscription and received a box of produce each week for half the year but we dropped the CSA as soon as possible as it never felt aligned with our deepest beliefs that no one should ever be charged money for food. Llyn's mother has made some of Llyn's inheritance available prior to Judy's passing. This is our primary source of income these days. It is our belief that our generosity will be supported and so far this has held true.)

Generosity creates abundance...Service Learning students sharing in the harvest at the end of their volunteer session.

Within a few years, other gardeners began bringing their surplus produce. Also, produce was gleaned from farmer's markets and other sources. Eventually this support grew to the point that, during peak garden-harvest time (August - October) our closest Pantry has far less need of our donations (sometimes it's hard to find room on their distribution tables!)  

Tomatoes, cantaloupe and greens donated to the Pantry in 2015.

I overheard a nice comment at the Pantry just the other day as I helped restock the produce mid-morning. A customer said that she's been to many, many Pantries over the years but that the one in Monroe is her favorite because they/we "always have the freshest and most abundant produce". She said, "I don't want to just be eating canned and processed foods. I so appreciate that I can get a variety of fresh produce here!". It's gratifying to know that the Sharing Gardens has been such a big part of bringing fresh produce to Monroe's Food Pantry.
 

By the time our peppers and tomatoes are coming on strong, other local gardeners have lots to donate to the Pantry, so the volunteers in the gardens, Chris and myself, receive the majority of the Garden's  abundance in peak garden times.

We've had a fluctuating team of volunteers through the years. Sometimes as few as one or two per session; at most we had about six people join us. More than that proved too difficult to manage. Mistakes were made, and Chris and I spent so much time overseeing the volunteers that we didn't get to do much gardening or socializing ourselves on volunteer days! So now, from mid-spring to late fall, we have two sessions a week with 3-4 volunteers each time and that seems to work quite well. 

Nowadays we average two volunteer sessions per week, with three to four people per session.Volunteers help with whatever needs doing and share in the harvest. Volunteering and Garden Location

 

Because we're not in competition to get  our crops to market, the Sharing Gardens produce is 'slow grown'. We don't use commercial fertilizers to hasten growth (which can lead to an increase in water-weight, lower density of nutrients and the plants' greater susceptibility to diseases and pests). Our produce is sweet, tender and full of vitality.

From the beginning, the Sharing Gardens has always had a focus on education; we love to share what we have learned from experience (Chris has been an organic grower for close to 60 years!) and Llyn has been a writer from her earliest days; we make a great team! Our educational outreach goes first and foremost to the people who join us in the Gardens through the volunteer program. These folks get hands-on training.

 Our website reaches hundreds of people daily, worldwide. This spring, the site surpassed the million-views mark and shows no signs of slowing down. With close to 300 published posts, we've covered a lot of topics! The majority are "How to" articles based on our first-hand experience. The site has always been (and will always be) 'ad-free'.

Chris and I have both spent time over at Monroe's Pantry (it shares our same parking lot) talking with people and teaching them about healthy eating. We encourage people to try new fruits and vegetables, suggesting ways to prepare them.

A sign we posted with our kale donation...

Striped German tomato

A funny story from the early days:

Because Heirloom tomatoes often 'look funny', with deep lobes and unusual colors in many varieties, Pantry-goers were leery of trying them. They would reach for the uniform-sized, pale red varieties with a mealy consistency and no flavor because 'they were familiar'.

For a few weeks, Chris and I stood at the Pantry with pocket knives in-hand and we'd slice off samples our our tomatoes for people to try. 

At first people hesitated (and to be fair, some varieties with greenish shoulders don't look too appetizing!). But their responses were so gratifying each time they got over their fears. "Wow, that's amazing!", "That's how tomatoes are supposed  to taste!" "I haven't had a tomato that tasted that good since I ate out of my grandma's garden!".

We knew that we'd successfully converted the crowds when, after a few weeks we saw them by-passing the anemic commercial toms and overheard them arguing among themselves about which of the Heirloom varieties we'd provided were their favorites. Wonderful!

Though we love the knobby, strangely colored varieties we grow, to the uninitiated they may seem ugly and unappetizing.

Another way that we are teachers in our community is through the Service Learning program offered through Oregon State University (OSU). Students volunteer for four hours per term in a project relevant to their studies and, after completing a presentation to their classmates receive college credit.

Since our first groups came in 2012, we have been blessed by the students' presence (and labor!) as we pass on a bit of knowledge about growing food without the use of chemicals, commercial fertilizers or animal by-products. Service Learning: A new model for our schools?

The Q&A session with snacks is always a highlight of the Service Learning mornings. We love to feel their enthusiasm for making the world a better place and it feels good to be drawn-forth and queried for the knowledge we've gained over the years. (Pic is from our cozy living room).

Students help us with a variety of tasks. Here they are weeding a garlic patch.

Sam is sifting soil in the foreground; students are prepping beds along the side while Llyn and Margaret plant seeds in the back.

Shelling dried beans is a favorite activity for students (and our volunteers) alike. Very meditative and satisfying.

Some kids get into the big-muscle activities (like turning compost). We sure appreciate their help!! (For more great pics and a deeper explanation of OSU's Service Learning program:  Service Learning: A new model for our schools?)

We grow almost 100% of our own 'starts' and share hundreds of plants in the community each season through school-gardens, recipients at the food pantry and other local gardeners. We like to support folks who are growing food to share (not sell). 

Early years...2011 'starts' (lettuce, sunflowers, cabbage and more...)

Lua and Llyn with a fraction of the 'starts' we've donated to her amazing school gardens. Luckiamute Charter school garden program. Lua has developed a program that goes from K-8th grade in which the students get hands-on learning about gardening and harvesting fruits and vegetables; growing native plants and supporting wildlife. The students learn how to prepare the foods they grow (along with other healthy ingredients) for tasty, simple snacks that expand their 'food vocabulary'. Lua is amazing!

We grow, process and save almost all of the seeds we use in the garden. This is a major focus of our teaching-posts. Because of the 'economy' of seed production, one seed can generate literally thousands of offspring. To learn more:  Basic Seed-Saving on a Small Scale

Part of our 2025 kidney bean and blue corn harvests ready to finish their drying process in baskets on shelves above our wood stove. These beans and grains can be eaten and/or used to grow future crops. The 'economy' of seeds..."From the one, many...".

We always have way more seed than we can use and share through various networks. 

Part of the seeds that we grew and processed ourselves in 2025 and donated to the Agrarian Sharing Network  - a wonderful, regional network equally dedicated to keeping our food-system commercial-free.

We continue to develop low-tech, small-scale methods for saving storage crops such as dried corn, sorghum, amaranth, and dried beans to help feed us through the leaner months when gardens are not producing as abundantly. Local food: Grow your own beans and grains 

Heirloom corns come in many colors. Corn is "promiscuous" and cross-pollinates easily. Here are crosses between Hooker's Blue and Golden Bantam. Grow Your Own 'Blue Corn'

As supply chains for commercial fertilizers tightened with the onset of war in the Middle East this past winter, we felt such gratitude that our methods of veganic agriculture continue to serve us well. Locally Sustainable Gardening in the Face of Supply-Chain Shortages

This is our eighth season without purchasing any commercial fertilizers or animal by-products (bone meal/blood meal etc), and without using animal manures for fertilizer. 

The majority of our fertility comes from: composted leaves, lawn-clippings and kitchen scraps. We also use ashes and coffee-grounds. We've begun experimenting with comfrey tea too (more on that to come).  

People often comment that our plants seem to be "glowing from within". We feed the soil and the plants take care of themselves! Because our food isn't forced to grow quickly (no commercial fertilizers), the plant cells are thicker and the plants are more resistant to disease and insect infestations. 

We are able to grow abundant crops without commercial fertilizers and animal by-products or manures. For a detailed description of our methods: Making Your Own "Veganic" Potting Soil in Your Greenhouse Paths - Using Worms (Broccoli and peppers in the foreground with corn in the rear. The red plant is a volunteer 'Hopi red-dye amaranth' which is edible and we harvest, dry and grind it for use in cooking.)

Another part of our mission is to encourage more people to live in a spirit of generosity, reciprocity and trust that, the more we shift from a 'transactional' (buying and selling) mentality to a 'gifting', relational ecology, the healthier all of us (and the natural world) will be. In this spirit, we maintain another website that is full of uplifting examples of the power of sharing, generosity, and caring for Creation. To visit the site: All Things Sharing

We feel incredibly blessed to be on this garden journey and look forward to continuing on this path of growing and sharing. Thanks for coming along!

Sharing Gardens founders, Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody in our front yard kale patch, 2017

 

Get your seed potatoes from your grocer's now...

Time to look for sprouting potatoes in your local produce section for planting! Be sure to get organically grown potatoes (ones grown conventionally can be treated with a chemical sprout retardant). Choose ones that are about the size of a large chicken egg. Also find ones that are already showing the first signs of sprouting. For more in-depth information, Sprouting potatoes? What to do.

The yellow one is showing the first signs of sprouting: tiny yellow sprouts at the site of the 'eyes'. That's what the red one looked like about a week earlier. 

One week later, both potatoes continue to sprout.

I have kept these sprouts under a towel while they are sprouting, in a cool (not cold) space. Once you expose them to light, they will pause extending their sprouts. Be careful handling them as the sprouts grow as they can be fragile at this stage.

Once sprouts are about one inch long, we move them to a room where they receive _indirect_ sunlight. This will 'chit' them (help them store up the sun's energy for better growing). Be sure they _aren't hit_ with direct sun.

The potatoes will turn greenish and the sprouts will stiffen. Once they are chitted, proceed with your favorite planting methods.

Here's a row of potatoes planted in our greenhouse about a month ago. Potato leaves are very frost-sensitive. We start early batches in our greenhouses in February and March (Oregon, USA, Zone 7b) and later batches in April and May once the threat of frost is past.

Happy planting!

Local food: Grow your own beans and grains

It's time to be planting grains and beans in our area (Willamette Valley, Oregon USA, USDA Zone 7b). Every year we grow a yellow corn and a blue corn, two kinds of sorghum and amaranth; all of which we dry down, hand-process and grind for use in cereal and baking. We also grow lots of Scarlet Runner beans (pictured left) and kidney beans to be dried and used for cooking throughout the year. Here are links to show you our methods. 

Grow Your Own 'Blue Corn' Blue corn is higher in protein than yellow corn and it makes a delicious, sweet addition to your hot-cereal mix or baking recipes - Crumb-Free, Whole-Grain Cornbread Recipe . Here is info on growing and processing this heirloom grain, native to north America.

Corn bread made from a combination of blue and yellow corn we grew ourselves.

 Grow Your Own Protein - Scarlet Runner Beans: If you're interested in growing your own beans for winter-storage, this is a great variety to choose. Because the beans are so large, they are easy to process in the fall after you harvest them. They DO need trellising but adapt well to growing on a teepee, giving you a beautiful and fun, shady hide-out through the summer. If picked young, the beans and pods are even edible!

Shelling dried Scarlet Runner Beans is a favorite activity in the fall....

 

Grow your own Sorghum for grain and flour: Sorghum is a relatively easy grain to grow and process on a small to medium scale. It doesn't require heavy-feeding/fertilizer nor lots of water. We grow two varieties, BaYeKi, short-season, short height, less sweet; ideal for chicken feed but also fine for human consumption. And Kassaby, tall, long-season (often needs trellising to prevent lodging); it has a sweet, wonderful flavor. Canes can be used for making syrup (but you have to choose either syrup or grain; you can't have both).

 

Kassaby sorghum being laid out to dry before being removed from stalks.

Most seed-saving doesn't happen till the fall but, if you want to save seeds from your crops, here are some things to be thinking of as you plant your crops in the spring:  Basic Seed-Saving on a Small Scale. Happy Growing!
 

Image credit: Seed abundance! Mike Brunt

Growing lettuce seedlings in Egg Cartons

We often start lettuce plants in egg cartons! The egg cartons use less soil per plant than your typical nursery 'six-packs' and when it's time to transplant the seedlings, we just tear off a cell and plant them directly in their permanent bed; egg carton and all! The roots grow right through and have very little transplant shock. We love that the cartons are biodegradable so we're using less plastic in the gardens. Also, they're free!

Here's a step-by-step post on how we do it.

 

When it's time to plant the 'starts' in the ground, we remove the 'lid' of the egg carton that had become the tray that held the egg carton cells while the lettuce plants were growing. This can be composted. Then we just tear off each cell and plant directly. Roots grow right through! (You can see little, tiny roots coming through the bottom of the egg carton ) 

 

We start the seeds in a tofu container with holes drilled in the bottom. We're vegetarian and, as you can see from the picture, we eat A LOT of tofu! Three to five drainage holes is plenty. Holes should be 3/8" - 1/4". (You can make a bunch at once by stacking them and drilling through 10-15 at a time.)

Use finely-sifted potting soil so the seeds don't need to struggle to germinate. Pack it firmly and evenly (with the bottom of another tofu container) so the seeds are started on a flat surface and all come up at the same time. Water the soil. Don't plant too thickly and aim for an even distribution of seeds. This will make it easier to tease them apart and transplant them to the egg cartons later. 

Sprinkle a very light dusting of soil on top and press it down so seeds have good contact with the soil. Put the tofu containers in a tray and water from the bottom (so the moisture 'wicks' up until the first  leaves appear. Watering from the top can make the seeds spread unevenly. Don't over-water! Seeds need very little moisture to get started.

Once seedlings are about two inches tall, tease them apart and replant in the egg cartons, one plant per cell. It is important to handle seedlings by the stem, or leaf. Some of their root-hairs are almost too small to see with the naked eye and are easily damaged. (Pic: cabbage seedlings)

  

Tear the lids off the egg cartons and use them as trays under the egg cells. Strip off any labels with thick ink (they don't allow the water to drain well). Soak the egg cartons in a tub of water so they are saturated. Fill each cell with sifted, moist soil. Your seedlings will experience less shock if transplanted into moist soil. Gently water them in with a watering can or fine spray. Keep them in a shady spot for a few days while they get acclimatized. The egg cartons hold moisture while the plants' roots are developing.

We prefer to use egg cartons with no plastic-y labels or excessive printing which can interfere with proper drainage. Plain, pressed-paper egg cartons are biodegradable and compostable and the roots grow right through.

These seedlings were transplanted a few weeks before this picture was taken. Don't wait too long or the plants' roots will become entangled in the tofu containers and you risk damaging them when you transfer them to the egg cartons. On the other hand, if you try to do it when the seedlings are too small, it's much harder to work with them and their root systems may not yet be established and the plants may dry up and die between waterings.

To minimize the stress on your seedlings, do your 'potting up' in the shade or on an overcast day. Here, Donn and Chris are transplanting cabbage seedlings into tofu containers: six to a pot. Notice Chris is using a pen to make a hole to drop the little seedling into. Use this same method with the egg cartons being sure not to "J"-root the plants...All roots should be covered with soil; none sticking out.

Before planting the seedlings, we make a furrow in the soil and water it thoroughly. This means that the plants are going into wet soil (which makes them very happy) and, with each subsequent watering, the water is channeled towards the roots. 

In the picture above, the black nursery trays (behind the lettuce starts) are covering other recently transplanted lettuce. This shades them to minimize transplant-shock and discourages birds from coming in and helping themselves to spring-time 'salad'. After 4-7 days, we can usually remove the trays without a problem.

Many weeks later...

It's fun to mix colors/types of lettuce...

Lettuce heads are harvested once they reach full size. Here, a Service Learning student harvests Slo-Bolt lettuce for us to share.

Now, that's some beautiful lettuce!