Helping Our Community with Plant A Row

Give back to your community with PCL and Plant A Row!

What is Plant A Row?

Plant a Row Lehigh Valley is the chapter of the national Plant a Row for the Hungry program that serves Lehigh and Northampton counties. Plant a Row for the Hungry is operated by GardenComm.

Since 1995, over 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape – just people helping people.

Plant a Row encourages local backyard gardeners to donate one row in their existing gardens and donate the produce from that row to local food pantries and free meal centers. You can easily participate. There’s no fee and no requirements. This program is run by local gardeners to benefit our neighbors in the Lehigh Valley who might be hungry.

If you do not have to have a garden to donate, we gladly accept produce purchased from farmers markets and the grocery store.

How do I participate?

It’s easy to participate!

1. Register your garden

2. Dedicate one row of your garden to donate to the hungry

3. At harvest time, drop your produce off at PCL

What you need to know…

Donations:

Plant a Row is a passive program: The cooler will be placed in the library’s foyer on Wednesday afternoons.

Drop-off will start at 4 pm on Wednesday afternoon and end at 8 pm on Thursday evening.

  • The season opens the week of June 11 and runs through October 8. 
  • Donations can be dropped off from 4 pm on Wednesdays until 8 am on Thursdays. 
  • The first collection will be from 4 pm on Wednesday, June 14, until 8 pm on Thursday, June 15.
  • The last collection will be from 4 pm on Wednesday, October 11, through 8 pm on Thursday, October 12.

Collecting your donations:

  • Plant A Row accepts all types of fruit, vegetables, and herbs.  Please donate fresh produce only. If you would not serve it, please do not donate it.
  • Tomatoes should be picked before they are ripe.
    • To keep tomatoes from bruising, please place them in cardboard boxes or recycled containers from produce purchased at the grocery store. 
    • Small boxes from online ordering are great! 
  • Please keep tomatoes separate from other produce donations, as they produce a chemical that causes other fruit to ripen more quickly.
  • Do not tie plastic bags shut to ensure heat doesn’t get trapped in the bags.

If you do not have to have a garden to donate, we gladly accept produce purchased from farmers’ markets and the grocery store.

All donations are being delivered to Everlasting Life Ministries in Allentown.

Contact us with any questions!

PCL

Adult Services
610-398-1361 ext. 117
adults@parklandlibrary.org

Plant A Row

Lehigh Valley Chapter
610-530-7728
info@plantarowlv.org

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