Yes, you may

Hi Pearl,

You have been a bad influence. My nearest neighbors are in the adjoining cemetery,  and they dont have too many needs that I am aware of.  So I have , about a month ago, begun donating excess eggs to an area Not-For-Profit.

Yay, that sounds awesome! Thank you for the update

Pearl, you're a lean, mean growin' machine!

I respectfully doff my chapeau to the maestro.

This is a  great idea. My grandmother would have loved it as she had a 'tree lawn' in the front yard on a 'busy' street in a small town and a small flower garden in her backyard. Everyone exchanged seeds and starts in the neighborhood.

Everything has been bad here this year, my health, the weather, circumstances, things got planted very late, and I lost large amounts to problems. The Yes, You May strip was just starting to produce, lots of green tomatoes, finally. And this morning I was out starting a vile project, (involving mold and fallen insulation under the house) and saw heavy equipment go by on this little street, then a city truck with guys I know in it. Asked them what was going on "They are putting down new asphalt today! You know that's technically in the city easement, right?" Yeah, I know. I did a solid picking on all the green beans (first pick!) and pulled the cardboard and straw back, weighted it down against the wind. Tied the beans as far back as I could, and wished them well.



The guys who were doing it were nice, and were pretty careful, no damage! Not even much asphalt in places I didn't want it. I put down a new layer of cardboard before I put the old cardboard and straw back, looks good! YAY! That garden survived a hazardous day!!

Pearl Sutton wrote:

YAY! That garden survived a hazardous day!!  

Congratulations to you, your garden, and the city guys! I think that's a sign that people are respecting our need to grow food a little more.

Howdy!
I am just getting back into the whole person being healthy and fit thing (got my black belt in December, Mom is dealing with the super awesome rare disease this year), and last year was a huge wakeup call.
I always get the free chick when I order my birds - no ordering last year, but I am always aware that the chick is meant to be a supplement for someone. So, I honor that and will hand out a dozen eggs to someone who might be looking for extra protein.
I refuse to let the knowledge that someone might be hungry pass.
I also try to help younger people learn how to forage and glean. There's just so very much available that people forget how to pick berries in season, or get stuck on the idea that if one tomato plant is good, then 30 must be better.

I had been thinking about doing something similar - a place at the end of the driveway, where I keep a few extra things - maybe some plant starts, seedlings, a bunch of whatever I have too much of, or aren't interested right then. Food is food. If no one local is interested, I'll see what other options I can find.
There's an empty lot just down the street. I may have to wander down there and see what is there, what could be planted, and what  I should probably leave alone.

Thank you, everyone, for giving me a good idea for extra plants and food stuff. I think this is something that could work for our little community.

It's funny that I had a like for my post and reread it today.  Last night my daughter said it would be cool to set up a stand that said take one leave one. The concept you put out your extra veggies/flowers/eggs/ect. and when someone takes something they leave something different.  A trade instead of free situation.  She aske if it would be legal to set something up like that this year.  
I told her about this post, and a few other similar.  I enjoyed the conversation very much.  It made me proud.  My daughter is 27, still lives at home.  She is very helpful with my husband who has many health issues on top of chronic pain. But I worry about her because she is very anti social, government, big business, ect.  I see in little ways all my kids picking up the things I learn on permies, but she seems to get it the most and is my biggest supporter when I want to try what everyone else thinks is mom's crazy save the world stuff.  
If things work out, it would be nice to follow through with something that involves sharing the extras.  So far 2021 isn't starting out that well.  The chickens got all the seedlings I started while I was hardening them off.  Not only was I not able to share I had to buy veggie plants.  I was redoing my veggie garden and finished not very long ago, so I just planted my garden.  It is very late for where I live.  We can only hope things will take off and produce enough to share.  
Pearl did you plant your strip this year, or are you having a year like me?  Either way I hope your health issues are better.  Happy Gardening.

Not Pearl, but I'll give you an update anyway. 18 watermelons up in the parkstrips, planted from seed a month ago. Should be quite the harvest for someone, if they all survive! Sorghum, yellow summer squash, zucchini and pumpkins are also up. I was going to plant tomatoes from seed in the ground but did that in another area so the starts are almost ready to go in.

It's still getting planted... Currently it has potatoes (https://permies.com/t/144980/won-potatoes-grow#1251598  Oh MY!!)  some tomatoes (ran out of space in the back) beans, more beans just starting to come up, I put in a purple tomatillo today, and the volunteers I see are last year's tomatoes, cantaloupe (from trench composting my kitchen scraps) and out of the leaves I added last fall ( https://permies.com/t/150879/Bricolage-projects#1179978 ) I also seem to have a couple of oak trees I haven't decided what to do with, I have a better variety of oak that is ready to plant out. Have peanuts still to go in there, not sure what else.  Still have some soil that needs loosening and trench scrapped.

So is it planted? Yes. Is it still a pick it yourself bed? Not really. I'll share out of it, but more out of my back gardens. They have better soil and protection. I DID improve that soil quite a bit, digging in there I have LOTS of worms, the moles will be having a feast soon! They help the soil too, although they kill some plants accidentally, by undermining them. The soil around here is heavy, any holes help.

I lost ALL of the squash out there last year to bugs, i think I had 40 plants or so, might say in an earlier post. The tomatoes ran amok, the melons died for no good reason, the greens got to 4 inches high and didn't move. That bed is on fill soil, the ditch had a tube put in it, and soil added on top. Wonder where that soil came from.  It's not the same as the back. And was REALLY compacted. Getting looser!

Oh, hey, just realized I took a pic the other day....

Mulch Makes Wet!

The purple stuff was keeping out the maple seeds from hell ( https://permies.com/t/139458/Excess-maple-seeds-year#1245283 ) and seems to be acting as a very fragile row cover, keeping out some bugs. worth leaving on. The picture was taken to show the effect of the mulch after a light rain shower, looking up and down the street, this was the only area that didn't dry up immediately. Even where there were trees, it dried out. Awesome! Mulch rocks!!!  :D

The growing things there are a bunch of potatoes, nothing else was visible yet that day.

:D

We have a community sharing garden at the extension office that has a master gardener course and they grow vegetables, and give away seeds as well.

I LOVE sharing my eggs and produce! A friend who decided during the lockdown that he wanted chickens recently decided he wasn’t cut out for it and donated the whole flock to us. Friends at church that I had been sharing eggs with were consulted and now they donate to the egg fund as they desire and I keep them in eggs. It’s extremely informal and I can now afford to keep them all instead of putting them in the freezer. I keep a few greenhouse peppers going year round and take a basket of those and whatever excess produce I have with me to share and it is always a hit.

This is exactly what we’re planning to do this year! Share the bounty! We have a rail trail behind our home & we plan to set up a little table w produce that people can just take or leave a small donation if they wish to support our local animal shelter. Love this!

I usually try to grow what I need personally for canning and fresh eats in the summer.

Usually, though, I do have extras which I give away to neighbors - OR - take the excess down to the local Senior Center as they have lunches made for those who drop in and the Center loves the free goodies.

I think our neighbourhood permaculture garden project fits in this thread too. It's started 7 years ago by two women. They first organised a meeting to tell about their plans. And they asked the city council for some garden space somewhere in the neighbourhood. And to subsidize this plan ... Because one of those two women worked for provincial government or so she knew what could be subsidized.
By then I did not yet know about this. I was busy trying a different plan (more like guerilla gardening). I told someone about my plan and he told me about the other plan. So I joined that (growing) group.

About that time the city council agreed, appointed a nice corner in the park and promised the needed money. So we started!
My creative ideas came out well: my garden design was implemented.
After an article in a local newspaper several people gave us seeds, plants, shrubs, old tools, stones and bricks. We made good use of everything.

First our idea was that in this garden everyone was free to pick what they needed. Some years later we decided that did not work out well. Some mint-tea-lovers picked so much of the mint, there was nothing left for others! Zuchini and pumpkins were picked before they were ripe. Kales were harvested as whole plants, instead of only a few leaves. Children used the garden as a playground, their small footsteps were clearly visible in the beds ...

So we changed some things. Around the garden we now have a 'dead hedge' and there's a closed gate. The gate can easily be opened by any adult (there's no lock). But it prevents children and dogs from running right into the garden. We made some signs and an information board to give explanation. Also there's a wooden box with newsletters and other papers with information on permaculture in it. So even when no-one of the group of volunteers is there an interested visitor can read and learn more on the permaculture garden.

Is it still a 'yes you may' garden? Yes, you may enter the garden. Sit on the bench, have a chat with the volunteers (if they are there), walk around on the garden paths (one of the info papers is a scavenger hunt with photos of plants to find in the garden).

Once a year (first half of May) we organise a plant-swap-day. Free for everyone. Bring plants, seeds, seedlings, cuttings, or come empty-handed ... and take some of what's brought in. We, the garden volunteers, are there to help, to answer questions, etc. And there's tea, coffee, lemonade and cookies. If it's a rainy day there's a party-tent.

Photo of the Permaculture Neighbourhood garden (Permacultuur Buurttuin in Dutch) last year with banners for Earth Day: