I grew up in an area just outside Coeur d’Alene called Dalton Gardens. The land parcels are large and often spotted with surviving relics of the days when this neighborhood was a bustling farmland. In backyards throughout the town, you will still find stretches of apple and pear trees, spots of cherry, plum and walnut trees, incredible raspberry patches, and of course home gardens overflowing with corn, beans, greens, tomatoes, pumpkins, and zucchini. As Costco and other discount big box stores have moved in over the years, more and more of this amazing produce is going to waste.
Not surprisingly, this trend hasn’t gone unnoticed. An organization called Community Roots has stepped in to make use of as much of the potentially wasted food that is already growing already in the area. In the way that City Harvest works in New York City to reduce waste among restaurants and markets, Community Roots has dispatched it’s volunteers to “reclaim” the fruit from neighbors and friends that they would otherwise toss into the compost pile. Last year my mom received a visit from a volunteer from Community Roots, a woman I graduated high school with in fact, who was interested in collecting some of the pears from our ancient (and prolific) tree that my family cannot put to use.
Their efforts are growing in the next year, as they reach out to local residents with unused land in an effort to establish small community gardens that would serve as a source for local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). This would allow residents to purchase shares in the garden or farm, then receive weekly boxes of produce delivered to their door. It’s a very common program in the cities, and I’m thrilled to see an effort being made here in town to finally again make good use of some of the fertile land in Dalton Gardens.
[...] Annie Stranger is the talented daughter of Linda and Scott Stranger, the Dalton Gardens landowners who have allowed a portion of their property to be used by the CSA to grow food. Annie, who also maintains an excellent food blog (www.chewonthis.org), was inspired to complete the mural during a visit home, where she was impressed by the CSA project in her parents’ back yard. [...]