If you judge a good idea by the size of the idea or project it involves, skip this column.
We’re here to praise a wonderful, small scale idea that will barely register on the radar of many people.
Last year on Memorial Day, Parish President Tommy Martinez inaugurated the Ascension Parish Memorial Donation Orchard and Garden.
Things grown in the garden were to be donated to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank in honor and memory of Ascension Parish residents who have died while serving in the military or in parish government employment.
Recently, Master Gardener Mike Bourgeois, whose family is from Ascension Parish and who has overseen gardening efforts at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, helped deliver 346 pounds of turnips to the Food Bank in honor of the parish orchard.
During the course of the year, donations from the garden and corporate and individual friends have included 405 pounds of pumpkins, 113 pounds of satsumas, 102 pounds of Japanese persimmons, 40 pounds of pears, 22 pounds of Chinese winter squash, 180 pounds of domestic blackberries, seven grocery bags of mix yard-long beans, okra and bitter melon, 59 ears of sweet corn, five grocery bags of okra and four grocery bags of bitter melon.
Whether the inaugural harvest of the garden sounds like a lot or little, rest assured that it was greatly appreciated by the Food Bank.
Bourgeois said the harvest might well have been greater if not for the exceptionally hot and dry summer followed by buckets of rain. Then there were the deer at Lamar-Dixon who just couldn’t resist the turnips and other delicacies in the garden.
We think this small scale idea called the Memorial Garden is a great idea for a number reasons.
Fresh produce at the Food Bank can be a welcome and healthy alternative to canned and processed foods. Donating the food in honor and memory of deserving parish residents is nice gesture. And, last but not least, a flourishing garden on the grounds of Lamar Dixon fits right in with the Expo Center mission plan.
Kudos to everyone involved with this “little” project in its first year. We hope more folks take part in the effort during the next growing season.
