Volunteers needed for Food Bank's garden project

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana's Good Food Project, established earlier this year after a $1.1 million donation from Keller Enterprises, focuses on promoting and supporting local gardening efforts in Cenla through classes, models and outreach, said Lori Garton, director of the project.

Earlier this year, the project has already established a demonstration garden using land adjacent to the Food Bank's 3223 Baldwin Ave. headquarters in Alexandria.

The plan for the Good Food Project is to establish and support gardens within Cenla Food Bank's entire 11-parish service area, composed of Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon and Winn parishes, Wright-Velez said.

The project also will host a series of classes and workshops at the beginning of the year, officials said. The gardens and gardeners that spring up as a result of the project are not required to donate a portion of their yields to the Food Bank, though officials certainly would not discourage donations.

The Rapides Soil & Water Conservation District has offered $100 donation to as many as 20 participating Rapides Parish schools as a garden start-up grant.

For information about the Good Food Project, call (318) 445-2773. Those interested in volunteering with the project can email Garton at lgarton@fbcenla.org.

Link to more information: TheTownTalk.com

Avocado tree finally bears fruit after 19 years

(AP) HOUMA, La. — After 19 years just looking pretty, the avocado tree near Geneva Moore's house trailer is bearing fruit. "It's got a bunch of them," said Moore, 74. "I couldn't even believe it at first," said her son Jay, who planted the seed that grew into his mother's tree.Barton Joffrion, a horticultural agent at the LSU Ag Center in Houma, said it's unusual for avocado plants to bear more than leaves in south Louisiana. Read more>

Market offers fresh produce

DailyComet.com
Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 10:26 a.m.

Readers who were ambitious enough to plant a vegetable garden back in March are already enjoying home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and such. But unless they are sharing with friends and neighbors, the rest of us are out of luck ... except those who have discovered the Farmer's Market.

In Houma, across Tunnel Boulevard from Dumas Auditorium, just about every weekday, local farmers sell fresh produce from their gardens, including squash, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cukes or whatever is in season.

"Fresh" is the operative word here. The farms which keep area groceries stocked year round with fruit and vegetables of all kinds are rarely located in Louisiana.

California, Florida and other vegetable-producing states are located far enough away that their products must be trucked in, arriving days after they are harvested.

The system has been remarkably efficient at delivering quality products, but for real, picked-this-morning, vine-ripened crops, sold by the fellow who picked them, you can hardly beat the Farmer's Market.

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