62nd Street Garden
Opt In Gleaning Program
The 62nd Street Garden offers members an opportunity to donate extra produce they may grow to the Hyde Park Kenwood Food Pantry, which is open from 10am-2pm every Saturday. In 2018, we gleaned on 19 Saturdays and donated an average of 43 pounds of produce weekly, including many pounds of tomatoes, chard, cucumbers, collard greens and peppers, all picked fresh and delivered just in time for the pantry to open.
The program is run by volunteers from the 62nd Street Garden and is an optional (Opt In) program for garden members. All Gleans take place early Saturday morning so that donated produce can be delivered to the pantry by 9:30am.
Each week, garden members are offered several ways to contribute:
Volunteer early on Saturday mornings to help glean the plots that have opted in for a particular week
Harvest and donate their own extra produce before 9:00am on any Saturday
Opt In for the Week: Specify what volunteers may harvest and donate from their plot (e.g. Take 20% of chard, all cherry tomatoes, and 2 zucchinis during week of 7/14)
Opt In during Vacation: Donate all harvests of ready to pick produce from their plot for the duration of their vacation (e.g. please pick anything that is ready while I am away from 8/1-8/15).
Many gardeners are able to use or preserve the majority of what they grow in their plots, but others find that they have more than they can use (especially if vacations are scheduled). The “Opt In” gleaning program allows garden members to flexibly contribute what makes sense for them on a week to week basis and helps us reduce food waste.
