# My office garden



## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

I've decided for many reasons not to grow anything at home for the forseeable future. My new place gets zero direct sun and I just don't have the skills and usually come out at a loss relative to what I invest in soil and supplies. It's a little sad, but I'm okay with it.

I am blessed, however, to have my own office with a big windowsill at sidewalk level. The window faces due north so I'll have to get shade-tolerant plants. But along with a couple flowers (pansies, anyone?) I've decided to plant some herbs. It's a great teaching opportunity for me as a social worker - very few people know that you can apply food stamps to seeds and seedlings of edible plants. What an investment! A lot of the people I work with dismiss the idea of gardening for various (and often credible) reasons. But now I can point a foot and a half to my left and show just how easy it is. Plus, my office will smell amazing with all that mint and lemon thyme.

I recently found out that my local food bank has a giant organic "youth farm" where they teach young people how to garden. Half the produce goes directly to the food bank, the other half is for a local CSA which also teaches the kids business skills. Today they had a giant sale of potted plants and I bought a small flat of violets to get started. I also bought a share in the CSA, and a big bunch of spinach for dinner tonight. Everybody wins!

:yummy:


----------



## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Hey, what you are helping to teach is priceless, Thanks for making a difference!


----------



## mikeylikesit5805 (Nov 14, 2012)

I never knew you could use few stamps like that. Very cool!


----------



## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

notyermomma said:


> Today they had a giant sale of potted plants and I bought a small flat of violets to get started.


Violets are pretty. They are also edible! You could include a little flat of mixed lettuce. IIRC, it likes shade.

I have in the past used food stamps, and I took advantage of that provision to buy seeds and plants. Found out, though, that one Walmart considered sunflowers food and another considered them flowers.

I like what you're doing, nym. Thinking outside the box to benefit your clients. :congrat:


----------



## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

mikeylikesit5805 said:


> I never knew you could use few stamps like that. Very cool!


It's buried in the fine print, and I don't know why - SNAP could save enough money to build a bomber if more people did it. Especially since the overwhelming majority of SNAP users are rural. I've had to use food stamps a couple times in my life, once in a small town and once when I lived downtown in a major city. In both cases the vendors were right on it - no " you can do that with food stamps?!" of any kind. It was refreshing, and actually one of the times I got the least ******** from people for using public assistance.


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

The fact you can use the food stamps to get seeds makes me a little more accepting of the idea as a whole. Now if they could some how get the users to actually use them in this way...

Thanks for educating us all to this "tiny print"


----------



## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

> I am blessed


 Indeed you are and you are certainly a blessing to others!
Thanks for sharing!


----------



## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

> Now if they could some how get the users to actually use them in this way...
> 
> Thanks for educating us all to this "tiny print"


My pleasure. I don't pass judgment on people who don't garden with their food stamps ; there really are a lot of excellent reasons why it wouldn't work for individuals.

Snap only covers the seeds and seedlings. You're on your own for potting soil and other supplies, which still puts it out of reach for a lot of people. (Some welfare programs actively forbid people to have any more than a tiny savings account so people have to be very careful and selective about what they save for.) If you live in a high crime area like I did where its dangerous to be outdoors at all, gardening could do a lot more harm than good. And of course if you're homeless and live on the street.... who's going to walk around carrying several pots of dirt on their person for four months?

But if you're lucky enough to have space and stability to put something in pots or the ground, spare cash for supplies, a landlord/neighborhood association that won't get its panties in a twist, and enough time to do the work, it's fantastic. Simply living in a rural area as I do now is no guarantee of being able to grow tomatoes, or grow enough of them to make it worth the investment.

It would help if Snap publicized that particular benefit more effectively. I do what I can, and some of my people have taken me up on it and started their own gardens. It's deeply satisfying to see my work take root ... But as with anything else in life there is no one-size-fits-all and that's okay.


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

If only community gardens would reserve (free of charge) a plot for snap users to have a garden I'm sure more would use the program this way. Maybe that is something the community needs to be aware of and work towards.

Still good 'food' for thought.


----------



## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

Agreed. Unfortunately, the political climate among our Overlords is a worst case scenario for SNAP recipients these days. If legislators don't trust people to _choose_ their potatoes correctly, they sure as hell won't trust anyone to grow them.

In my county we have a lot of community gardens. They're so popular the wait lists go for years and come with an annual fee. The food bank owns a couple of gardens worked by volunteers, and 100% of the produce goes straight to the food bank. But to my knowledge no free garden beds specifically for those who need it most.

That would be a great niche! I remember when I was poor and hungry, fresh produce was what I pined for the most. I think that on the state level something like that has no chance right now ... but perhaps on a county or local level where real live people (as opposed to policy wonks and consultants) see the facts and consequences of hunger on a personal basis.


----------

