Tomatoes to the fire station!

I've used just about every avenue I can think of to find uses and consumers for my excess tomatoes. I've taken them to church. Our daughter delivered them door to door in her neighborhood. Those are are only two of many ways to put them to use. Yesterday, I wondered if fire stations can use fresh heirloom tomatoes. I know they cook a lot at the stations and they can also take them home when their shift ends.

I took three full Walmart bags to a large fire station in a local community this morning and asked if they would like some free home grown tomatoes. The response was "YOU BET". I guess I will be taking them one or two bags a week until the first frost plus some squash and cucumbers.

Ted

[Worth1]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

More people should do this.

Worth

[RobinB]

Another idea is to check with your local food bank. Ours here in Reno is accepting fresh produce this year.

Originally Posted by RobinB

Another idea is to check with your local food bank. Ours here in Reno is accepting fresh produce this year.

I've given them to food banks and other places but I have a 50 mile round trip drive to the closest food bank. It would be less expensive to just send them a check.

We have a church sponsored community garden in our area with ten acres for growing. Five acres are allotted to community gardeners for their personal use. Five acres are planted and harvested by church members and the produce is delivered to food banks and charities. Last summer, one of the guys who makes the deliveries stuck around the food bank to see how the produce was distributed. The workers first inspected the produce for blemishes and discarded any that wasn't absolutely perfect in appearance. He also delivered to the Salvation Army who didn't care at all how something looked if it was in good condition and usable to feed the folks living there.

I will be helping harvest at the community garden Thursday morning. They harvest on Monday, Thursday, and Friday mornings at 8:00 a.m. I can only make the Thursday harvest this week.

Ted

[RobinB]

We are in one of those "food deserts". There was a story on the local news a few days ago about how the many low income people in this area rarely get fresh produce. Unemployment is very high in this area and the food bank and other community organizations are always scrambling to help everybody. I'm not aware of any community gardens here (but I have never looked for one.) They are trying a voucher system this year so that food bank recipients can to go to the farmer's market... it might work, but many do not have any form of transportation except the bus.

[lakelady]

Many of the local churches here do their own food banks. On a smaller scale than the bigger food banks, but they supply folks with a few bags of groceries every month which is really nice. If my neighbors don't take all my extra (listen to me lol, as if I plan to have a huge harvest, I can only dream!) then I'll bring some to the church that I know has the largest number of grocery recipients in the area.

[matereater]

Great idea tedln, I have a firestation only a mile away from me. I'm sure they'd appreciate some fresh toms!

[JamesL]

I will provide you all with my fedex number and address for your extras....
I will echo the good call on the fire station! They are either volunteers or generally not paid much. (and you are guaranteed a great response, god forbid you ever need it!) Local food bank is also a great idea.
I gave about 2 dozen extra plants I started this spring to my retired neighbor who planted them in a community garden they grow for a local food bank/soup kitchen.

Place a call to your local town, village or county, knights of columbus, lions club, etc. You would be surprised at how many local groups support local people in need, and are really doing it under the radar and with little fanfare.

[babice]

Originally Posted by JamesL

You would be surprised at how many local groups support local people in need, and are really doing it under the radar and with little fanfare.

I gave 51 plants to a charity in town that puts homeless people up into a townhome or apartment for a year. They were really excited to get them. I hope they thrive for them!

A short note on how things change:

I was really surprised when I took the tomatoes to the fire station. I'm accustomed to old brick buildings with big overhead doors and firemen washing their trucks in the driveway. I once took one of my grandsons, who was infatuated with fire trucks and trash trucks; to a fire station. They pulled one of the huge ladder trucks into the driveway and took him up on the extended ladder. They then pulled a bucket truck out and took him in it. (before you ask, no! I did not take him to the dump ground so he could also watch trash trucks unloading)

I had trouble finding a fire station because they don't look like they used to look. I finally found the largest station in the community and was totally surprised at the amount of security required to get into a fire station. The assistant fire chief finally came outside after I told him over an intercom why I was there. He was very nice and very appreciative for the tomatoes, but I still don't understand why a fire station requires so much security.

Ted

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by tedln

...(before you ask, no! I did not take him to the dump ground so he could also watch trash trucks unloading)...

It's a mind-boggling sight and a great site to visit! I toured one of the local transfer stations with a class several years ago. The main dumping area was a huge pit, viewed from a walkway far above it. A constant stream of garbage trucks lumbered in and out, with 6 or 8 trucks on each side dumping at once. In the pit, an earth mover in constant motion moved, smoothed out, and compacted the piles. We were told the stream of garbage trucks was constant all day, from when it opened iirc at 6am until midafternoon.

This transfer station had a separate area for recyclables, yard waste, and construction waste, yet some of the garbage trunks were dumping loads of yard waste and construction materials.

Since the transfer station was located in an urban area (Oakland), the compacted garbage in the pit was transferred to other trucks, which drove it to the dump, miles away.

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

It's a mind-boggling sight and a great site to visit! I toured one of the local transfer stations with a class several years ago. The main dumping area was a huge pit, viewed from a walkway far above it. A constant stream of garbage trucks lumbered in and out, with 6 or 8 trucks on each side dumping at once. In the pit, an earth mover in constant motion moved, smoothed out, and compacted the piles. We were told the stream of garbage trucks was constant all day, from when it opened iirc at 6am until midafternoon.

This transfer station had a separate area for recyclables, yard waste, and construction waste, yet some of the garbage trunks were dumping loads of yard waste and construction materials.

Since the transfer station was located in an urban area (Oakland), the compacted garbage in the pit was transferred to other trucks, which drove it to the dump, miles away.

When I was much younger, I spent a lot of time at garbage dumps scavenging lumber to build things with. I never could believe the quantity of high quality lumber contractors tossed when they completed a job. I don't think you can do that anymore because most dumps have recycling programs.

Ted

[babice]

Originally Posted by tedln

I took three full Walmart bags to a large fire station in a local community this morning and asked if they would like some free home grown tomatoes. The response was "YOU BET". I guess I will be taking them one or two bags a week until the first frost plus some squash and cucumbers.

Ted

Awesome!!! That's for that because I'll do it too!

[JamesL]

Ted,
Sign of the times I guess. I haven't seen that, even in New York City. Could pretty much walk into any station in town as they generally have the overhead doors open.
They are putting a new station in down at the World trade site, and I would bet the security down there is very similar.

[zabby17]

Originally Posted by JamesL

Ted,
Sign of the times I guess. I haven't seen that, even in New York City. Could pretty much walk into any station in town as they generally have the overhead doors open.
They are putting a new station in down at the World trade site, and I would bet the security down there is very similar.

Ted, wow.

Last interaction I had with a fire station was sure different, security-wise.

About 20 years ago, when my sister got stuck on the porch roof of the house she and I shared with us both and my 5-yr-old nephew locked out (long story), I actually walked to a nearby fire station to ask to borrow a ladder.

My nephew and I found it wide open---big front garage door up, side person-door ajar, lights blazing---and quite empty. There was a meal on the table partly eaten, and no trucks in the bay. Clearly they were out on a call.

Long story short, we did find a ladder, but we didn't end up using it as we ran into the fire trucks on the way home, and they rescued my sister with the ladder truck. They killed themselves laughing when I explained how we'd borrowed their ladder. ("That ladder you are carrying is OURS? You just walked in and TOOK IT?" "Well, I was going to bring it right back! I couldn't leave my sister up there...") Turns out they'd been doing some painting in the fire hall, which was why there were plain wooden ladders there.

From then on, every time we walked by there, my sister would try to hide her face (while my nephew would call out, waving: "Hi! It's us! Remember us? Hi!")

But it does make me wonder if security was beefed up in that fire station after that....

Z, tomato grower and ladder thief
P.S. Great idea to donate your tomatoes there, btw!