On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA September - October 2017 | Page 16

BRUCE ADAMS
Sun Gro Horticulture
Agawam, Massachusetts
As part of GWA Foundation’s new
Plant a Row Profile series, we will
feature programs across the country.
Want your PAR group featured?
Contact Ashley Hodak Sullivan
for more information.
there are always new ones willing to get their
hands dirty to support the effort. Sometimes
employee’s family members help out, too. It’s a
community effort.
CO MMUNITY WID E VOLUNTE E RS
More recently, we invited outside volunteers
to help keep our PAR garden productive. Our
biggest aid comes from horticultural students
at nearby Westfield Technical Academy. The
garden gives them hands-on training in prep
and planting; we are grateful for the help. The
students come in spring to help us get the
garden prepped and sometimes plant, too.
They also help at harvest time when we weigh
in our crops and deliver them to the Westfield
Food Pantry.
Like most gardens, we have bountiful
harvests some years; other years, the weather
PLANT A ROW PROFILE
Volunteers from Sun Gro Horticulture prepare their PAR garden in Agawam, Massachusetts, for spring planting.
Back in 2000, the Sun Gro Horticulture
corporate office in Agawam, Massachusetts,
moved to a site that included a garden. The
garden was originally used for display, but
eventually we transformed into the Plant a
Row for the Hungry Vegetable Garden. The
garden was expanded and upgraded in 2010
and has been yielding produce for our local
food pantry ever since.
Over the years, the Sun Gro employees have
volunteered to plant, weed, water and fertilize
the garden and eventually reap the harvest. As
the company has changed with time, so have
our employees who volunteer in the garden.
Plenty of longstanding employees have partic-
ipated in the garden since the beginning, and
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and weeds get out of hand, resulting in less
produce. But it’s not just about our gardening
success. Our PAR garden also teaches us about
working together and committing time to our
local community.
In our best harvest year, we weighed in
nearly 450 pounds of fresh produce, so we
know our garden is making a difference. This
year, we plan to do much better. We will also
be installing three raised beds with lumber
donated from Lucia Lumber Co. Inc., in Aga-
wam, Massachusetts, and fencing to keep out
unwanted wildlife.

Bruce Adams works in marketing at Sun Gro
Horticulture.