Grow an Extra Row for the Food Bank

We appreciate donations of plant starts and flowers as well as full grown veggies and fruits

Did you know that you can donate homegrown produce (and plant starts) to Ballard Food Bank? This spring, consider planting an extra row in your home garden or P-Patch plot!

Here’s what you need to know.

What We Can Take

If you can grow it, we can probably use it! It’s helpful if you can trim off muddy ends and portion and label the items in bags or with ties so they can go directly into our Community Market. That said, large quantities of loose herbs or greens are often great options for the Kindness Café.

If you’re not sure what you’d like to grow, here are some crops that work particularly well for donating:

🌱 Beets

🌱 Bok choy

🌱 Cabbage

🌱 Carrots

🌱 Cucumbers

🌱 Green onions

🌱 Greens

🌱 Herbs (trimmed & labeled)

🌱 Jalapenos

🌱 Lettuce

🌱 Leeks

🌱 Onions

🌱 Radishes

🌱 Spinach

🌱 Squash

🌱 Sweet potatoes

🌱 Turnips

This time of year, food bank visitors are also excited to take home seedlings to grow!

When and Where to Bring Your Donations

Fresh, local produce from P-Patches and home gardens brings joy to Community Market shoppers

You can bring your donations right to our warehouse door during the hours listed here. Our parking lot entrance is on 49th Street between 14th and 15th.

Staff and volunteers are happy to help unload and weigh the food you bring in. Please don’t drop off food when we’re closed as we may have to throw it away.

If you’re coming from a P-Patch, please let staff know which Patch the produce came from! We can provide a donation receipt by email at the time of drop-off.

For large-scale donations, please reach out to Senior Food Recovery Manager, Lena at LenaH@ballardfoodbank.org to arrange a drop-off.

Other Ways to Get Involved

If you’re interested in growing vegetables for the food bank but don’t have outdoor space, consider volunteering with our harvest team. This is a great way to get a workout while learning about local food systems and helping bring fresh, nutritious food to our neighbors. From May to November, we’ll need help on Mondays and Wednesdays. The farms are located in Snohomish and Carnation and there’s an option to carpool or ride in food bank vehicles. Please contact Ysabel Diaz at ysabeld@ballardfoodbank.org or 253-372-2554 if you can help!

If growing isn’t your thing, we always accept donations of non-expired nonperishable foods. You can drop these off just like you would produce in the “When and Where” section above. Another option is to shop our Amazon Wish List.

Finally, financial gifts allow us to buy in bulk and stock our shelves with nutritious, culturally appropriate foods for our community to enjoy.

Whether you grow, harvest, shop, volunteer, donate, or spread the word to neighbors – we’re so glad to have you as part of our caring community!