Bounty Share will collect excess produce

Submitted photo##Vicki Gunn, one of Edible Landscapes’ Bounty Share volunteers, picks excess vegetables to give to the YCAP food bank in the fall of 2025. Between September and November, the program brought in 4,000 pounds of food. Charlene Doland of Edible Landscapes said she hopes Bounty Share will collect even more this year.

Edible Landscapes of Yamhill County has launched a program to make use of extra produce growing in community members’ yards or farmers’ fields.

“Bounty Share” sends volunteers to pick excess fruit and vegetables to donate to the Yamhill Community Action Program food bank. Volunteers may keep a portion of what they glean, while the majority is donated to people in need.

“This is important,” said Charlene Doland of Edible Landscapes. “In this lovely valley, so many fruits and vegetables grow, but so much goes to waste.”

Many homeowners have fruit trees they don’t harvest, she said. Bounty Share can pick the fruit so it doesn’t fall to the ground and rot.

People can also plant an extra row or two of vegetables this spring specifically to donate to YCAP, she said.

Homeowners and farmers can sign up any time. Whenever there is produce to be gleaned, a Bounty Share team will collect it.

Volunteers are needed for the collection part of the program, Doland said.

Bounty Share started last September. Through November, volunteers had collected about 4,000 pounds of produce, valued at about $17,000, for the food bank.

“That’s a lot of fruit,” Doland said.

In addition to apples, pears and some figs, she said, they picked tomatoes, peppers, herbs and greens.

Starting earlier this year, the collection will be even larger, she said.

Yamhill County Gleaners used to collect excess produce, but that organization is no longer active.

For more information about Edible Landscapes’ Bounty Share, visit edibleyamhill.org and click on the “bounty-ful” tab.

Edible Landscapes also has an ongoing program of container gardening along Alpine Avenue in McMinnville. More volunteers are needed. They can register via the website or by emailing info@edibleyamhill.org.

Edible’s annual spring gardening festival will be held May 9 on Alpine Avenue near Mac Market.