‘A LITTLE TO SHARE’

MARIELA ESQUIVEL_RODRIGUEZ mesquivel-rodriguez@idahopress.com

CALDWELL — On one of the city’s busy roads sits a farm stand filled with brightly colored fruits and vegetables from many area families’ gardens, waiting to feed local families. A wooden sign reads “A little to share, take what you need.”

After harvesting and then posting on the stand’s Facebook page typically in the evenings between 6-7 p.m., community members line up in their cars just outside the 624 W. Linden St. home to gather fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables. After visitors place their desired produce in a market bag, they give waves of gratitude to The Share Stand owners, Dawn and James Worley, and sometimes share a conversation with them.

“One person comes and gets what they need, and they drive off, and everybody moves up,” Dawn said. “It’s amazing to sit out here and watch.”

The couple grows all kinds of fruits and vegetables in their garden — from pumpkins, green beans, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and a variety of peppers. Twenty-five other local gardeners, including the Robinson family and The BarNothin Ranch also leave their extra garden goods for the community with the stand, typically in the mornings.

“We always made a joke that we were going to grow just enough for us and a little to share. And that’s where The Share Stand came from, because the little to share went crazy.”

James Worley, The Share Stand co-owner

“There’s a lot of local gardeners that have really embraced this, and they’re putting lots of produce,” James said. “We all have too much produce, and we share them where we can, but it’s just a good way to make sure it doesn’t go to waste. It’s a wonderful way to share it, and we have more than we need.”

Dawn is a Caldwell native and her dream of owning a home also came with owning a garden. Since the couple has lived at their home for over 15 years, so has their garden just to the side of the house, right behind The Share Stand.

Dawn says her roots of being a gardener began when she was 8 years old, when she’d help her grandfather with his big garden. Now at 46, she says she never imaged taking gardening to “the next level.” She says when she’s out in her garden, she feels a sense of peace and joy.

“It’s kind of my tune-in with nature place,” Dawn said. “As far as The Share Stand, I can’t tell you how often my heart is warmed.”

Three years ago, the Worleys were producing more crops than they needed to feed their family. They placed a small 6x6-foot picnic table with their leftover produce with a cardboard sign that said “free” in hopes people who were driving to the churches down the road on Sundays would stop by and not let the Worley’s fresh produce go to waste.

“We live on a main street where there’s a couple of churches right down the road, and we see the traffic going by. And we thought, Sunday mornings, if we put it out Sunday mornings, people will stop by and pick stuff up,” James said.

As the amount of leftover produce grew, the couple wanted something that would be more inviting for the community. James took scrap metal and lumber he had to create a farm stand and a wooden sign with an inside joke on how The Share Stand came to be.

“We always made a joke that we were going to grow just enough for us and a little to share. And that’s where The Share Stand came from, because the little to share went crazy,” James said.

Yearly on Mother’s Day weekend, the Worleys, along with their friend Monica, plant the seeds and wait for peak sprouting season in August. Then every evening as the sun goes down, they harvest and set any extra produce on The Share Stand. The couple says gardening has been a way for them to not only grow fruits and vegetables, but also grow their relationship with each other and in their faith.

“This is how we spend time together and pass time,” James said. “We also pray and talk to God; this is where the little prayers are said.”

The Worleys try to focus on the positive stories The Share Stand has brought to the Caldwell community and love seeing where their produce will be going. Sometimes, it’s to an elderly woman who takes the fresh vegetables to others who are in assisted living. Other times, they see mothers letting their excited children pick their own fruit. But also, they’ve had times where food is given to them with the produce someone used from their garden.

“There was a gal who brought us a cup of the salsa that she made from all the produce she pulled off the stand just to share back,” James said. “Our community is wonderful.”

Dawn says although most of the time they experience these feel-good moments, occasionally people try to bring unwanted negativity, like posting upsetting comments on social media when someone takes large amounts of produce from the stand.

“If you need it, take it,” Dawn said. “It’s one of those that the complaints we’re seeing that are being said are not necessarily the complaints we’re seeing.”

The couple also hopes to remind the community to take only from what is available on the farm stand and not harvest from the couple’s private garden.

“Caldwell is a beautiful community, there’s a lot of good out here, and we get so focused on the negatives so often, that it’s just nice to do something that’s good,” James said.

Dawn says the couple will continue to do The Share Stand and hopes to see others begin one in their communities as well. She shared the couple does this with no expectations of anything in return, and the moments she experiences with the community make her personal work, money, and time spent on her garden, worth it.

“It’s the community that really makes this worth it, getting to know them, them knowing that we are here,” she said. “It’s also knowing that we’re just doing something good with no expectation, nothing that we want in return.”