She doesn’t let a few deer deter her gardening efforts
By Catherine Edman Daily Herald Staff Writer

As a member of the grounds crew at the church, she’s used to doing whatever is necessary to make sure her assigned flower beds are in tip-top shape.

Gardens, she understands, are forever a work in progress. So when deer considered her vegetable garden a series of a la carte items, she recovered quickly, lacing string around and through the remaining plants as a deterrent with a pseudo-obstacle course format.

Then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Deer prefer their broccoli served raw," she joked.

Burkus has a vested interest in the garden. She planted it specifically so she could donate food to area food pantries and soup kitch-ens as part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.

The Crystal Lake woman knew the South Barrington church already had a vegetable garden to supplement its food service. And she knew there was also a related food pantry.

She asked if crews could just plow one more row in the spring when they were getting the plot ready.

The next time she stopped by, she discovered they’d done more than plow a row, they plowed her a whole garden.

She quickly went to work planting radishes, carrots, beets, cucumbers, tomato plants, broccoli, leeks, onions and a bunch of crookneck squash.

The radishes multiplied at a phenomenal rate. At first, Burkus intended to take all the vegetables to the church’s food pantry in Hoffman Estates.

But people can only eat so many radishes!

While she waited for the cucumbers and tomatoes to ripen, she started delivering radishes to other food pantries as well, stopping in Huntley and Lake in the Hills and contacting Crystal Lake, as well, to see if they would take fresh vege-tables.

And her efforts don’t stop there.

Hardly a day goes by that she doesn’t find a way to help the Plant a Row effort.

It might be putting out a basket at her local park district community garden so folks can just drop off any "extras" for the food pantry — and offering to go pick up the donations at least once a day.

It could be going out of her way to drop off produce at a food pantry that’s gotten only a few donations.

Burkus, with nearly 100 pounds of produce donated, also has been the most consistent presence when it comes to fresh donations to the Willow Creek food pantry.

One time, after she’d dropped off broccoli, a mother with a young daughter stopped at the pantry and was getting some of the fresh food.

The woman leaned down and reminded her daughter how much the little girl loves the vegetable.

Moments like those make all the defensive deer tactics worthwhile for Burkus.

"What a wonderful God who provides," she said. If you have any questions about the program, or drop-off requirements, call our Plant A Row hotline at (847) 806-4277, Northern Illinois Food Bank at (630) 443-6910, or e-mail us at Plantarow@dailyherald.com.

The program collecting surplus vegetables for area food pantries and soup kitchens runs through Sept. 30.