Girl Scouts get in the gardening groove

The green beans Linda Koss and her daughter Anna, a Girl Scout, picked from the Naperville garden plot looked good enough to eat.

In fact, they were deliciously tempting.

Those little sprouts had a higher purpose, though.

They were headed to the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Pantry that serves 650 families and 2,900 people every month.

"I wanted to keep them myself, but that wasn't the point," Koss joked, after delivering a few bags of beans to the pantry.

The Girl Scout troop rented a plot in the city's community gardens this year with the express purpose of trying to help less fortunate neighbors. They'd toured the pantry a few years ago and already were familiar with it, so when it came time to look for projects for this year, that seemed a logical choice, co-leader Diane Deahr said.

Instead of simply holding a food drive, they opted for a gift that keeps on giving: a vegetable garden.

"We try to teach the girls new stuff all the time," Deahr said. "We select some things they might not do with their parents: Some parents might not garden. And doing the community service is always important."

The fourth- and fifth-grade girls in Troop 192 from Mill Street School, though, did all the actual planning - and planting - themselves.

They opted for beans, squash, peppers, tomatoes and carrots. Twice weekly this summer, one troop member's family adopts the plot, doing whatever work is necessary, whether that's weeding, harvesting or watering.

They'll keep that up through October when the community gardens close.

And that's fine with the crew at Loaves and Fishes, where every little bit helps this summer. The pantry is struggling to provide food after losing about 5 tons in produce donations annually from Mayneland Farms. The farms are gone, and the land is being developed.

Last year, Loaves and Fishes received 14,844 pounds of fresh produce over the course of the Daily Herald Giving Garden campaign, which runs from July through October. In the first three weeks of this season, they had collected less than 100 pounds, marking a significant decline compared to the same time period in 2005.

The Girl Scout troop is just hoping to remain productive for the pantry throughout the season.

"Things are really looking good," Koss said of the garden.