Windsor Charity Garden

A garden in Windsor, California got a “jump start” on its growing process with a little help from Hydrofarm. After Ross Albertson planted the seeds for the non-profit Windsor Charity Garden, we couldn’t help but help. Albertson started the garden because he already owned the land and “thought it would be good to do something useful for the community with the property.”

A stroll through the garden takes wanderers by 30 different kinds of tomato plants, squash, zucchini, 10 kinds of pumpkins, peppers, herbs, flower, onions, and more. You may even encounter one of the farm’s resident 7 chickens, as well. “We’ve been using the Hydrofarm Jump Start systems with the humidity domes,” said Ross Albertson, the garden’s founder (and chief farmer). “They work great. We also use the Garden Wands and the clippers, and they are awesome.” Albertson is most excited about trying out some of Hydrofarm’s Soft Ties.

All products were donated at no cost to Albertson and his farm. “At Hydrofarm, we believe in investing in our community. While we only sell to retailers, we know that the people who shop at those retailers are doing an incredible job of promoting hydroponics and horticultural growth throughout the state of California,” said Zoanne Kuhlman, Hydrofarm’s National Director of Customer Service. “We love supporting projects such as the Windsor Charity Garden because it provides so much enjoyment for so many people.” Kuhlman enjoys the ongoing opportunity to work with the garden and potential other donees as a way to make a connection with non-hydroponic store end users in a more traditional gardening light. “Because Hydrofarm sells solely to retail operations, it’s a rare chance to truly reap the rewards of our products, which we work really hard to make at the absolute top of the line,” she says. “We welcome any opportunity to get our products into a garden and those gardeners into the local hydroponics stores.”

The Windsor Charity Garden has been able to donate 2,000 pounds of fresh vegetables over the past two years to food banks and local individuals. The garden also reaches beyond its boundaries by raising $5,000 for a well in Nigeria. Although Albertson states that in a downturned economy, it “seems like there’s not enough time and coordinating volunteers can be challenging,” he also is hard at work planning another non-profit farm and pursuing California’s Agropreneurship program for new farmers and ranchers. Hydrofarm salutes Ross Albertson and the Windsor Charity Garden, and hopes to help the organization achieve a record-breaking crop for 2012.

“Thank you again for you donation it energized us and got us really excited about this years garden. My wife and I have been covering almost all the expenses to build and maintain the garden these last two years, so receiving a donation was awesome. This will be the first year we will be under a non-profit status, so we are excited about being able to receive donations.”

Ross Albert