Now the harvest is in for the nonprofit Grow and Share Whatley started last spring to help feed a community. From the efforts of Whatley and her husband, Frank, 100 people planted gardens and gave some of their bounty to struggling neighbors and food banks.

One thousand pounds of food was given away at the farm stand at Pilot Baptist Church last summer. And now the Whatleys have plans to build a second greenhouse at their home for 10,000 plants they plan to distribute next spring.

It all started during last fall's political season when speeches sprouted all around them. One of them by candidate Barack Obama took root, Whatley said.

"Obama said people have to make choices to pay bills or eat," said Whatley who recalled the candidate urging people to make a difference. "We picked this as our way of trying to make a change."

During lunch with a friend, Whatley talked about her idea of starting gardens. She used her considerable Internet experience from running her own company to get the word out.

First came the request to send seeds. She created a blog and blogged about it. She posted blogs on Web sites sympathetic to her cause. She posted announcements on Craig's List and Facebook. She twittered.

Seeds came rolling in from seed companies and farmers alike -- the farthest from an anonymous gardener in Greene, New York.

Two people donated old windows and Frank Whatley built their first greenhouse by recycling them.

"That's one of the things that's amazed us," said Whatley. "Every time we felt like we needed something, it's just come."

The Whatleys planted the seeds, and they grew, even seeds that were 10 years old.

When they posted the announcements that on April 25 Grow and Share was going to distribute plants, 100 people showed up to sign pledge cards to grow food and give it away.

Pilot Baptist Church offered to man a farm stand at the church to distribute food. And the people who needed it came. A woman undergoing chemotherapy who couldn't afford fresh vegetables her doctor said she needed got them at the farm stand, a story of need that was especially poignant for Whatley.

When the Whatleys held a music festival Labor Day weekend, seven bands donated their time. Volunteers from East Wake Academy sold raffle tickets and manned the booths for sno cones and admission to the bounce houses -- the fundraisers for the event.

When the kids at Long Mill Elementary School in Youngsville got involved by planting a garden, Old Castle Lawn and Garden of Louisburg donated three tons of organic soil. Now there are plans for students at Franklinton Elementary School to plant a garden this spring, hold an end-of-the-year picnic from what they've grown, and distribute the rest to a local senior center.

Even last weekend, Brownie Scouts came forward, looking to help. Whatley helped them start a potted garden.

The Whatleys want to have 1,000 gardeners next year to distribute all those new plants and already have a list of volunteers toward that goal. And this time next year, they want to help people learn to preserve what they've grown through canning.

"The first year, we were just trying to get as many people involved and as much food out there as possible then refine it moving forward," Whatley said.

If you want to help, call 269-5414 or e-mail Kay Whatley at info@growandshare.org.