It's literally a growing hobby.

And the state is hoping to grow your garden plot even bigger this year.

Ag Reporter Sarah Gustin has the story.

3 out of 4 of you don't eat enough fruits and vegetables

And many aren't eating at all. (Steve Sellent / Lutheran Social Services Great Plains Foodbank) "More than half of the almost 50 thousand people served by charitable feeding programs here in North Dakota reported eating less than they thought they should because they didn't have enough food. 1/4 of adults skipped meals almost every month with 29 % not eating for a whole day at times often in order to make sure that their kids could eat." Many North Dakotans go hungry everyday

Now our state is trying to change that

Hunger Free ND Gardens are a part of the state department of Agriculture's local food initative

Gardeners are being encouraged to plant an extra plot this summer to help fill our state's food pantries with fresh produce

(Steve Sellent / Lutheran Social Services Great Plains Foodbank) "I can say it probably is our single biggest dietary gap in the food that is being provided to clients at food shelves, homeless shelters and soup kitchens." The goal: 500,000 pounds of food. The hope: to improve diets through cooking, canning and education

(Dwight Duke / Farmers Market Grower) "When somebody told me 500-thousand pound of vegeables, 1/2 million pounds being produced in the state. I thought that sound like quite bit, but then I thought of times that I got ot market carrying thousands of pounds in the back of my truck and sometimes maybe I don't sell out. thisis an opporunity to bring these to Ruth Meier's house or any place that needs some vegeables and drop them off." (Karen Ehrens / Dietician) "It's going to be good not only for the physical health of the people receiving the fruits and vegetables, but also the physical health of the people who are growing the vegetables because being out in a garden is a great way to get some real physical activity in your lives. And it's also good for the emotional health, not only will the people receiving the food benefit, but also the people giving the food." The state is hoping that farmers starting plants in greenhouses and the canning education will help extend the length of time fruits and vegetables can be offered on the shelves

In Bismarck for KX News I am Sarah Gustin.

For more information about gardening for a Hunger Free ND...you can contact the department of agriculture at 328-4763 or e-mail Sue Balcom at sue balcom @nd dot gov. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list