This Gardener Feeds Her Community: Here's How You Can Too
Homestead Helping Hands (HHH) is a grassroots non-profit organization established in 2024 dedicated to combating food insecurity in Western Massachusetts. In this article, small-scale farmer Jenna Rich reflects on her conversation with Sierra Bottum, a busy homesteading mother of three who intentionally grows extra food to share. Sierra shows us how community-minded growing can be built into gardens of all shapes and sizes.
While not without challenges, this lifestyle has introduced long-lasting friendships, local food security, and personal growth. Keep reading to learn about how Sierra got started and the challenges she and her family have overcome. She shares tips on feeding families in your community, and we share products that will help you follow in her footsteps.
How It All Began
It all started in summer 2023, when Sierra put a folding table of non-perishables at the end of her driveway. Her friend, Mary, had extras from a liquidation company that donated items nearing expiration. After quickly seeing her community’s need, Sierra continued to offer food from her gardens that was more than her family could consume and preserve.
Her simple food pantry quickly outgrew the table, so she and her husband built a temporary canvas shed to house more. Unfortunately, in the fall of 2024, raccoons chewed through the makeshift door and tore through food boxes. They needed a more permanent solution.
Luckily, a retired neighbor offered up his old milk parlor, featuring refrigeration and heat, which Sierra was thrilled to take advantage of. This building allowed them to provide boxed food, refrigerated items, and fresh microgreens just in time for the holiday season.
How They Plan What and How Much to Grow
Fresh produce is gone within 24 hours, so the demand is clear. Sierra is expanding the homestead in spring and summer 2025 by adding more plants to her family’s garden. She wisely selects crops that produce in abundance and are easy to cook with. She says, “What’s a few more plants?”
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, continued growth will depend on grant funding and the willingness of volunteers to help tend the gardens by weeding, controlling pests, and harvesting.
Challenges Overcome
The only downside of the milk parlor space is that it’s further off the main road, which makes it tricky for people to reach, especially the large elderly population and those without vehicles.
On top of this, the closest chain grocery store is about 30 minutes from Sierra’s small town. To reduce the burden of travel for community members who don’t have access to a vehicle, she says it makes more sense to her to bring the food and supplies right to the town.
Start-up and maintenance costs may also be seen as a challenge. Sierra and her family have shouldered costs associated with state filings, food pick-ups, seeds, and pantry shelter. However, she sees this as part of fulfilling the mission of Homestead Helping Hands and remains optimistic and cheerful.
Key Benefits of Starting a Non-Profit
Feeding local families has many benefits, from connecting with community members, to tax write-offs that help offset costs, personal growth and satisfaction, and supporting a sustainable, food-secure community.
Personal Satisfaction
Sierra has always been driven to give back to her community and says volunteering comes naturally to her. After becoming a mother, she dove even deeper into helping her community when she saw a need.
She sees the homestead as an easy way to help, especially with her love of growing food and, “if I can’t find a way, make a way” attitude. She believes no one should go without a healthy meal and wants to see people in her community thrive.
Sierra and her husband often hear of families being positively impacted by the food they provide, but one in particular made her pause.
A community member approached them and shared that he’d been living off the food he picked up from their homestead and struggled when they temporarily closed their doors. His story made Sierra even more determined to provide regular, healthy food to her community.
Community Engagement
Sierra is constantly moved by community members who reach out and ask how they can help. While she feels confident that she can grow fresh produce with the help of her kids and husband, she’ll need more volunteers as the homestead expands (along with her to-do list) over the next few years.
When the HHH non-profit formed a Facebook page to stay in contact with their patrons, Sierra had the idea to solicit requests for plant starts before she began sowing. She quickly updates the page when new products arrive so individuals in need know what is available.
Staying in close touch with community members helps the whole operation thrive.
Raising Awareness and Building Local Food Security
Sierra gained gardening knowledge and a wide range of cultural education throughout childhood as her military family frequently traveled.
Throughout these travels, she learned to love gardening and providing for her family by preserving, canning, and freezing the food they grew. After an unexpected situation raised concerns about her family’s food security, she grew more aware of gardening as a mission.
Now, Sierra's goals include educating community members on how to grow food, save seeds, and preserve food to help build confidence in anyone experiencing food insecurity.
She realizes that people are incredibly disconnected from where their food comes from and wants to help change that.
Teaching children how to start seeds, transplant them, prune, weed, harvest, and save seeds for the future will ensure that families can provide for themselves, bolster local food security, and keep fresh food on family tables.
The long-term goal is to raise enough money to secure a plot of land that will expand their efforts and include a community center with a shared community garden, too.
The community center will serve as a donation center for fresh and non-perishable foods, as well as a space to gather and learn. They’ll host workshops and teach the community about resources like SNAP benefits, which patrons can use at local farmers’ markets and grocery stores.
Tax Deductions
Non-profit organizations strive to further their mission or social cause and are exempt from certain taxes and fees. Sierra has secured a non-profit status through her state, although she prefers the term “community-focused.” However, HHH needs to secure a 501c(3) status from the federal government before they can benefit from certain tax deductions or apply for federal grants.
A state filing for non-profit status costs around $100, depending on your state and the value of products given away yearly. An IRS Form 1023 filing for 501c(3) carries a fee of $600. If you don’t anticipate over $50,000 in annual earnings (donations), those applying for the status can fill out Form 1023 EZ for just $275.
Considerations for Managing a Non-Profit
Sierra loves growing for her community, but the work comes with a handful of ongoing challenges and commitments. .
Managing Time, Labor, and Growing Space
Sierra handles all personal interactions at her pantry while homeschooling her kids. She thrives on routine, proactively preparing snacks and meals for her family each week. Prepping this way allows them to stay organized while working for the community.
Time management is one of Sierra’s strong suits, so she’s confident she can grow the space and produce more food while continuing to care for herself and her family. As food production increases, she’ll eventually need volunteers to help.
Additional and Rising Costs
Like many of us, Sierra is concerned with the rising costs of running a homestead and small-scale garden, but she remains optimistic and focused on the mission. While she currently purchases all the necessary seeds and supplies for her gardens, she wouldn’t turn down donations for these critical items.
The most significant costs that concerns Sierra are the costs of purchasing a community space, as well as the insurance that will be required once volunteers start helping out on-site and doing drop-offs and pick-ups.
Connecting With Food Banks
Sierra started Homestead Helping Hands through connections with friends who were already receiving donations from a local food pantry. Now that she has her feet fully immersed, she’s working to secure partnerships with big-box retailers and local grocery stores in her region.
By connecting with grocery stores, bakeries, and other local businesses, she hopes to help them eliminate food and product waste while fulfilling philanthropic and community-centered goals.
Record-Keeping
Sierra knows that recording donations is crucial to keeping her non-profit in good standing. She has a great tip for tracking what comes through the door.
On days when large donations come in, the primary goal is sorting through them, putting them out, and making them available for patrons, not recording them. Her hack has been to snap photos when items arrive, then record them later when her children have gone to bed and she has a moment to herself.
As she secures more regular donations from local grocers and chain stores, she’ll remain organized by tracking everything in a spreadsheet. Concise record-keeping and data control is critical for future grant applications.
Potential for Overcommitment
We all have a lot going on that keeps our to-do lists packed and our days busy, and Sierra is no exception. She homeschools two of her three children, manages weekly pantry pick-ups and drop-offs, and is the public face of her organization.
However, Sierra is confident that her community members and local farmers will step up and help as the homestead expands. Folks already stop by, donate produce and eggs from their farms, and reach out to ask how they can help.
When I asked Sierra if she feared overcommitting, she recounted her extreme love and devotion to her community and stated that, since she was already out in the garden with her kids and husband, a few more plants wouldn’t require much extra time. She feels supported by her family and not alone in this endeavor.
Tips for Getting Started
Growing food to help friends and neighbors is challenging, rewarding, and heart-warming. Are you ready to explore the world of growing food for your local community? It may seem daunting and impossible, but Sierra says it takes just a few moments of courage to start.
It all started with a folding table and a homemade “free food” sign for Homestead Helping Hands. If your community needs this type of business, you can do it, too. Sierra shared some tips for kick-starting your journey.
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She reminds us, “It doesn’t have to be a big thing to make a big impact.”
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Start simply. If you don’t feel you can do it alone, consider partnering with an existing key club, church, or garden club whose mission involves helping their community. If you have the idea and the plan, people will step up to support you.
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Don’t underestimate the power of free fresh flowers. Members of Sierra’s community sometimes appreciate this pick-me-up as much as the donated non-perishables and fresh veggies.
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If you can grow a few extra plants, select long-season crops that thrive in abundance, such as summer squash, zucchini, winter squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
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If you’re a farmer with extra produce, eggs, yogurt, or other goods, offering them to community members could be life-changing.
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Donating vegetable garden starts can be life-changing for individuals who can’t afford to purchase them. Through shared generosity, these individuals can start a garden to help feed themselves and their families. Continued education will help them gain confidence each year.
Learn how local food hubs address food insecurity by reading How Food Hubs Can Help Local Foods Get to Market.
High-Quality Products That Maximize Growing Space
Bootstrap Farmer has the products you need to install a structure that will protect your crops from harsh weather and pests and get you started in Sierra’s footsteps. Our all-metal round hoop house kit, gothic all-metal hoop house kit, and all-metal caterpillar tunnel kit with butterfly doors are great options to consider when looking for more space.
Our extensive collection of seed-starting supplies will last for years and help you stay organized when seeding and transplanting. Here are some of our favorites:
Please call or email us at 888-406-1982 or contact@bootstrapfarmer.com with any questions.
Related: Seed starter kits & bundles
Many of the seeds Sierra grows in her garden have been passed down by her grandfather, who inspired her love for gardening and still collects seeds at age 77. She says they produce healthier and more productive plants than the seeds she’s able to order, and the fruits are delicious.
When I asked her if she knew what varieties they were, she told me her grandfather calls them the big boy, striped, purple, and yellow cherry, to name a few. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to get my hands on some of those seeds.
Tools to Extend the Giving Season
High-quality essential tools like shovels, rakes, broadforks, weed cultivators, and hand tools are must-haves on a homestead and farm. A few we can’t live without are a broadfork, hoop bender, harvest knives, and ergonomic pruners. Related: Tools
Supplies That Grow With You
Gardeners who’ve dipped their toes into market gardening or expanding their homesteads already know how invaluable high-quality products and protected growing spaces are. Bootstrap Farmer offers a range of products that will last for years as your gardens develop.
A long-time farmer once said to me, “Buy what you need, not what you can afford,” which might sound easier said than done when you’re looking at the bank account, but it’s some of the best advice I’ve received as a young farmer.
Align your annual farm purchases and infrastructure projects with your two-to-five year farm goals. This includes grow bags for crops like potatoes, peppers, and herbs, 100-gallon fabric raised beds for flowers, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, and DIY portable low tunnel kits for season extension.
Sierra’s homestead utilizes homemade compost for vegetable starts, purchases the seeds from her own pocket, and has paid for the required state and federal filings. However, receiving donations or funding for high-quality seed-starting tools and supplies will help Sierra save on annual costs and allow her to provide more. If you’d like to help Sierra and her family continue providing food for their community, consider donating to their GoFundMe page or contact them at Homesteadhelpinghands@gmail.com.
Written by Jenna Rich | Partners’ Gardens LLC.