Elaine Seaman, left, and Terry Pinck,

Members of the Garden Club of Lehigh Acres began a project about 30 days ago to beautify the front and side of the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry home at 1418 Homestead Rd. on the corner of Shady St. And the work continued last week with more mulch and plantings.

Club members Elaine Seaman, who is the president of the organization, and Terry Pinck, who is the vice president of the group, started early Friday morning before the heat of the day, working around the house and helping to spread more mulch that was brought by the truckload to the site by Kevin Valvez of Lehigh. He belongs to both the garden club doing the landscaping and to the Lehigh Acres Edible Garden Exchange as do other members of the club.

“We come out in our work clothes put the gloves on and start to work,” Pinck said. “We are here usually a couple of hours and we are gone by 10 or so before the weather gets too warm.”

Even by starting out early in the mornings, doing such work as pulling weeds, spreading mulch and planting can bring on the sweat as witnessed this past Friday morning.

Among those helping this past week was Valvez’s wife, Mona.

Shown from left to right are, Elaine Seaman, Terry Pinck, Mona Valvez, and Kevin Valvez.

Club President Seaman said all the new plantings, and there are at least 40 or more, came from the yards of members of the garden club. And many of those plants had been started by clippings from an original plant and planted and grew to the point where they could be transplanted.

The house is two doors from the Christ United Methodist Church and the food pantry inside serves about 6,000 people a month who come there to get food and clothes. Many of those are without jobs and others are in need due to the sour economy.

“We want to make it attractive for the visitors who come to get food and supplies,” Pinck said. Valvez, who is a landscaper by trade, said they were trying to show the public how gardening can be beautiful and gardening can supply food.

Behind the house young plants are thriving after having been planted several weeks ago. The backyard produce will supplement the food that is given away inside.

Valvez owns Kevin’s Landscaping in Lehigh and is more than happy to answer landscaping questions. He has some 30 years of experience and can talk about any type of plantings. He said is always happy to answer questions about the best time to plant, how to trim plants, etc., by phone if people want to call. He can be reached at 954-243-0183.

Pinck said that when members of the garden club began their project to beautiful the yard of the house, they removed some of the overgrown shrubs and trimmed others so that they would become more attractive.

Pinck also offered tips to gardeners. She said it is wise to plant such bushes as hibiscus closer to the house than out in the middle of the yard. She noted that during the winter, the plant is more likely to survive if it planted near the house because heat will radiate from the exterior of the house. Out in the middle of the yard, the plant may be harmed by frost and freezing temperatures. For the past couple of years, Southwest Florida has been experiencing colder winters so it is important for gardeners to plant wisely and know which are more likely to survive frost and cold weather.

Pinck said members of the club will keep a look out weekly either by stopping or driving by.

“We’ll make sure things are watered and we will make sure that the weeds don’t shoot up,” she said.

For those driving by the house, it is noticeable that the appearance has been greatly enhanced.

And that is what makes members of the garden club happy. That is what they say they enjoy, knowing they have made something beautiful for people to see.