R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Planting with a Purpose founder Joe Pokladowski, left, and Tony’s Green Thumb co-owner Caroline Picard hold up a cucumber basket that has already sprouted flowers and cukes. Edible plants that Tony’s does not sell are donated to Pokladowski’s nonprofit and distributed to local food pantries.

BARK RIVER — Joseph Pokladowski, Jr. is the founder of Planting with a Purpose, a nonprofit that donates fresh produce to food pantries in the Escanaba area. It was modeled after the Green Bay-based Planting for a Purpose, which Pokladowski also helped kick off. While the Wisconsin initiative is a program that began through Brown County Community Gardens and Green Bay Packers Give Back, the Upper Peninsula equivalent is made possible by Tony’s Green Thumb and Pokladowski’s own farm, both of which are located in Bark River.

At present, Tony’s Green Thumb is owned by Caroline Picard; her husband, Pat Picard; and her brother, John Hahn. Jr. They have 17 greenhouses, but when Tony Quist started growing on the site, there was only one, and he was 10 years old. Quist said the operation grew every year.

Pokladowski said he has felt a tie with the business since he used to ride his bike to Tony’s as a kid, filling a wooden tray on the back with vegetables and flowers before pedaling back home to downtown Bark River.

Years later, Pokladowski was involved with community gardens in Green Bay, where he and others had recognized that at food pantries, there was a lack of fresh vegetables. People with food insecurity were given sustenance, but not proper nutrition.

“When you (are) down on your luck, you need a balanced diet that can support a healthy immune system and extra energy needed to cope with stressful events,” reads the Planting with a Purpose website.

According to Green Bay Packers Community Outreach Manager Amanda Wery, a formal proposal from what at the time was Brown County UW Extension reached the Packers in 2016 with a few concepts for a sort of “plant-a-row” program that would provide contributing gardeners with materials and information about donating a portion of their yields. That became Planting for a Purpose.

“Typically when we get involved with a program, we try to help bring awareness to it, get it up and going and then have it carry on,” Wery explained.

After gaining momentum thanks to funding from the Green Bay Packers Give Back and enthusiasm from people like Pokladowski, Planting for a Purpose continues to operate in Wisconsin.

Working just out of community gardens, though, means limited space.

“Three years ago, I started Planting with a Purpose,” said Pokladowski, pointing out that the different preposition in the name separates it from the other: Planting with a Purpose, a transparent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is registered in Bark River and operates in the U.P.

“Majority of the food comes from up here, so I’m slowly transitioning up here,” said Pokladowski. He has a plot of 13 acres, plans to add another six this year, and keeps space at Tony’s Green Thumb, where he also works.

Tony’s Green Thumb donates all their produce that doesn’t sell — and they grow a wide variety, from artichokes to ghost peppers to 24 species of tomato — to the nonprofit, and Pokladowski distributes it to charities and people in need, like elderly neighbors who are unable to drive to the grocery store.

“We partner with him for the vegetables, and then for the flowers … Cindy Bedard has a crew of people that goes and actually donates all those flowers that are leftover. It could be the poor, it could be assisted living places,” said Caroline, pointing out that “need” can take different forms. They unofficially call the flower donation “Planting for a Reason.”

Pokladowski said that he appreciates Seventh-Day Adventist “because they’ll find a home for everything … When it’s about time for it to start going bad, they’ll put it next door to the nature store for people to grab for free.

“Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay does something similar,” Pokladowski added. “If it goes bad, they’ll give it to a pig farm, and the pig farm donates pork, so nothing goes to waste.”

He said that he’s been learning more about what can be done with food from members of the Hmong and Vietnamese population in Green Bay. “The first thing they’ll tell you is Americans are so wasteful,” Pokladowski said. “They’re taking tips of like, squash — you can sauté it. Or tips of the pea plant. It’s actually better and you don’t have to shell the peas.”

He added that he’s recently partnered with a chef from Rooted In Inc. to provide recipe ideas, since there are some vegetables people have limited knowledge around or are entirely unfamiliar with.

The first year of operation, Pokladowski said, Planting with a Purpose donated 386 pounds of produce. In 2022, they gave away 4,000 pounds. Last year, he reported, the total donated was 6,500 pounds — that’s three-and-a-quarter tons of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Pokladowski has over 200 young trees that, when mature, will bear apples, plums, peaches, apricots, pears and nectarines. He hopes to in the near future create a self-sustaining cider mill that will contribute to the mission.

At present, he just has a portion that is fenced-in. Last year, someone donated fencing, and the area increased. In addition to fencing and posts, farming equipment, supplies and unwanted plants and seeds are accepted for donation at Planting with a Purpose, 2792 F Rd., Bark River.

Extra hands during harvesting and planting times are useful, and Pokladowski encourages engagement online: Planting with a Purpose is active on Facebook, and the general website is plantingwithapurpose.com.