Story and photo by Amber Waterman,Staff Photographer

LEEDS – On a sunny Maine afternoon, Wanda Braithwaithe-Baril, 42, wanders through rows of leafy Brussels sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, potatoes and onions, exclaiming “Look at the size of her beans! Ooh, look at that lettuce.”

Soon, the owner of the garden emerges from her small home set off the beaten path in Monmouth. She approaches Braithwaithe-Baril and her gigantic Malakin cockatoo, Caesar, who is running freely around the tilled soil.

“He won’t fly off, will he?” Francis Jenkins, 68, questions.

“Nope. His wings have been clipped. He’s my other co-pilot,” responds Braithwaithe-Baril, who says God is her lead co-pilot.

Braithwaithe-Baril was stopping by Jenkins’ home to check on the garden she helped plant through the Rural Community Action Ministry’s Gardening Program, which she coordinates. Weekly, she heads out to clients’ homes to see if there are any pest or growing problems.

“This is a hunger-prevention program that I feel very strongly about because I started out as a client in this program,” Braithwaithe-Baril says in her melodic voice. “This is not a handout, it’s a helping hand. It’s one thing for someone to say I’m hungry,’ and you give them food for their table. It’s another thing to give them a method to feed themselves and to sustain themselves through the rough times.”

“Everyone just loves Wanda,” says Jenkins. “I wouldn’t have a garden if they didn’t rototill it. It’s so important to me because it gives me something to do, and I like my fresh veggies.”

Program applicants receive seeds, seedlings, lumber for raised beds if needed, rototilling, education and site visits from Braithwaithe-Baril. After the season, the program also provides a workshop on canning.

“Each one, teach one; that’s what this program did for me,” says Braithwaithe-Baril, who benefited from the program when she moved to Maine from New York City and was struggling to feed herself and her children.

“One came out and worked with me and taught me how to grow my own food. It meant a lot to me as a proud woman. It’s immeasurable what it’s done for me. How can you measure giving me a way to feed myself and my family? I even taught my kids how to garden, so it’s one more generation I don’t have to worry about.”

Back in Jenkins’ garden, Braithwaithe-Baril is happy with the progress. She offers up vegetables that she and Caesar picked that morning from raised beds at RCAM’s office in Leeds. Only once does Braithwaithe-Baril squeal and run from a bug flying at her.

“That’s my thing this year – not running from bugs!”

RCAM serves 13 towns: Canton, Hartford, Sumner, Buckfield, Turner, Livermore, Wayne, Leeds, Greene, Sabattus, Wales, Monmouth and Litchfield. For more information about the program, people may call Braithwaithe-Baril at 524-5095 or visit its Web site at www.rcam.net.

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