For many people, the best part of summer in Maine is gardening. Despite the hardships of early, late and sometimes mid-season frosts, summertime hailstorms, deer, woodchucks, the occasional moose, and a head-spinning variety of diseases and insects, tens of thousands of Mainers take to the land every spring and plant gardens.

It is a wonder with the short growing season that we get a harvest at all. And yet we do.

That harvest often yields such magnificent abundance that it is more than we can use or even want.

For gardeners, summer is good; it is rich, fat and delicious. However, for a segment of Mainers, summer is often the leanest of times because the free and reduced school meals are not available, placing an additional strain on food budgets.

The USDA defines food insecurity as a limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate food. In Maine, 15.1 percent of the population (representing a few less than 199,000 people) is food insecure — the highest of the New England states as reported by Feeding America.

While there are federal programs such as food stamps and Women, Infants and Children to supplement food budgets of the food insecure, 43 percent of in-need Mainers do not qualify for any government programs.

That group frequently relies on food pantries and soup kitchens to augment diets. These organizations are typically run on minimal budgets and are open anywhere from daily to once per month. Due to budget limitations and sometimes a lack of refrigeration, the food choices offered are frequently limited to canned and processed foods, which do fill stomachs, but may not provide much nutrition.

I believe that home gardeners are an under-utilized resource in combating local hunger.

All of us have experienced the pang of regret when beans are left on the vine or zucchini is allowed to grow to the size of a piece of firewood because we didn’t need it.

It is time for home gardeners to step up to the plate and make a concerted effort to get their unwanted, high-quality fruits and vegetables into the hands of soup kitchens, food pantries and individuals in need in our communities.

Maine Harvest for Hunger is a statewide program administered by University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Its mission is to encourage people to donate unwanted, excess produce so that people in need have better access to healthy, nutritious food.

Since the program’s beginning in 1999, master gardener volunteers, farmers, civic groups and others across the state have donated more than 925,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to soup kitchens, group homes, food pantries and senior lunches, as well as donations directly to individuals. The goal for 2011 is to harvest and donate 250,000 pounds.

There are many ways for gardeners to contribute. Start by visiting http://umaine.edu./harvest-for-hunger/ to register with Maine Harvest for Hunger. The website contains useful information on where and how to donate produce, when to harvest for peak flavor and nutrition, and describes different methods for preserving the harvest.

In addition, individuals can report their donations and it will be reflected in the “vine growth” and count toward that 250,000-pound goal. Gardeners can compound their efforts by encouraging other gardeners they know to join as well.

People may also share their gardening enthusiasm and experience by mentoring at a local school garden, or by teaching a basic gardening course through the adult education offerings. People could choose to show a neighbor how to grow bushels of green beans, or become a University of Maine master gardener volunteer.

Providing the skills to grow a garden can provide long-term food security.

Gardeners could also volunteer to talk about hunger in their civic and community groups. I encourage people to learn about what is being done in their communities; where the gaps are and what can be done.

Hunger looks different today. People who appear to be getting by may be choosing between paying for medicine or food. People need to find out the facts and not rely on stereotypes.

Maine gardeners are good. We are capable of coaxing tons of fruits and vegetables from the soil over a very short period of time. With a bit of planning and forethought, we can ensure that less of it goes to waste and more of our neighbors share in the bounty.

Barbara Murphy is Extension educator for the Oxford County Cooperative Extension in South Paris.