Gov. Beverly Perdue did a little digging in the dirt between meetings today, planting a few collards outside the Executive Mansion.

The greens will be donated to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, reports Lynn Bonner. Cabbage is also going into the freshly tilled soil at the corner of Person and Jones streets.

The early-morning gardening publicized a national "Plant a Row for the Hungry" campaign, which encourages gardeners to plant extra food for donation.
Perdue's husband, Bob Eaves, an apparent speed-gardener, got quite a few plants in the ground.

The campaign runs until the end of the month, and collards take about 60 days to mature. But the plants do fine in cool weather, and Jill Staton Bullard, food shuttle CEO, said they'll be happy to take them when they're ready.