A county wide doorbell ditch game for women has become popular throughout Mendocino County. The group Mendo Dash a Plant and Go was started on Facebook by Angel Rhodes June 8 and has grown to almost 600 members two weeks later. The timing for such a group to bloom couldn’t be better as many residents are in need of some cheer after months of being under Shelter-in-Place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also spurred a Victory Garden Movement with more people gardening than most years.
The game is simple, after being added to the private Facebook group, members post a personal bio that includes their address and description of what kind of plants they like; flowers, trees, vegetables, indoor or outdoor. Rhodes said she created the spending cap at $10-$75 however if someone would like to join, they could dash plants they started themselves without needing to spend any money. Members can invite their friends to join the group via Facebook and all are encouraged to post a picture of the plants they receive. As the group administrator, Rhodes keeps a list of whom is dashing whom, to ensure that every member is getting dashed and no one is left out, which she says is quite time consuming. Linda King stepped in to help Rhodes run the group as membership continued to grow. Despite the time commitment, Rhodes said, “It’s fun, it been awesome too. I will continue to keep doing it, I’m enjoying it.”
Rhodes said she was got the idea to start the group after being part of another similar group on Facebook. Dahvi Hooper dashed Rhodes from the Facebook group Mendo Dash and Go and left a garden basket with a house plant and Rhodes was inspired to start a group solely for dashing plants.
Rhodes said, “It’s been really uplifting for women. With all this covid and depressing times going on in the world, it definitely seems to help a lot of people.” Judging by the Facebook posts, the group has indeed brought joy to many women throughout Mendocino County. Members often describing getting dashed as making their day.
Aside from lifting spirits, Rhodes said there are environmental benefits to spreading plants throughout the community. She said, “It helps nature out…it makes everything look better again. So, it’s giving back to the earth at the same time, too.”
The final guideline for the group, as described on Facebook is, “Please be kind and courteous, respect everyone’s privacy and absolutely no hate speeches or bullying. Just peace and love her.”
Rhodes grew up gardening in Redwood Valley and said when she and her husband bought a house in Willits, she converted the front yard into a vegetable garden because she said she didn’t want to waste the money watering a lawn. She also built nine big garden boxes in the back yard. Living down the street from Sparetime Supply, Rhodes jokes about her addiction to the store and said, “I’m there all the time.”