20 COMMUNITY GARDENS SELECTED FOR SUSTAINABILITY FUND
Twenty community food gardens in Allegheny County are about to get an upgrade, thanks to the Community Garden Sustainability Fund.
The Community Garden Sustainability Fund is a project of Grow Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. It provides support for existing gardens for projects that will make the gardens more sustainable. Some funded projects include rainwater catchment, soil testing, signage, fencing, shade structures and irrigation.
“Community gardeners are volunteers who work hard, often in addition to one or more jobs, because they see the value a garden can bring to a neighborhood,” said Rayden Sorock, Community Garden Manager at Grow Pittsburgh. “We are able to relieve a little of that burden by taking the pressure off in a small or large way so that gardeners are able to put their valuable energies towards creating the kinds of neighborhood projects they can be proud of.”
Christine gives a tour of the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church food pantry garden. The garden received a compost bin, tool storage box and a composting guide.
The following gardens received awards:
825 Bell Ave, North Braddock
Amity Harvest Community Garden, Homestead
Angora Gardens (MonYough Community Services), White Oak
Beechview Community Garden, Beechview
Borland Garden, East Liberty
EastField Community Garden, East Liberty
Elliott Community Garden, Elliott
Environmental Charter School Edible Schoolyard, Park Place
Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, Fox Chapel
Garden on Gearing, Beltzhoover
Greenock Elementary School Garden, Elizabeth Township
Hamnett Place Community Garden, Wilkinsburg
Hazelwood Food Forest, Hazelwood
Healing Garden of Larimer, Larimer
Masjid Al-Mu’min Madinah Garden, Larimer
Monticello Street Community Garden, Homewood
Natrona Grows Community Garden, Natrona
Pittsburgh Mennonite Church Grow Group Garden, Swissvale
Project Success: Urban Gardening, Larimer
Rosalinda Sauro Sirianni Memorial Garden, Bellevue
Grow Pittsburgh grows food in the city and brings fresh produce to communities that may otherwise go without. We do this through education, community gardens, and our own urban farms. Our educational programming spans all ages, with Edible Schoolyard programs at 5 elementary schools. We offer workshops for home gardeners and professionals alike. City Growers provides neighborhoods support and technical assistance for community gardens. Our production sites at the Frick, Shiloh Farms and Braddock Farms provide produce for the surrounding communities.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. The Conservancy creates green spaces and gardens, contributing to the vitality of our cities and towns, and preserves Fallingwater, a symbol of people living in harmony with nature.