Beautiful Bounty, Beautiful City
Urban areas around the country are being enriched through community gardens. In many cases, these beautiful, bountiful urban gardens sustain the gardener and add much-needed green space. They also support residents who suffer from food insecurity.
The Highland Park Community Garden is a fantastic community garden known as an allotment garden.
The Highland Park Community Garden, located in a historic suburban-like neighborhood in the northeastern part of Pittsburgh, was established more than fifty years ago by immigrants from Italy. They brought seeds from their region and started growing tomatoes, garlic, squash, broccoli rabe, and fig trees.
The Highland Park Community Garden is large, containing roughly 40 parcels approximately 25’ x 25’ in size.
The urban garden is captivating to see with its varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers growing. The tall sunflowers, zinnias, milkweed, morning glories, and various fruits and vegetables add so much color. The garden includes several raised beds, arches, and trellises, as well as several water spouts and a composting area.
Individuals and family gardeners can rent or adopt specified areas to grow their food in the community garden.
The process to become a grower is pretty simple, and is available to novice and experienced growers alike. The garden requiring agriculturists to enroll, sign an agreement to follow garden rules, maintain the garden plot, and pay a nominal fee for three years to the City of Pittsburgh. Availability of these small spaces varies throughout the year and wait lists are common.
Gardeners who participate can choose to make their produce available for residents to take as needed. It’s truly inspiring to see neighbors helping neighbors!
Grow Pittsburgh is a 501c3 charitable nonprofit organization and an excellent resource about the value of community and urban gardens.
According to Grow Pittsburgh, community gardens deliver the following benefits to the city:
- Reduces food insecurity
- Attracts and repairs habitats for pollinators
- Eliminates food deserts
- Improves on the idea of essential nutrition from growing fresh fruit and vegetables
- Teaches individuals and families how they can save money on their food bill as a 10×20 foot lot could produce up to $700 annually
- Creates a gathering place for people in the community to come together with a shared interest in growing food
If you live in an urban area and want to get involved in creating a community garden, contact your city’s Department of Public Works. Read our blog to learn more about how you can improve urban life.
