A Goldmine for Gardeners

I take part in a community garden, in an alley in Deutschtown, and because we are all city dwellers, wheelbarrows and gardening tools are in short supply. We needed some of these things for a spring cleanup, and I went to Construction Junction, but they were cleaned out of garden tools. I was minutes away from buying a wheelbarrow to maybe use four times a year, and some implement to cut back ornamental grasses that had grown way too big.

I thought perhaps Grow Pittsburgh, who has encouraged urban gardening in a hundred ways; surely would have some resources. And I struck it rich.

Grow Pittsburgh has created a Garden Resource Center, where gardeners who join can borrow, yes borrow, rakes, shovels, power equipment, gloves, wheelbarrows, and tools you didn’t know existed. There’s more; members receive free woodchips, compost, mulch, straw, and organic amendments for your soil, so many bucketfuls a month. There are free seeds and a library of ‘how to’ books on everything you need to know about starting and maintaining a garden.

On my first visit, Jeremy Fleishman the coordinator, was explaining how to use a rototiller to a young woman, before he helped her load it into the back of her car, along with a container of gasoline to run it. When he finished, he took time to show us all the tools and supplies, and helped me load a garden cart, easier to use than a wheelbarrow, and a great new Fiskars tool to tackle the dried grasses I wanted to cut down. He gave us, my gardening friend Jyoti and me, lots of advice about using the tools and taking advantage of all the benefits of membership. When I returned my tools a week later, I met a helpful volunteer, Annie Dunn, who is one of eight Repair the World Fellows who have spent the last year in Pittsburgh, doing useful work on many fronts. Annie's’ work has centered on food, hunger and urban gardens. When her year ends in July, she wants to stay in this city she has grown so fond of.

The Garden Resource Center is located in Larimer, at 147 Putnam Street, and this will be their third year. Larimer was chosen as the location because there is a lot of gardening activity in the neighborhood. You can find out more about it at: http://www.growpittsburgh.org/garden-resource-center/

I’ve been a big fan of Grow Pittsburgh, since I saw the way they have turned several vacant blocks in Braddock into a thriving garden that serves the residents of Braddock with a farm stand every week, and supplies restaurants in Pittsburgh with organic vegetables during the growing season. Now, I have another reason to love Grow Pittsburgh.

Bette McDevitt is a member of the Editorial Collective, and a gardener.

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