More people becoming interested in gardening
The Flenniken Public Library in Carmichaels has had a community garden since 2014. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Mitchell)
Many different produce items will be planted in the Flenniken Public Library’s community garden this year. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Mitchell)
Courtesy of Nicole Mitchell
Courtesy of Nicole Mitchell
The Flenniken Library Community Garden features eight raised beds.
Volunteers plant vegetables at Uniontown’s Hunger Garden in May. (Submitted photo)
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Rebecca Ambrosini made a recent trip to the grocery store and bought bananas, plums, cherries and oranges.
The price – $26.
“I just could not believe it,” said Ambrosini, a Connellsville resident who runs Fayette County’s Seed to Supper Program. “Anybody on a fixed income is not going to be able to eat fruits and vegetables.
Prices such as that, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, have been key factors in leading more people toward gardening.
“It really started last year,” Ambrosini said. “After the pandemic, people were shut in for a long time. People wanted to start to learn how to put gardens in. There’s been an uptick for sure.”
Cheryl Brendel, Penn State Extension master gardener coordinator for Greene County, said a lot of master gardeners across the state are seeing more people taking an interest in gardening.
“The pandemic hit, and people needed something to do,” she said. “A lot of people are really just starting, trying to ask more questions about gardening. We have 67 county master garden programs and pretty much everyone has said they’ve seen an increase.”
There are many advantages to being involved in gardening, not the least of which is the money that can be saved as grocery prices continue to skyrocket.
“It cuts my grocery budget down,” Brendel said. “It’s work, but it’s relaxing. It’s profitable. If you plant it right, you don’t have to put a lot of money into a garden.”
Laura Delach, Penn State Extension master gardener coordinator for Washington County, said the average price for a tomato plant is about $4 and, if done right, will bear “pounds of tomatoes.”
Delach likes to plant vegetables that may not be commonly found at farmer’s markets, such as celeriac, yellow beans, spinach, Swiss chard, kale and radishes.
“You’re growing your own food,” she said. “You also get exercise. Mentally, it helps when your outside more. Your mental health is better.”
There are programs available to help people get started in gardening.
Delach said the Peters Township Library recently hosted a program that offered instruction in preparing and planting the garden, which was attended by 25 to 30 people. Subsequent programs are planned in the coming months.
There’s also Seed to Supper, a series of beginning gardening classes. The program’s curriculum originated in Oregon. With permission, Penn State Master Gardeners adapted the program to fit the needs of Pennsylvania gardeners.
In Greene County, it started at the Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Waynesburg. Six two-hour classes about gardening were provided.
“We’re teaching them how to supplement their restricted funds for groceries,” Brendel said. “They get a manual for gardening and they get hands-on teaching. We teach them specific things about gardening.”
The Fayette County program involves a partnership with Fayette County Community Action.
“That class teaches everything from starting seeds to harvest and in between and about bugs and pests and disease and what to do about it and how to garden on a budget,” Ambrosini said. “Fayette County is a food desert to begin with, so we partnered with Community Action to not only teach the class, but to also put community gardens across Fayette County.”
One such garden is Uniontown’s Hunger Garden, which state Rep. Matt Dowling said was started about four years ago.
“Our intention was to bring attention to food insecurities,” Dowling, R-Uniontown, explained. “Food insecurities focus on not having the right foods that are affordable rather than not having food at all. We tried to address that by putting the garden in. It’s a dual purpose both to provide food and to bring attention to the issue of food insecurities.”
Dowling said Republic Food Enterprises brought plants to be planted in the garden this year.
“We have everything from lettuce to strawberries,” Dowling said. “We also have some herbs in the garden.”
All that the garden yields is donated to the Fayette Community Action food bank.
“We have some people that will stop and take something from the garden with them or we do a harvest every couple of weeks and take that to Community Action,” Dowling said.
Firefly Gardens, located behind the Freedom Transit Center on East Chestnut Street in Washington, has half of its space set up for food production and workshops on how to grow plants, while the other half has a native plant demonstration garden.
“We’re really just getting into our first full year of growing,” explained Pam Kilgore, Firefly Gardens director, adding that planting at the site didn’t really start until the middle of July 2021. “This will be our first full season of growing and workshops.”
Kilgore said items planted in the garden include tomatoes, spinach, kale, lettuce and cilantro. She also has plans for an herb garden in the summer.
“I’m hoping to get some of the potted herbs that I’ve grown in the greenhouse to some of the downtown businesses to serve as kind of a way to fund-raise for the garden,” Kilgore said.
All surplus Firefly Gardens produce will be donated to the Community Circle Food Pantry.
Kiilgore, like many others, also has noticed the increase in home gardens.
“I have heard that and also have spoken with friends and family who have increased their gardening at home because of the pandemic,” she said. “People realized when the grocery stores had shortages of meat and produce that being more self-sufficient might be something to look into.”
Flenniken Public Library in Carmichaels has had a community garden since 2014. It was recently renovated in conjunction with Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Nicole Mitchell, the library’s executive director, said the garden has eight raised beds and a rock garden where people can paint inspirational messages.
“It’s open to absolutely everyone,” Mitchell said. “All of the food that is produced from the garden will be in the library on the table in the entryway for people to take. We’re trying to get more buzz about the garden being out there. We’re trying to get more people to use it.”
Mitchell said a past grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank allowed for the planting of two blueberry bushes, a peach tree and two apple trees.
“They should be producing fruit this year,” she said. “It’s free to the community. It’s open to everybody. Everybody can come and help and everybody can come and eat it.”
The library also is starting a seed catalog for people to be able to get seeds to plant.
“It’s good for everybody’s mental health,” Ambrosini said of gardening. “It gives you purpose. It gives you something to do. You get to see something grow, then you’re able to eat the produce.”