Community Gardens and Greenspace Program

Starting in 1978, 38 sites were selected to accommodate 1,008 individual gardens for citizens who do not have land of their own.  The communities’ once vacant land is now beautified and maintained.

Almost one-half of the individual gardens are contained in two large sites made available on surplus land at Allegheny and Homewood Cemeteries.  Large garden sites are more efficient to administer and provide more social interaction among the gardeners.  Besides outdoor recreation, an average of $350 in fresh vegetables is produced on each garden plot.  There is a long waiting list for the gardens.  Smaller sites are also available with an average of 18 plots each.  They are more convenient for gardeners and serve the additional important function of beautifying vacant lots.  The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Robert Waters Fund were important foundation contributors to this highly successful program.

Today:

• More than 4,000 volunteers pitch in each year to plant and care for the 140 garden sites in 19 counties
  
  
• More than half of those volunteers are children and youth
  
  
• Each year more than 250,000 flowers are planted enough to make a flowerbed from Pittsburgh to the West Virginia border
  
  
• People donate more than 20,000 hours per year to plant and tend the gardens throughout the summer
  
  
• More than 3 million people per day see the results of all this volunteer work
  

Read more about the Community Garden and Greenspace Program.