Ormsby Community Garden Photo Gallery

South Side Community Council along with community volunteers worked at Ormsby Park to create a Community Garden. The garden is for the children that attend Ormsby Recreation Center’s summer camp and after school programs. Volunteers spent every Saturday in June, July, and August 2021 working the 60′ by 26′ space. The old raised beds were removed from the area and all of the grass was hand shoveled out. Bandi Schaum Community Garden in the South Side Slopes lent a tiller to till the dirt, then the dirt was covered with cardboard, donated by Thick Bikes, to block future weeds. Fencing, funded by Councilman Bruce Kraus, was added to the existing fence to close in the garden. The existing pavers, along with new ones donated by Sota Construction, were used as a boarder around the fence, walkway and the tree. A stone bench was placed over the manhole cover and painted bricks donated by Leslee Sue Gremba were placed around the tree. Bob Stirling from Stirling Landscape and nursery center in Butler, donated a load of dirt for the garden. While Paul Miller from Paul Miller Landscaping and Lawncare offered to haul the dirt from Butler to the South Side. When Mr. Miller decided that we needed more dirt he bought and hauled two more loads of dirt for the garden. A grant from Grow Pittsburgh provided all the gardening tools and equipment that volunteers will use in the garden and the local Starbucks donated coffee grounds for compost. Summer of 2022 was our first year of planting. We had a bountiful harvest and every Tuesday was Harvest Night, where neighbors could stop by Ormsby and grab vegetables. We are always in need of volunteers to help plant with the children of Ormsby, water and weed. 

This photo gallery shows the transformation of the garden area from start to finish.