Urban Gardens

Vacant lots, old tires, wooden boxes are not the typical images that come to mind when visualizing gardens or small farms. But those are precisely what is being used in local areas of Pittsburgh for gardens.

Ladora Way Urban Farm
Ladora Way Hazelwood

Carrots, tomatoes, beets, berries, and corn are just a few of the beautiful crops popping up around Pittsburgh in abandoned lots, large wooden boxes and painted tires.  Recently Pittsburgh has turned a new leaf in local food production. Grow Pittsburgh and The Pittsburgh Urban Garden Project are just two of the local organizations teaching urbanites to grow their own food by helping start local gardens in their very own yards and neighborhoods.  Many areas of Pittsburgh are food deserts or have limited access to fresh food, so learning to grown their own food in abandon lots and backyards helps provide healthy nourishment that would otherwise be hard to achieve for many communities throughout Pittsburgh.

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Braddock Farms

Pittsburgh Urban Garden project teaches locals in Polish Hill, Larimer, Braddock, and many other communities to plant something, harvest something, and preserve something all in order to gain food stability.  By giving tools to the urbanites, food deserts can be made plentiful, healthy, and successful.  Healthy diets can lead to healthier choices and better lives long-term.  Both Pittsburgh and its many communities have recently made many improvements towards solving food issues with education and action.  Along with improvements to urban agriculture zoning laws, Pittsburgh Food Policy Council has developed ways for low-income inner city residents to have easily accessible healthy produce at a low-cost from farmers markets, while also educating on healthy choices that can easily be grown in their own yards.  Healthy lifestyles have long-term impacts that can change how many Pittsburghers live.

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Rooftop garden The Porch at Schenley Oakland

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