Crafton Community Farm: A hub for gardening enthusiasts
Within Crafton Park rests the Crafton Community Farm, a staple for residents who might not have the space for a garden or do not know where to begin when it comes to gardening.
Everyone from young children to adults with time-consuming work lives are welcome to participate in the activities taking place at the community farm. Once affiliated with the group, people can work in the farm as they please, often having one section to which they dedicate themselves.
Regardless of whether your interest is in flowers or the seed-growing scientific process, there is always a spot for new volunteers at the community farm.
The idea of creating a community farm started in 2014, when member Andrea Marquis brought attention to the idea that not everyone in the Crafton community had the ability to grow a garden. After gaining the support of other community volunteers, they worked together to gain permission from the borough council to use the land in the park as a community farm.
With the help of Grow Pittsburgh, which provided grant funds to support the project, the area started to become established as a farm for Crafton residents to depend on.
Volunteers work incredibly hard to ensure that the farm continues to flourish. About 95% of all the produce goes back to the community, mostly going to the Crafton-Ingram Food Pantry. But as the farm expands, the possibility of giving to surrounding communities becomes an option.
Giving back to the community in which the farm is located is the main concept that the volunteers live by as they work to maintain the land. They insist on “planting with intention,” which was the motto Sandy Blaycock, a community farm volunteer, said she kept in mind when working on the land.
Even now that the farm is full of thriving plants, the volunteers continue to think beyond what they’ve already accomplished.
Elizabeth Marinella, a volunteer who works mostly with the flowers to keep a healthy number of different types of pollinators, has started a small garden at Crafton Elementary School with a couple of other volunteers from the original Crafton Community Farm.
While the community farm attracts children due to the park being its next-door neighbor, Marinella took the education portion of gardening straight to the students with her school garden idea. The produce from the school garden goes to the school cafeteria so the children can have a taste of their hard work and truly understand the concepts of gardening.
Every piece of the community farm has an educational purpose. The volunteers have partnered with the Crafton Public Library to donate card sleeves of seeds for children to learn from and gather knowledge about plants. In the past, the volunteers have even had Children’s Storytime at the farm, which gives children a chance to look around at the fruits and vegetables growing around them.
Each part of the community farm has been carefully thought through to guarantee the best results for not only volunteers but also the community that eventually receives the produce. Everyone working on the farm has different knowledge, but it is up to the volunteers to learn from each other and continue to gain knowledge about the gardening world.
Knowledge in the community farm comes from both residents who have their own gardens and volunteers who have minimal experience. All people have a place in the community farm. It is the community that helps the farm thrive and live up to its full potential, continuously giving back to the same people who dedicate time to making the farm a special place for all Crafton residents
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