Community garden in Harrison aims to offer food, fellowship

An old T-ball field along Burtner Road in Harrison will transform into a community garden this spring, complete with veggies, herbs and a tool-lending library.

Highlands Partnership Network and Citizens Hose Fire-EMS-Rescue, with help from state Sen. Lindsey Williams, are working to provide fresh food and fellowship for Harrison residents.

“Our hope is this garden gives everybody a real sense of community,” said Autumn Monaghan of the Highlands Partnership Network. The nonprofit was founded in 2018 with the mission of improving life for local residents through education, job training, transportation and other initiatives.

A groundbreaking celebration is planned for 11 a.m. March 24.

A $50,000 grant secured with help from Williams will enable Monaghan and Jim Erb, Citizens EMS supervisor, to transform a 1-acre plot of land that adjoins the ambulance service.

“It was a baseball field many, many moons ago,” Erb said. “Now it will help provide fresh and healthy food to our Harrison families.”

The ambulance service is housed in the former Birdville Elementary School, which closed in 1989.

Monaghan co-chairs the Highlands Partnership Network with Brackenridge Mayor Lindsay Fraser. There will be a steering committee to help design the garden and offer ways to resolve food insecurity for people throughout the municipality.

It is hoped the garden not only produces food but inspires camaraderie and a sense of inclusion.

There will be raised beds for growing tomatoes, peppers and other veggies. In addition, educational programs will be offered on site, with a tool-lending library and a bike-sharing space.

Donated bikes will be fixed up and lent in an effort to improve mobility in Harrison, Monaghan said.

“It can be hard to get around here if you don’t drive,” she said.

Organizers are hoping to launch the bike program this summer with an inaugural family fun ride on Harrison’s new trail along Springhill Road.

The garden will be a space that is open to all, where people can stroll through and pick their dinner salad or lend a hand weeding and pruning.

Harvests will be used to support other gardens in the area, such as the Greg Blythe Friendship Garden in Tarentum and the Veggies for All program in the Natrona section of Harrison.

“We want to help make those spaces the best they can be,” she said.

Monaghan credits Citizens Hose leaders for their willingness to collaborate on the project and share their property for a greater good.

“They helped us 100%,” she said. “This is really going to bring the community together. Just in early talks about the plan, I’ve met people that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

“It’s going to give us all a place to go and learn and be outside.”