Chesco food gardens are starting to show results

CHESTER COUNTY

Food gardens are starting to show results

EXTON Communities in the county with raised garden beds through the Chester County Food Bank are witnessing the fruits of their labor after a harsh winter pushed back the growing season.

More than 650 gardens at 130 sites participate in the program and produce food for local residents and food cupboards. Volunteers from schools, churches, businesses, and social groups tend to the gardens during the summer, spring, and fall.

Carrots, herbs, tomatoes, and beans are starting to come in, said Anne Shuniak, a food bank spokeswoman. In 2012, volunteer gardeners produced more than 130,000 pounds of vegetables.

The program, which started in 2009, brought on a full-time raised-bed garden manager this year to teach volunteers to care for and harvest vegetables.

This year, Coatesville residents helped refurbish raised garden beds in the city. Students helped build garden beds at Fern Hill Elementary School in West Chester, and residents at Fairview Village, an affordable housing development in Phoenixville, started a few of their own.

- Michaelle Bond