Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship breaks ground on community garden

A Penn Hills School broke ground to begin construction on its community garden.

A dozen Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship staff and students gathered to break ground on May 12 to officially signify the construction of their “Garden of Entrepreneurship.” Construction will include installing a parking lot, classroom area and garden beds. The garden is located at 2744 Ford Ave. in Penn Hills.

“We don’t just want to be an entity. We want to be able to give back to our community,” said PHCSE principal and chief academic officer Tamara Allen-Thomas.

PHCSE CEO Wayne Jones said the lot for the garden was donated on behalf of the school’s partnership with Advancing Youth Initiative. He said the idea of having a community garden stemmed from a desire to continue their mission of bridging a gap between the students and their community.

Jones said students will rent garden spaces to community members, hold weekly or monthly farmer’s markets, and provide management operations.

”This gives the opportunity for people who grow their produce to do that and learn how to do business from students,” he said.

Completion of the garden will be done in phases, said Matthew Zuk, founder of Terroir Designs. His company focuses on helping places in the Penn Hills area connect with outdoor spaces.

Zuk is also contracted with the school to expose students to the basics of gardening.

The first phase will be installing garden beds, the second phase will involve getting water and the third phase will have fencing installed. The progress of construction will depend on donations from the community, he said.

“We will be working with students and the community to see what they want to get out of the garden,” Zuk said.

PHCSE fourth grader Alaya Franklin said she hopes the garden will prompt picnic days for everyone to eat what they harvested.

“I feel about this. I think it will be a nice garden,” she said.

Nathan Hartle, an eighth grader, has been a part of the gardening program. He said the garden will be a nice way to distribute food and get together with the community.

“I think it will be beneficial,” he said.

One neighbor came by to check out the space. Tanya Ferderick said the lot where the garden will be built had been empty for a few years after a house burnt down. She said she was thrilled to see the lot was being put to use. Ferderick used to do her own gardening, but was unable to maintain it because of her dog getting into it. She said she looks forward to having an alternative.

“I might be able to have a place to put my vegetables,” she said.