Shiloh Farm is the little farm that could
Shiloh Farm, the urban lot that Grow Pittsburgh turned into a vegetable and fruit garden in 2006, continues to prosper.
Walking through its beds in North Point Breeze on a recent Thursday, executive director Denele Hughson points out a cornucopia of crops either ready or on the brink of harvest for the farm stand. A patch of bright red strawberries announce the arrival of summer, soon to be followed by elderberries, raspberries, figs and a small amount of grapes.
There are also rows of tomato, summer squash, garlic, collard greens, kale, lettuce, turnips and even some okra. It’s not easy to find it locally grown. Many of the plants are covered in mesh to keep groundhogs and deer at bay.
One of the organization’s core values is food sovereignty, or the right to buy and grow the food that’s right for the community. As Ms. Hughson puts it, “The food people want to eat in their own kitchens.”
Over the course of the season, the farm will produce nearly 4,000 pounds of more than 30 varieties of produce for the farm stand, which shows — some may say shouts — what can be done on an urban lot.
The garden also has a small apiary and five chickens (staff are gifted the honey and eggs as a perk) and all the makings for a fabulous summer bouquet later in the season — dahlias, zinnias, electric-blue bachelor’s buttons, sunflowers and some of the tallest snapdragons you’ve ever seen.
“They do a really good job here,” agrees Ms. Hughson, a
Homewood native and Carnegie Mellon University grad who’s been with the urban agricultural nonprofit for five years but only recently became its director.
The garden was one of Grow Pittsburgh’s first projects after it launched in 2005. Along with sister site, Braddock Farms in Braddock, it’s as much an educational hub as a production garden. It offers tours and work development programs, and each season also brings experiential gardening workshops to teach people how to grow their own food.
It also offers a workshare program (limited to 12) that rewards volunteers who help work the land with a farm share. In addition, there’s a seedling sale each spring.
“We want to make sure we’re here for years to come,” says Ms. Hughson.
The best part is that nothing goes to waste. Everything grown is either sold or donated to community initiatives like the Free Store in Braddock. “Wherever the need is the greatest.”
2020 tested the food economy, but Grow Pittsburgh was able to respond with more seeds and longer hours for its customers, many of whom are food insecure, Ms.
Hughson says. The many school and community gardens it’s helped develop over the years also create safe spaces for people to come together with a shared interest.
“It’s so therapeutic, getting hands in the soil,” she says.
Grow Pittsburgh’s latest project — Garden Dreams Urban Farm & Nursery in Wilkinsburg — will continue the nonprofit’s mission of being a hands-on resource for gardeners of all levels. The nonprofit took it over last year and hopes to make it into an agricultural
hub.
Food, Ms. Hughson says, is the great connector. “Being able to expand our reach and training is the goal.”
The Shiloh Farm stand is at the corner of Homewood Avenue and Thomas Boulevard in North Point Breeze. It is open Thursdays in June through October from 3 to 6 p.m. It accepts SNAP/EBT through Just Harvest’s Fresh Access program.