Business is not the only thing growing in the borough, the West End Community Garden at 300 W. Gay Street (diagonal from St. Agnes) has a bounty of organic vegetables, blooming flowers and yields of community. It is a place to catch up with neighbors, picking new friends along with fresh crops.
On Saturday, June 18th from 4 to 7 p.m., the West End Community Garden will be hosting its Third Annual West End Community Garden Fundraiser and Open House.
There will be plenty of grilled items and baked goods from neighbors to grub on and live music throughout the evening. Optimal Massage will be providing massages with their heavenly massage chairs. Activities for your little seedlings will be sponsored by Little Sprouts Village.
Visitors can weed out all of their garden questions during the event, since there will be plenty of opportunities to learn about the benefits of gardening and composting during the peak of the growing season.
There will be many chances to win gift baskets and certificates from local restaurants and businesses. Some of the event sponsors include A Taste of Olive, Iron Hill Brewery, Limoncello, the Lincoln Room, Katie Mac Floral, Jazmine Thai, Wegmans, Giant, Beer Mill and Capriotti’s.
The funds raised from the first two annual fundraisers and open houses went toward large scale projects and beautification of the garden. Now, the garden is self-sustaining and proceeds from the event will go toward the First West Chester Fire Department.
“We still wanted to hold an open house event this year so that we can share the garden with the neighboring community. It did not take much debate within the committee and garden group to decide that all proceeds for this year’s benefit should go to the First West Chester Fire Company. The Fire Company is a 100% volunteer organization and is an important asset to the West End Neighborhood and the Borough at large,” said garden committee member, Wende Faulk.
The West End garden is rooted on a former industrial site of an abandoned water tower at West Gay and New Streets. The borough acquired the land and there was much debate over what to do with it. In 2008, the newly formed neighborhood group, the Historic West End Neighborhood Association (HWENA), were looking to strengthen the community by improving the neighborhood. With a lot of research and determination, the HWENA was apply to plant their idea at the end of Gay Street.
The garden is currently made up of 23 raised beds and a diverse group of green thumbs (or at least green thumbs in training). Part of the harvest goes back to the community and three beds are dedicated to the Salvation Army, West Chester Food Cupboard and St. Agnes Dayroom. The 3 x 10 plots are assigned on a first come, first served basis starting in January of each year.
The garden is celebrating its third growing season this year and the open house showcases the gardeners hard work and beautiful plots. Be sure to dig around at the West End Community Garden’s Third Annual Community Fundraiser and Open House on June 18th.
