Community Garden

Community Garden in Buckingham

The Story of the Community Garden

Start with a Good Idea

The idea for a community garden started forming in President Jan Tompkins’s mind sometime in the spring of 2011. She was distressed about the problem of hunger in Bucks County and wondered if we could grow produce for our neighbors who cannot afford to buy their own.

Mrs. Tompkins also thought that a garden would give Buckingham residents the opportunity to meet other gardeners and to teach their children about food and farming. They could rent their own private plots, while students from local schools would raise produce for area food pantries.

Our organization’s bylaws state that we exist in part to preserve and improve Buckingham Township as an agricultural community and to educate the citizens in both old and advanced methods of horticulture and agriculture. A community garden could surely do all that—and more.

The Township Helps Out

The Buckingham Township Supervisors were enthusiastic about President Tompkins’ plan for a garden. They generously allowed the Civic Association the use of a plot of land in Holicong Park between York Road and the Holicong Park Pavilion. Not only that, they arranged for a water hook-up, compost and a crew with machinery to turn the soil.

As a result, a sloping tract with scraggly grass mixed with weeds began to be transformed into a viable spot for a garden.

Soon More and More People Become Involved:

The Penn State Extension Service helped us analyze the soil. We knew it would need improvement—soil in this area is notoriously poor for gardening.

Our Community Garden subcommittee learned from other community gardeners about fencing, raised beds and volunteer coordination. We consulted master gardeners for garden planning, including Dave Pinchick.

The Warrington Garden Club honored us with a President’s Project Award of $500 to help pay for our fence—showing faith in us at a time when we had nothing but hopes and dreams and plans.

Bountiful Acres donated an incredible basket that we raffled for $471 to raise money for the garden.

Boy Scout Troop #64 helped prepare the beds with the expert assistance of Steve Severson of Outside the Box Landscape.

CB East High School students helped with bed preparation, planting and weeding.

Through the efforts of our very first affiliate board member, Stina Stannik, four different CB East service clubs held fundraisers to benefit the garden (See Green, Key Club, National Honor Society and Eat Your View). The proceeds allowed the BTCA to purchase items such as brass nozzles and hoses.

The driving force behind garden implementation, Board Member Leah Hight, organized a flea market in April to benefit the garden.

Peace Tree Farm generously donated flats of organic herbs and lettuces for our food pantry gardens.

The Garden Becomes a Reality

One year from the time that the garden was just a dream, crops started to grow in the spring of 2012.

Due to an extraordinary effort by many dedicated volunteers and residents who maintained their individual plots, the garden came alive. People of all ages—little children, teens, families—bonded over the shared experience of learning to raise crops.

By the time June rolled around, the garden paths were finished and a shed (with a gardening log book inside) had been installed.

With the first crops nearing harvest, the BTCA asked the Food Program Manager of the Bucks County Opportunity Council to match us with a food pantry that needed our help. Thus began our relationship with the Jesus Focus Ministry of Southampton, which struggles to feed over 800 people and gets very little support. Jan Tompkins visited the pantry and reported back that most of the shelves were bare, although as many as 120 people a day come seeking food.

We started small. Our first harvest of radishes, lettuces and parsley meant that we could donate five pounds of produce to the pantry. However, as a result of the determination and dedication of our volunteer gardeners, we were able to grow and donate over 900 pounds of produce in our first year.

You could not fail to be moved by the enthusiastic reception those vegetables received at the pantry.

Three growing seasons have come and gone since then.

What have we learned?

1. Farming is rewarding, but really challenging.

We needed to install Earth Staples under the fence to prevent burrowing animals from entering the garden. The layout had to be modified to take advantage of maximum sunlight. The gate had to have a sturdy lock.

Hose reels break.

Beetles eat eggplants (and have to be washed off with soapy water); voles love to tunnel down under asparagus. Japanese beetles and Mexican bean beetles love vegetables in general. Wasps can invade a garden and so can grubs. Squash beetles attack zucchini plants. (Organic gardening is hard!)

When it rains too much in the spring, rototilling is delayed, seedlings can’t grow and we do much better with starter plants.

When it doesn’t rain enough, watering has to be done on schedule.

Weeds do not respect garden plots just because we have good intentions.

2. A garden needs many hands.

No one worries more about the garden than Leah Hight, who is constantly there, even in the dead of winter, to assess what it needs. She has fought infestations and weeds, figured out plots and plantings, taught novice gardeners, delivered produce and organized all the gardeners, including those who farm private plots. For the last three years, she has also put together the Flea Market to raise money for the garden—an undertaking involving dozens of vendors.

Mrs. Hight has been ably assisted by President Jan Tompkins, Board Member Cathy Gibson and her family, Board Member Joan Irvin, the McKeon family and too many others to name.

Student volunteers have been invaluable. Over the last couple of years, our affiliate board members have continued to run fundraisers (particular thanks to Megan Carr, Anjali Bhatt and Diane Cascioli) and organize watering, weeding and mulching (special thanks to Drew Kittleson). This past season, every one of our current affiliates (Alex Gibson, Sarah Braza, Katherine Xu, Bianca Wu and Zane Shalchi) helped weed and harvest—and we thank them as well.

Various groups and farms have helped us. Barefoot Gardens and None Such Farms both provided starter plants. Church youth groups and scout troops have helped. The Warrington Garden Club honored us with a second check in January 2014, which we used to buy more starter plants.

3. Whatever it takes, it’s worth it.

Over our three growing seasons, we have made dozens of trips to the food pantry and donated literally over a ton of vegetables. Still, statistics are cold things and there is no quantifying what it means to people who wouldn’t have fresh produce without the Buckingham Community Garden.

We cannot thank everyone enough. This is truly a garden that has brought together the entire community of Buckingham.