'Everyone stocks and everyone takes' west side community garden grows through the winter with new pantry

During the winter months, community gardens typically pause operations until spring, when the soil is ready for planting. However, the managers of the Bridge Street Community Garden saw this as a missed opportunity to support neighbors facing food insecurity through the cold months. 

That's why they introduced a new community pantry—a bright yellow box on a post, resembling a Free Little Library, planted in front of the west side garden.

Harrison Mcilhargey, the current manager of the project, said their team restocks the pantry a couple of times a week with books, hygiene products, canned food, hats, gloves and more.

“And it just gets emptied because the need is so high, more than we anticipated,” he said. 

This plot of land, located near the west end of Bridge St., has been a garden for at least six years, with management rotating between local faith leaders and church members. 

“For a long time, it’s been one of those gardens that gets planted in the spring and people get busy in the summer and weeds take over, so it hasn’t been as productive as it could be,” said McIlhargey. “So this year, myself and some others took over the management of it and committed to going through the whole growing season from spring to fall. We were out here last week wrapping up and mulching. So we had a full year of consistent hands in the dirt and making good use of it. And it paid off, we got a lot of food out of here and we still are.”

McIlhargey said the team working on the community garden consists of about 20 community members involved via a WhatsApp chat, which they use to organize work nights or potluck dinners.

This year, they grew a wide variety of produce, including tomatoes, herbs, kale, lettuce, fennel, chard, potatoes and peppers.

“We had a rotating crop plan based on the time of year,” Mcilhargey explained. “Once we got something ripped out we had room for the next thing to go in so that we could still be harvesting now. … A lot of people think you only plant in the spring and then harvest in the fall, but in reality, you can really stagger everything and get a consistent food supply.”

Mcilhargey went on to say that it’s difficult to measure how many people buy produce and make use of the pantry, but that it seems every time he’s there a new person is grabbing something and they chat, which he enjoys.

“It’s been really cool and inspiring to engage in that way, especially with the pantry,” McIlhargey said. “I’ll be working here and someone will see the pantry, and they grab stuff and show their appreciation and we’re like, okay, it’s working. Being established in the neighborhood, I’m hoping it becomes a self-sustaining thing where everyone stocks and everyone takes.”