The Community Garden

A woman is bending over supervising two children one bending and watering, one squatting and digging, in a garden

Award Winning Chester Eastside, Inc. Community Garden

The Chester Eastside, Inc. Community Garden is an important staple in the nonprofit. Our dedicated volunteers and the students part of the After School Program, help supply the Food Pantry and the “Pay As You Can” Vegetable Stand. The students also take a portion of the harvest home to their families or it is used during the nutrition/health eating segment of the After School Program. In the garden’s true community spirit, several beds are tended by local families.

In 2024 the garden produced 1392 pounds of food that was distributed to the wider community. 

Most excitingly, The garden was awarded first place for the Children’s Garden award by the Penn State Delaware County Master Gardeners in 2023. The garden also ranked fifth in 2021 among the 2,600 community distribution sites registered with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Harvest Team program.

A smiling young girl holds an orange watering can. Another girl is to her left holding a green watering can.
A pile of dirt on a lot covered with wood shavings. There are pallets in the rear and a white truck parked to the left.
Community garden with boxes filled with plants and plant supports
Plants growing in a community garden
Community garden boxes with multiple types of plants planted in them
An adult supervising 5 children working in a community garden box
A white woman with brown hair wearing a blue cardigan, blue shirt and sweatpants. A striped bag is slung across her body. Her left hand is full of berries and she is leaning on a cane with her right.
A green plastic bag filled with tomatoes
A pink flower in full bloom in front of plants growing in water
A Hispanic boy wearing a white shirt and yellow shorts. He has his hands raised and is wearing blue gardening gloves
A white man with white hair touching a leaf of a large plant in a community garden box