SHUPP Community Gardens Are Once Again Underway
Free Fresh Produce to Share with the Princeton Community
The Princeton Free Garden Project
The Princeton Free Garden Project, an initiative of Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP), allows Princeton residents to pick free produce grown on community soil. Currently the project has several beds in two locations: the parking lot of Tortugas Restaurant on John Street and the parking lot of the YMCA on Paul Robeson Place.
While produce such as cucumber, tomatoes, peas, lettuce and other greens will be available to be picked for free during the summer and fall, volunteers have been working year-round to keep this project going. For instance, this school year, teen volunteers from Princeton High School worked in the winter to clean the beds and to compost the old plants. In the early spring, they prepared the beds with new soil and compost. Other activities have included painting signs, creating trellises with bamboo sticks, restoring the beds and, of course, planting, weeding and watering the plants. This spring, adult volunteers as well as a group of Montgomery Boy Scouts sent a hand to the regular crew led by Isabel Tellez, a PHS Sophomore. “I’m fascinated by the potential of these local gardens. They help address issues like food security and climate change, pivotal to most communities nowadays” shared Isabel (Izzy) Tellez when talking about her passion for this project.
