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| - Strolling through the Mexican War Streets neighborhood, husband and I walked directly into Olde Allegheny Community Gardens. Tucked between row houses and alleyways, this sprawling, crawling, technicolor plot of land pulled me in like a tractor beam. I pushed open the storybook gate -- flanked by a gaily painted picket fence and crowned by an arbor thick with climbing vines -- and stepped into another world. Husband hadn't even realized I'd disappeared down the rabbit hole until he turned around and saw me stooped over an exploding rose bush inhaling blossom scent.
Covering two small city blocks, OACG was created in the early 80s as part of a neighborhood revitalization effort and is now maintained by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Members pay $30 per year (what?!?) for each plot. WPC provides hoses for water, lockers for supplies, gardening tools, watering cans, and maintains fences, gates, and walkways. Signs posted at each gate invite visitors to wander, relax, and sniff, but gently remind guests that plants are privately owned so not to pluck or taste.
Husband and I spent awhile roaming the quaint brick paths admiring vibrantly colored flowers like gerberas and peonies, snapping photos of sugar pea tendrils and lettuces with leaves the size of elephant ears. Several sun-brimmed gardeners -- some accompanied by their dogs happily lolling in the shade -- were working their plots and paused to chat with us about the gardens and their individual plant selections as we passed.
I've visited a number of community gardens in my day, but OACG is the most enviable. It's such a peaceful, whimsical spot in the heart of a busy city that it'd make anyone want to pick up a spade and break ground to create their own patch of green.
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