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Community Corner

The Italian Garden Project Explores Seed Saving in Downtown Pittsburgh

Edgeworth resident Mary Menniti will lead a presentation and heirloom seed-swap today at the Pittsburgh Public Market.

With the spring planting season upon us, gardeners everywhere are tearing into cherished seed packets and placing tiny seedlings into backyard plots. 

For those gardeners with an interest in all things Italian, Edgeworth resident Mary Menniti will lead a presentation and heirloom seed-swap at 11:30 a.m. today, April 30, at the Pittsburgh Public Market. 

The event is titled, “Come Back to the Garden… Italian Gardens of the Pittsburgh Region,” and will feature a slideshow presentation of traditional Italian gardens in the Pittsburgh region.

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Menniti is founder of the Italian Garden Project, an organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and sharing the cultural knowledge of Italian-American gardeners.

Menniti said many of these gardeners came to the Sewickley region as part of a second wave of migration following World War II, and are now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.  Many grew up during a period of Italian history known as la miseria, the misery, a time of great economic hardship, Menniti said.

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“Because they lived through that very difficult time, they really had to understand how to be self sufficient and grow their own food,” Menniti said.  “They have so much to teach us.”

For the past two years, Menniti has led garden tours through Sewickley neighborhoods as a fundraiser for the Fern Hollow Nature Center.  Her Italian Garden Project originally grew out of those events in Sewickley, and now reaches out to Italian-American gardeners throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.

Last year, Sewickley photographer Marcy Holquist Duff joined Menniti to create the 201l Come Back to the Garden Calendar, published by the Italian Garden Project.  Photographs in the calendar showcase locally grown endive, escarole, and rapini, among many other fruits and vegetables.  Now considered gourmet foodstuffs, these items have been common in Italian gardens for generations, according to the calendar.

Menniti’s presentation at the Public Market will use a variety of photographs to showcase these gardens, some of which are featured in the calendar.  Many of the gardens are located in the Sewickley area.

The seed-swap will focus on heirloom seeds that have been passed down for generations between family and friends.  Menniti says many seeds in the swap haven’t been officially packed and labeled by seed companies, and therefore often lack official botanical names.

Menniti asked one gardener what she called a particular bean seed, “And she just laughed and said, ‘I call them fagiolini di Carmela,’” or beans from Carmela, for the cousin who passed it on.

Calendars for the current season will be available at the Public Market for $5. 

The presentation will begin at 11:30am, followed by the heirloom seed-swap.  This will be the first of an ongoing series hosted by the Italian Garden Project at the Public Market, held every last Saturday.  

The Pittsburgh Public Market is located in the Strip District, at the Produce Terminal Building, 2100 Smallman Street.

This year’s Sewickley Italian Garden Tour will be held on July 28th .  The tour will being at with food provided by the .  To reserve a spot on the tour contact Nature Center.

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