We would like to thank all our volunteers for their help this year. Gilfillan Garden, a collaboration between Westminster Presbyterian, Upper St. Clair High School, and the Historical Society of Upper St. Clair, is one of several SHIM gardens that serve over 7,500 people in need in the South Hills area.

Despite COVID, the drought, and excessive heat, we had a very good year. Total harvest for the season was 1,105 pounds!

In March, when SHIM was deemed an essential service by the state, Gilfillan Garden began preparations. We received a grant from Rotary of Upper St. Clair-Bethel Park (Breakfast) that enabled us to purchase cattle fencing to use as vertical trellises for several vining crops. And thankfully in June, the Historical Society delivered two cisterns for water storage on site. In past years we solely relied on rainfall, which we all know was non-existent this summer.

This has been a meaningful project for everyone involved and another important way that Westminster continues to support SHIM and our neighbors. As we put the garden to bed for winter in a couple of weeks, we’ll be thinking about all the fun improvements we can make next year.