ABOUT:   The Chestnut Hill Community Garden consists of 104 contiguous plots on the western edge of the Morris Arboretum Bloomfield Farm on east Northwestern Avenue.

            Gardeners, several of whom are Master Gardeners, are members of the Morris Arboretum and/or the Chestnut Hill Community Association.  Growing season managers are volunteers from the gardeners' group.

            The garden is totally organic, as evidenced by the resident toads and reptiles, abundant song birds, small mammals and insect life.  No chemicals are allowed.

            The Chestnut Hill Community Garden helps to support the charitable requirements of the Morris Arboretum's 501(c)(3) not for profit status through the organization's donation of land use and services.

            The gardeners, in return, are stewards of the land, bringing activity and beauty to this part of the farm as its public face on Northwestern Avenue, dispersing positive public relations throughout neighboring communities when they return home, and contributing to a chemical-free, organic environment through their hard work.   Members of the garden provide education informally through casual conversation on-site and at garden-located social events, as well as providing a water guide to promote protection of this valuable resource, and a weed guide to assist gardeners in proper disposal of both compostable garden debris and non-compostable invasive species.

            This relationship among the Morris Arboretum and the gardeners has existed for decades.

CWH 2/14/2021