Jessica Jackson, a senior art student in Carnegie Mellon University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Program, used fence, plastic bottles, wire, soil and seeds to create an inexpensive urban garden.

Jackson’s project can be seen hanging in front of vacant lots on Pittsburgh’s Forbes Avenue in an effort to spread awareness of the ease and need for urban gardening.

The project originated from Carnegie Mellon Art Professor Joe Mannino’s course, “Making Connections: Art In The Community,” and Jackson’s academic interest in global hunger and food distribution.

Jackson filled empty plastic bottles with soil and seeds and lashed them to the fence to show how easy it is to convert unused space and recycled materials into a sustainable food system for the local community.

Currently the garden holds strawberries, beans, sugar snap peas, radishes, lettuce, arugula, zinnias and other plants.

Pedestrians are welcome to pluck the food from the fence as they pass by, and the extra food produced will be donated to a local food pantry.

Jackson hopes that the project will inspire others to create container gardens around the city, particularly in areas that are have been foreclosed, abandoned or closed off from practical use by chain-link fences.

Read more about Jessica here and here

Article Source