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Fresh veggies, flowers, and herbs are bursting at Burnside Garden for the return of ‘You Point, We Pick’ program
May 29th, 2023
BETHLEHEM, MAY 29, 2023 – Thanks to a dedicated group of workers and a little help from Mother Nature, the Burnside Colonial Garden is bursting with organically grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS) welcomes visitors to the Burnside Colonial Garden (1461 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem) Saturday, August 5 for the return of the “You Point, We Pick” program.
Volunteers have been cleaning up, planting, and tending the award-winning Colonial Garden as the first harvest of the season opens to the public.
Here’s how it works.
Visitors can stop by the Burnside Garden Saturday morning to participate. Between 9:30 a.m. and noon, guests can point out anything they’d like to take home and volunteer gardeners will pick it for you — in exchange for a donation of your choice.
Cash and credit cards will be accepted.
Please bring your own bags, baskets, or buckets to take your items home.
Free parking is available on-site.
HBMS invites you to visit often. The produce available will change throughout the season.
The Burnside Colonial Garden includes plantings that were grown in Colonial times, as well as newer plants the community had not discovered but would have likely embraced.
A variety of herbs and flowers have been planted around the perimeter of the garden to attract pollinators. Plantings inside include cabbage, tomatoes, summer squash, pumpkins, strawberries, melons, peas, peppers, carrots, and more.
Everything is grown organically as the settlers would have done, and volunteers continue the practice of crop rotation to benefit the health of the soil.
Please note, the Burnside Colonial Garden is not pick-your-own. HBMS uses many of the plantings for charity and educational purposes.
On the first Saturday of the month through October, you can learn more about the “farm in the city.” You can take a look inside the Burnside House and barn and see Colonial cooking demonstrations in the Summer Kitchen.
Families can enjoy a craft each month and a number of fun activities like nature walks, storytime, and hands-on history lessons.
While enjoying the “You Point, We Pick” program, visitors can ask volunteers about the history, uses, and maintenance of the garden, and take part in the Saturdays at Burnside events.
Donations to the “You Point, We Pick” program enable HBMS to continue educating the public about 20 historic sites, two of which are National Historic Landmarks and many of which are part of Historic Moravian Bethlehem, which has been nominated by the U.S. Government to become a World Heritage Site.
The Burnside Gardens are cared for by more than 40 volunteers and won a Blue Ribbon in the 2020 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gardening Contest. The garden won the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Community Greening Award in 2008.
“YOU POINT, WE PICK”
When: 9:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, August 5. “You Point, We Pick” is offered the first Saturday of each month through October.
Where: Burnside Colonial Garden, 1461 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem
How much: Make a donation of your choice; cash and credit will be accepted
