Residents of Harriet Bryan House and Elm Court thanked local Boy Scouts for the contributions they made to their community garden with an ice cream social on June 20.
The Boy Scout Troop 43 topped their list of “good deeds” this spring by creating additional raised garden beds for residents who rely on wheelchairs for mobility and others who are unable to plant on traditional ground plots.
”I wanted the Scouts to experience first hand what it would be like to access the raised beds, from a wheelchair, so I asked them to sit in wheelchairs while they worked,” said Mike Maloney, landscaper for Mapleton Nurseries, a major donor for the year-old community garden.
Mr. Maloney designed the garden and Dave Reed, owner of Mapleton Nurseries, coordinated the donation of all the materials for the garden.
Mr. Reed’s son Mark, 17, a member of Troop 43, built furniture and a storage shed for the garden with the help of fellow troop members. The furniture will serve as the project for his Eagle Scout badge.
More than 40 residents have their own garden plots where they raise vegetables, flowers and enjoy the outdoors during the spring and summer seasons.
Harriet Bryan House and Elm Court provide affordable housing to people aged 62 and older and non-elderly individuals that require the accessible features of handicapped units. The buildings are operated by Princeton Community Housing Inc., a nonprofit organization, the largest provider of low and moderate income housing in Princeton.
Other donors of the Community Garden include: Ace Topsoil & Mulch; Belle Mead Co-op; Bill Turner-Princeton Gardeners; Borough of Princeton; EP Henry; Friendly Rental; Katy Sears-Katy’s Glamorous Gardens; Rev. Anthony Godlefski Lawrence Ecological Facility; The Maloney Family; Montgomery United Methodist Church; North Brunswick Construction; Perone Landscaping, Inc.; Peterson’s Nursery Garden Center; Princeton Boy Scout Troop 43; Princeton Borough Dept. of Public Works; The Reed Family; Tree; Marie Sheehan & Family; Shemin Landscape Supplies; Suburban Fence; Township of Lawrence; Trap Rock Industries; Woodwinds Associates and Robert Wells Tree.

