Mary Menniti wants to see her Italian roots (and yours!) sprout up in gardens throughout the United States.In 2011, the Forest Hills resident founded The Italian Garden Project, a nonprofit that documents, preserves and shares the agrarian culture of Italian-Americans, including both sets of her grandparents.

As a child, Menniti followed her grandfather around his New Castle vegetable patch, weaving between the rows of tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, Swiss chard, garlic, fennel and fig trees. In turn, she learned what his life was like back in the province of Caserta. Pittsburghers can sample the bounty of local Italian-American gardens at Fig Fest on Sept. 14 at Robin Hill Park in Moon, PA.