Surrounded by rowhomes, industrial sites, and a view of the Philadelphia skyline... is a small urban farm. Most farmer's markets in the city truck in food from rural areas... but Greensgrow's farmers just walk about half a block to sell their vegetables. Brad Linder has more.
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Urban Farming
It's a lot like any other farm, except for its location.
September 19, 2002
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by Dan Simon
It's a typical urban neighborhood in Philadelphia's Kensington section.
Not far from Route 95, an elevated interstate highway and the Delaware
River; the Cumberland Ave., lot is surrounded by row homes and some
small, industrial buildings.
Located amidst row houses and industrial sites, the Greensgrow
farm uses raised beds to grow flowers and vegetables in Philadelphia's
Kensington neighborhood. ©GreenWorks photo by Dan Simon
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What's not typical about the 2501 Cumberland address is what's growing
there. Lettuce. Tomatoes. Basil. Swiss Chard. Pumpkins, and more.
It's an unlikely looking farm in an unlikely location, but the flowers
and vegetables it grows look pretty good to nearly 30 neighborhood
families who rely on the Greensgrow farm to supplement their grocery
supply.
"We have a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share,"
said Beth Kean-Waddell, Greensgrow's farm manager. "We also serve
about 25 local restaurants with our spring mix of lettuces."
Residents pay $30 a week for a 26-week food basket which includes
a variety of vegetables, hormone free beef and chicken (some of these
products aren't grown at the Cumberland Ave., site) dairy products,
bread and a bouquet of fresh flowers.
"We sell our own produce, and we also buy from other local farmers,"
Kean-Waddell said. "We're doing it to get fresh produce to local
residents.
Thanks to greenhouses, the farm maintains a February to
December growing season. ©GreenWorks photo by Dan Simon
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"A lot of them don't even have cars, so with us, they can just
walk over and buy fresh produce. People like it, because they can
actually see how their vegetables are grown."
The farm is located on a former Environmental Protection Agency Superfund
site that was cleaned in 1992. Plants are grown either in raised beds
(plant roots stay within the actual growing medium and not the site's
soil) or hydroponically. Greensgrow improves its own growing soils
by adding compost materials, including horse manure from some of the
city's horse drawn carriage companies, plus leaves from municipal
leave clean-up efforts.
Kean-Waddell and farm owner, Mary Seton Corboy, hope to encourage
others to try similar ventures. Since Philadelphia has more than 15,000
vacant lots, there are certainly other likely spots for potential
urban farms out there.
| "We hope to help others start
farms in Philadelphia," Kean-Waddell said. "Anyone
who's interested in starting an urban farm can definitely contact
us, organizations especially." |
Mary Seton Corby (left) and Beth Kean-Waddell check
the hydroponically grown lettuce. ©GreenWorks photo
by Dan Simon
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