Getting growing at the Philly Earth farm
Jon Hopkins Philly Earth Director
Just over a month has passed since the Burpee Home Gardens "I Can Grow" installation at The Village of Arts and Humanities, and our Philly Earth farm is alive and thriving!
The 350 vegetable and herb seedlings jump-started Philly Earth, our new youth-led urban farm project, helping us transform a formerly blighted lot into a community asset that will foster our young people's knowledge of the environment, gardening and healthy eating. We have already harvested lettuce, collard greens, zucchini and peppers — and it’s only June!
In addition to growing produce, we’re also mentoring our youth to foster their entrepreneurial spirit. Village teens will be certified as community sustainability leaders and will share their skills with other teens and our community.
Our community sustainability leaders will cultivate, harvest and sell our mint and chili peppers to a local chocolate company, as well as learn how to make added-value products such as salsas and jams. We're also working to set up a market stand to provide community residents with affordable and fresh organic produce.
Starting next week we will be hosting tours, classes and workshops for Village youth and community residents, which will focus on companion planting, composting, edible forest gardening — just to name a few.
We’re excited to share how our garden — and our youth — continue to grow throughout the year, so stay tuned!
