Grid Magazine September 2014 [#065]

Susta i n abl e Ph i l a d elp hi a The Fix Is In A one-day Repair CafĂŠ planned in Chesnut Hill

Encouraging Words

Totally awesome

A literacy program on wheels in North Central Philadelphia

Postgreen's new building project in Fishtown

september 2014 / issue #65 gridphilly.com

Philly Foodworks co-founders Jamal Bell, Dylan Baird and Ryan Witmer

Delivering

T Goods

Philly Foodworks builds community and breaks the mold with their innovative CSA model

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Good Service

Making a difference in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds publisher

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t’s not surprising that the cover of this month’s Grid features a trio who worked at the Urban Tree Connection, the cover story of Grid #3 way back in April 2009. The organization, founded by guerilla gardener Skip Wiener in 1989, is a nonprofit based in the Haddington neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Their mission is to transform abandoned open spaces into safe and functional places, often through farming. In 2010, Urban Tree Connection successfully petitioned Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas to become one of the first organizations named legal conservator of the land where they farmed, a significant legal victory.

It’s no wonder that social entrepreneur Dylan Baird, farmer Ryan Witmer and community organizer Jamal Bell met there and decided to start a CSA together. But eventually the ambitions of Philly Foodworks, now a for-profit company, could not be contained by the nonprofit where the idea was hatched. The educational ideals of one was butting up against the business realities of the other.

Perhaps you’ve pondered whether you want to work in the nonprofit or for-profit world. The role of the nonprofit is to bridge the gaps in capitalism, to create solutions to the system’s blind spots.

Working for a nonprofit can mean uncertain funding, and almost always a mission much larger than the budget can support. A perception exists that, because our society is based on a capitalistic system, the only way to create “real” change is to work from within and reform the system.

But the business world has some harsh realities of its own. Your competition will not be playing by the same rulebook you are, and people often make decisions entirely on price. And if you have investors, you may face pressure to sacrifice your ideals to make more money, or to make it sooner.

Here’s an easy answer to the dilemma: Do either.

An astonishing number of good things have happened in Philadelphia since Skip Wiener graced our cover in early 2009 in both the nonprofit and for profit world. An ever greater number of things remain undone. Volunteer or apply for a position at a nonprofit where you believe in the mission.

Create a business that will have a positive affect

Alex Mulcahy alex@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 102 managing editor

Sara Schwartz sara@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 103 art director

Danni Sinisi danni@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 112 distribution / ad sales

Jesse Kerns jesse@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 100 Drew Brightbill drew@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 114 copy editor

Andrew Bonazelli junior designer

Corey Jameson interns

Jack Braunstein Sylvie Luzio writers

on your community. Deliver books for Words on Wheels (p. 8). Build houses for Postgreen Homes (p. 14). Start a farm in your backyard (p. 30). As I’m sure Skip Wiener and the folks at Philly Foodworks will tell you, there’s nothing better than aligning your work with your beliefs and being part of something bigger than yourself.

Shaun Brady Bernard Brown Samantha Drake Dan Eldridge Rebecca Frimmer Megan Matuzak Steven Sparber Emily Teel photographers

Thom Carroll Christian Hunold Daryl Peveto Cory J. Popp Gene Smirnov illustrators

alex j. mulcahy, Publisher alex@gridphilly.com

Miguel Co Sarah Ferone Daniel Kaye controller

Nicole Jarman nicole@gridphilly.com published by

Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850 g r i d p h i l ly . c o m

COV E R p hoto BY Daryl Peveto / Portrait by g ene smi rnov

TO SOURCE THE WORLD’S BEST SEAFOOD

WE HAD TO CHART OUR OWN COURSE Seafood sourced not only for freshness and flavor, but for safety and sustainability is hard to come by.

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40th STREET summer series

FREE live music

September 27

Saturdays 6pm Produced by:

Sponsored by:

September 27 Man Man A Philadelphia favorite, Man Man is an energetic group of talented musicians and vocalists who are undeniably ambitious and focused on greatness. The 2013 release of their On Oni Pond, is a compelling mash-up of Fear Of Music era Talking Heads, classic soul, psychedelia, hip hop, and 50’s rock and roll. With its imaginative yet economical rhythms, huge hooks, and overriding sense of urgency, On Oni Pond melds these seemingly disparate influences into an unexpectedly lush, melodic album, exquisitely consolidated by the band’s unique and affecting vision.

At the green space at 40th & Walnut streets, behind the Walnut West Free Library

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www.universitycity.org

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community

Act Naturally

Natural Lands Trust volunteer cares for Pennsylvania preserves story and photo by megan matuzak

With a pair of clippers in one hand and a camera resting on his hip, Jim Moffett surveys Green Hills Preserve, a EVERYDAY 168-acre Natural Lands Trust preserve in Mohnton, Pa. As he walks through the field and into the woods on a trail he helped create, he identifies plants and pauses to snap a picture of a bird. Natural Lands Trust works to preserve land from development, and since it began land restoration work at Green Hills Preserve in 2012, Moffett has installed 14 bluebird boxes (nesting houses for songbirds) and monitors about 70 species of native grasses and wildflowers by keeping invasive species from taking over.

Moffett, who works full-time in construction, furthered his interest in land preservation after he graduated in 2012 from Force of Nature, a six-month program that trains individuals in identifying invasive and native plants and wildlife, and maintaining trails. This spurred him to volunteer at several preserves in Pennsylvania. He also maintains approximately 50 bluebird boxes at Struble Lake in Honey Brook, Pa. “I wanted to see wildlife coexist and have its place in our society,” Moffett says.

Daniel Barringer, preserve manager at Natural Lands Trust, introduced Moffett to Force of Nature in the summer of 2011. “[Moffett] has initiative that you usually don’t find in volunteers,” Barringer says. “It’s a real benefit to us.”

Moffett met Brian Delphus, a naturalist and part-time park ranger, in the Force of Nature program and their friendship continued after they graduated in 2012. Delphus was volunteering at Stroud Preserve in West Chester, Pa., and he and Moffett started working at preserves together. “It was clear that Jim’s passion was really about the individual resource, the plant species and how they interact,” Delphus says.

Moffett also asked Natural Lands Trust to start Second Sunday work days, which he and Delphus take turns hosting. Much of the work is clipping invasive species, which isn’t “glory work,” but it makes a difference, Moffett says.

Green Hills Preserve is now on its way to becoming a blooming meadow with a two-mile walking trail. But Moffett is not finished yet. “There is a lot more to do and I am looking forward to it,” he says.

HERO

Since Natural Lands Trust established Green Hills Preserve in 2012, Jim Moffett has installed 14 bluebird boxes.

SALUTES Rebuilding Together

Philadelphia Twenty homeowners in the Mantua area of West Philadelphia rehabilitated their homes in April with support from Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, a local, independent affiliate of a national network focused on preserving affordable homeownership and revitalizing neighborhoods. RTP was founded by MBA students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In addition to RTP, volunteers and skilled leaders worked with homeowners and their families to make energy efficiency upgrades, safety modifications and healthy home repairs. In the neighborhood, volunteers and community residents enhanced home facades, beautified streets and improved stormwater management.

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grid p h i l ly.co m SEPT E M BE R 2014

CARDONE Industries In July, CARDONE Industries, a supplier of automotive replacement parts, unveiled a stormwater management system at its headquarters in Northeast Philadelphia. Made possible through a $3.4 million grant from the Stormwater Management Incentives Program (SMIP), CARDONE’s system will reduce the environmental impact on area watersheds, and earned it the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership’s 2014 “Watershed Corporate Steward.” The 50-acre facility’s impervious surfaces were replaced with porous materials and vegetation to allow water to pass through. And 5,200 feet of pipes will redirect water into five on-site drainage basins to be released slowly back into the environment. The new system can handle up to 1.38 inches of stormwater per storm.

Synagro Technologies

In early May, Mayor Michael Nutter, city officials and Eric Zimmer, Synagro Technologies president and CEO, opened the Philadelphia Renewable Bio-Fuels Facility. The plant turns waste into biosolid pellets for organic fertilizer and renewable fuel. Officials say Philadelphia will reap many benefits from the project, including more than $200 million in savings over the 20-year contract. According to Nutter, “The City of Philadelphia’s partnership with Synagro, one of the nation’s leading biosolids management companies, has led to the successful creation and management of the Philadelphia Renewable Bio-Fuels Facility."

IN · SIGHT Philly Pumptrack Parkside Evans Rec Center Noon to 8 p.m.

5300 Parkside Ave.

Open to all ages, weather permitting

Blazing Trails Cyclists of all ages and skill levels now have a new destination for fun and fitness. The Philadelphia Pumptrack in West Philadelphia officially opened May 10, and has been a popular spot for those looking to take on the rolling mounds and raised banks—called berms—of a beginner and advanced dirt track. The first city-approved pumptrack has been welcomed by many. Heidi Grunwald, one of three cyclists who helped create the track, says that on a typical weekend day, about 100 to 150 people are riding. Grunwald, along with fellow bikers Harlan Price and Kenn Rymdeko, worked with the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Advanced Sports Inc., Neighborhood Bike Works and local bike shops to help make the track a reality. “All of these people came together and they saw the vision, and they saw the importance of it,” Price says. Riders can bring their own track-approved bikes or use the 13 BMX or single-gear mountain bikes for free. “Cities don’t traditionally build this kind of stuff. If kids wanted to ride their bikes on dirt or jump or ride in the woods, they had to build their own stuff,” Price says.

—Megan Matuzak For more information about the Philadelphia Pumptrack, visit phillypumptrack.org . To donate to the pumptrack, visit bicyclecoalition.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/pumptrack .

P hotos by T h omCarro l l P hoto.com / Ph i llyPe da ls .com

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community

Cory Dulaney, right, and Soleil, 4, share a moment July 17 after a Words on Wheels delivery.

Keeping the Wheels Turning North Central Philadelphia book delivery program aims to improve literacy and fight the summer slide by steven sparber

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n 2009, Temple University undergrad Lauren Popp witnessed firsthand how limited access to books can affect a child’s ability to read. Popp was tutoring an 8-year-old student at Tree House Books, a nonprofit dedicated to improving childhood literacy.

The student’s assignment was to write and rewrite a set of words, which he was able to do. But when Michael Reid, Tree House’s executive director, asked him to pronounce the letters of each word and the words themselves, the boy started crying. He could only say the words because he had memorized them.

The “summer slide” from academics affects many students, when it becomes more difficult to ensure they maintain progress with their reading. But it’s especially problematic in North Central Philadelphia, where students have consistently struggled with literacy and academics in the past. For example, in 2013, the Duckrey Tanner School, which many of the Tree House kids attend, ranked 1,445 out of 1,469 Pennsyl8

gr id p h il ly.co m SEPT E M BE R 2014

vania elementary schools in reading and math PSSA scores. Today, as the program director of Tree House Books, Popp coordinates activities that aim to instill an appreciation for reading in children. After school, students can meet at Tree House for reading circles, to practice creative writing or to listen to someone talk about how reading affected their life. But when summer hits, the program ends, so in 2013, Tree House

Books created Words on Wheels to confront this academic obstacle. During July, more than a dozen volunteers on bikes dropped off books to families who had signed up for the program, spearheading the goal of 1,000 books by bike.

Children received one book per week throughout the month, in which they found a personalized note from a volunteer and a label with their name written on it. “Instead of just being a simple delivery, we’re trying to establish a relationship with these kids,” says Maddie Luebbert, a Temple student who is one of the lead cyclists. “The notes and labels imply ownership and autonomy. That feeling of having your own books on your own shelf can allow a child to love reading.”

Words on Wheels has spurred a positive reception from the community it serves. Marie Brooker, a daycare teacher who has lived in the neighborhood all her life, is one of its biggest photo by Cory J Popp

2013

Accessibility in an App

ages 3-17 yrs.

376 books 72 children 36 homes

Unlock Philly aims to improve traveling and living in the city for people with mobility issues by samantha drake

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2014 a g eS 8 m on . - 1 8 y r s .

1,125 books 250 children 100 homes

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supporters. For the last two years of the program, Brooker went door to door to collect paper sign-up forms. Recently, she single-handedly registered 98 children. She’s seen the effects of Words on Wheels through her daycare students.

“As soon as I mention it, the kids are excited and ready to get more books,” she says. “They really remember the program and want to sign up.”

Words on Wheels is also convenient for parents who don’t always have the time or resources to take their children to libraries. It’s been a great help to Carmen Sharpe, a single mother of four.

“My 8-year-old loves the books,” Sharpe says.

“She’s been able to catch up on her reading during the summer and is now two levels up from where she’s supposed to be as a fourth-grader.”

Tree House Books and its community are not accomplishing their goals alone. The deliveries were facilitated by partnering organizations Gearing Up, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and Wash Cycle Laundry. Words on Wheels has brought all these organizations together, each contributing their own approach towards sustainability. “Working here for five years has taught me that there is nothing more sustainable than making sure books are getting into the hands of children,” Popp says. “To sustain the city, we need to grow readers.”

Ather Sharif, who moved to Philadelphia last year for treatment for a spinal cord injury, knows how important it is for people with mobility issues to plan when using public transportation. Though he was impressed with the accessibility of SEPTA's subways and buses, he saw how quickly regular maintenance issues—a broken elevator at a subway station or construction blocking a pathway—could derail travel plans.

James Tyack, a senior software engineer and frequent SEPTA rider, recognized a need. He created a mobile app called Unlock Philly to help people with mobility issues find wheelchair-accessible SEPTA stations; now with input from the community, it’s poised to become a wide-ranging resource for people with disabilities who live and travel in Philadelphia.

Unlock Philly can make an impact on people’s lives on a day-to-day basis while improving the city’s services, says Sharif, a software developer who is helping Tyack develop Unlock Philly’s capabilities.

Powered by data from SEPTA and crowdsourced information, Unlock Philly provides an interactive map of SEPTA subway and high-speed line stops that are wheelchair-accessible, as well as up-to-date Tweeted information about elevator outages and construction projects that could impede access. Plans are also underway to gather and share accessibility information on businesses and other venues to help make more of what the city has to offer available to everyone.

Tyack began building the app in late 2013 at the

Apps for Philly Transit hackathon. Tyack, 41, explains that being on public transportation for two hours every day made him very aware of what’s working and what isn’t. He says he created Unlock Philly to help people with mobility issues navigate the city. “If they can’t use the elevator, they can’t get to work,” Tyack says. “It’s just not fair.”

On June 1, Unlock Philly took the top prize at the Hack4Access hackathon sponsored by Technical.ly Philly and the Philadelphia Corporation on Aging. Tyack received $1,000 from Philadelphia Link, an aging and disability resource, to continue developing the app. The Unlock Philly team includes six volunteers, as well as individuals from the aging and disability communities who’ve given input about their needs, says Tyack.

Elizabeth Wilkerson is one of those individuals. She’s working with Tyack to crowdsource accessibility information on businesses, restaurants and other venues.

“One great thing about Philly is people like working together,” says Wilkerson, a city resident who uses a motorized scooter and travels with a portable ramp in her car. “It’s not just a disability issue.”

Sharif agrees, and hopes his contribution to Unlock Philly will take community involvement to the next level. “This project has so much potential,” Sharif says.

“There’s nothing like it out there.”

For more information on Unlock Philly, visit unlockphilly.com .

To donate books for Words on Wheels, visit treehousebooks.org/donate . bottom il lustration by m i gu e l co

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ENVIRONMENT

A bumblebee pauses on a leaf in Haddington Woods.

Below, a gray catbird rests.

Haddington Woods is the first place students of a free land management class will test what they've learned.

Class Action

Free land management course teaches citizens to take care of their forests by bernard brown • photos by jen britton

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wenty-five Philadelphians gathered this past June to learn how to manage their forest. But many of those who met at the Haverford Avenue branch of the Free Library in West Philadelphia had no technical background in restoration, ecology or anything else you’d expect for land managers.

The “Short Course in Land Management,” taught by David Hewitt, research coordinator for the Wagner Free Institute, was a “highly distilled version of an ecology course I teach to city planners at Penn,” Hewitt says. The free, sixweek course is part of an innovative experiment to engage local residents in managing the city’s forests, meadows and waterways, and is open to anyone. The laboratory is Haddington Woods.

Right now, the Haddington Woods (also known as the “Bocce Woods” for the bocce ball courts there) along Cobbs Creek don't look all that special, but that’s the point. You’ll find deciduous woods and a rocky creek, just like in all of Philadelphia’s other creek corridor parks. You might notice some invasive plants, like Japanese knotweed along the creek, and you’re likely to spot deer walking around whenever you visit, an indication that there are too many of them, just like in many other patches of Penn’s woods.

In other words, it’s the perfect place to try forest management experiments to see how they’ll 10

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work throughout the city.

Once upon a time—maybe 80 years ago— Philadelphia’s forests didn’t have too many deer, hadn’t been torn up by eroding stormwater, hadn’t lost the battle to invading exotic plants like Japanese knotweed and porcelain berry, and boasted a full complement of trails and facilities to welcome visitors.

The last master plan for then-Fairmount Park, published in 1999, emphasized restoration of vegetation and streams, and the city has had some success, repairing stormwater damage, shrinking the deer herd, fighting back some invasive exotics, restoring meadows and replanting native forests. Unfortunately, Philadelphia cannot afford to turn its parkland forests back to their early 20th century state, according to Joan Blaustein, director of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation’s Urban Forestry and Ecosystem Management Division.

“We have to be prepared to do adaptive management, doing restoration work, monitoring results and adjusting as we go,” Blaustein says.

“How do you monitor them to see if the different approaches are working? Citizens. How do we engage citizens in way that will be meaningful to them and include them in the monitoring?”

Having educated citizens take part in the next stage of park management fills a gap for a cash-

★

E x p l o roed s

the wo

For more information about participating in the next free course on experimental design, contact David Hewitt (Hewitt@WagnerFreeInstitute.org ).

strapped city, but also helps build engagement.

“I want to be in on the planning. It gives me something to leave behind,” says Vaughn Goldsmith, a West Philadelphia resident and “Short Course in Land Management” student.

Goldsmith and his fellow students will help monitor the results as Parks and Recreation embarks on experiments including deer fencing and invasive species clearing.

“I had not been to this section of the park before this spring. Now, I plan to return there to enjoy the beauty that is already there, as well as to see things as they change and hopefully get involved in monitoring some of the changes,” says Mandy Katz, an East Parkside gardener, musician and artist.

The second Haddington Woods course on experimental design will start in the fall, and Parks and Recreation also plans similar citizen engagement projects for sections of the Wissahickon and Pennypack.

“The parks in Philly are actually some of our greatest natural, historic and cultural treasures,” Katz says. “The more we all know about how to care for them, the better we can make them.” bernard brown is an amateur field herper and bureaucrat. He writes about urban natural history and sustainable eating.

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Bee Aware

, Bee Conscious

™

Locally grown, harvested, raised, roasted, baked, and brewed ™ products have pride of place on our shelves, not only for their quality and integrity of materials, but also because the true value of being a community market is in making contributions to the lives of our neighbors and the local economy.

We carry local products on many of our shelves and work with over 100 local producers in the Greater Philadelphia area. Our commitment to local producers reaches beyond our shelves, too. We define local as being within 100 miles of our distribution center.

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gr idph i l ly.co m SEPT E M BE R 2014

join us for an event: kimbertonwholefoods.com/kwf-events

Special Thanks to our sponsors!

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GREEN BUILDING Seeking LEED Certification: Platinum solar: Solar thermal & optional 3.0 kW PV Array water: Rainwater collection, low-flow, dual-flush Heating/Cooling: Air-to-air heat pump (split ductless) lighting: Exposed CFLs insulation: Blown-in (Fiberglass or Cellulose) The energy-efficient mini-community of Awesometown will be built on one of Fishtown’s many long-abandoned former industrial sites.

finishes: Low or no VOC

Household Name Postgreen’s new green building project Awesometown aims to live up to its name by dan eldridge

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rin Witman wasn’t planning on becoming a homeowner when she walked into Fishtown’s Lloyd Whiskey Bar one evening after work in March. But a colleague had encouraged the real estate professional to stop by for the launch party of Awesometown, a collection of 14 super-insulated and energy-efficient townhomes that will soon be rising along the 400 block of Moyer Street in Fishtown. Created by the local residential development firm Postgreen Homes, the houses promise to be rich in utilitysaving features: LEED Platinum design specs, rainwater collection areas, low-flow bathroom appliances, and triple pane windows to keep both warm and cool air inside the homes, which are scheduled for completion next summer.

Postgreen Homes has maintained its focus on building modestly priced and sustainably constructed houses with a design-friendly edge for over five years. The small firm initially won both local and national acclaim in 2010 when its first project, the East Kensington-based 100K House—so named because its construction costs

GRID LOVES 14

were capped at $100,000—was honored with the LEED for Homes Project of the Year award by the U.S. Green Building Council. Another project is a cluster of 31 customizable sale and rental units in Francisville known as Folsom Powerhouse, which have already sold out.

The mini-community of Awesometown will be built atop one of Fishtown’s many long-abandoned former industrial sites. In addition to Energy Star-rated appliances, airtight construction, 100 percent CFL or LED lighting and a high-efficiency HVAC system, the units will also feature a walk-out roof deck. And because of a collaboration between Postgreen and the Philadelphia Water Department, 95 percent of the site’s surface space will be permeable, preventing stormwater from overwhelming our city’s sewage system.

“I’m extremely passionate about environmentalism,” Witman says. “And it was kind of a pipe dream to live in a house such as one that Postgreen would build. But I didn’t consider it something that was viable for me.”

But for the first time, Postgreen Homes has

THe RESOURCE EXCHANGE

teamed up with a Philadelphia-based nonprofit community development corporation, the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, to offer subsidized housing rates. Postgreen president and co-founder Chad Ludeman says four of Awesometown’s 14 units will be sold to qualified moderate-income buyers, who are required to earn less than the Philadelphia median income rate, which in 2011 was about $34,000 annually.

“We really liked the NKCDC and their mission,” Ludeman says. “We were excited about doing a mixed-income project. And we saw an opportunity to do a public-private partnership, but with traditional private funding and no government subsidies or tax credits.”

The NKCDC owns and will develop the land.

But prior to teaming up with Postgreen, NKCDC wasn’t having much luck pre-selling units at the prices they needed to make the project work.

“By partnering with the NKCDC, we were able to make the prices successful,” Ludeman says.

Meanwhile, as far as Witman is concerned, Awesometown has already lived up to its name.

After entering a public lottery to bid on one of the four moderate-income units, which are selling at half the price of the $400,000 market-rate townhomes, her name was chosen. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” she says. “I’m really excited.”

In 2009, Karyn Gerred founded the Resource Exchange, a nonprofit reuse center, as a way to save film and theatre sets from the landfill, and it and quickly became the city's go-to hub for reclaimed and affordable art supplies, green building materials and home decor. This past spring, the Resource Exchange moved to 1701 N. 2nd St. Now within walking distance of the Frankford Ave. and Girard Ave. corridors and the MFL Berks station, the new 4,000 sq ft. warehouse space features even more inventory and a workshop and gallery space for monthly exhibits, events and how-to classes.

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photo: Dennis Hwang jjtiziou.net HowPhillyMoves.org EveryoneIsPhotogenic.com

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WetLand Mary Mattingly

A watery look at Philly’s future.

August 15–September 21 Independence Seaport Museum Pier 211 S Columbus Blvd (at Dock St) FREE; open daily; special events may require RSVP Visual artist Mary Mattingly will live on her own floating sculpture—a barge designed to look like a partially submerged Philly rowhouse. She’ll grow plants, collect rain water, generate solar power and harvest eggs from chickens as she lives “off the grid.” Visit her and explore her self-sustained world! Open daily to the public; free + free events. (Some events require RSVP.) For more information and to RSVP, visit FringeArts.com/WetLand

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Green living

Volunteers at a Repair Café in Palo Alto, Calif., repair bikes, clothing and tools.

In Need of Repair?

Fixer Upper

Bring your broken household items to the Repair Café from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave. Handy? Visit time4timexchange.org/t4t/ nw-philly-repair-cafe to either volunteer to help manage the event or to fix items.

Group focused on saving broken items from the trash heap brings Repair Café to Philadelphia by jack braunstein

O

n September 20, a repurposed bowling alley in the basement of the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill will be transformed into Pennsylvania’s first Repair Café. Yes, there will be coffee provided by the nearby Weavers Way Co-op, but this is a cafe unlike most in that it invites Philadelphians to drag in their broken lawn mowers, busted vacuum cleaners, damaged jewelry and worn-out bicycles to be repaired—for free.

The Repair Café is based on an event that took place in the Netherlands in 2009, and has since been replicated in nearly 300 other cities and towns around the globe. The goal of these events is to make connections between those with broken items and those with the skills to fix them. The result is fewer items in the landfill.

“We hope to bring in some younger people who’ve forgotten, or never learned, what it is to have an item that lasts for a long time,” says Betsy Wallace, member coordinator for Time4Time 16

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Community Exchange, a local timebank organizing the event. Wallace adds that she hopes to also engage an older generation of Philadelphians who grew up in an era before planned obsolescence dominated the consumer world.

“It’s a very intergenerational kind of thing, where they learn something about the insides of their broken item and how to fix it,” she says.

Time4Time expects fixer volunteers from Home Depot, Kilian Hardware and Gaffney Fabrics, but is also looking for anybody with experience rewiring lamps, tuning up lawn mowers, gluing toys, deciphering smartphones, sharpening knives, debugging computers or any other mending talents. Handy people looking for a fun, fulfilling day helping others and reducing waste can fill out an online application on the Time4Time website.

Though the event is free to the public and welcomes walk-ins, fixer volunteers will be able to log their hours in the timebank as time-based cur-

rency that they can redeem for labor from other Time4Time members at any point in the future.

“By using time as a medium of exchange and a unit of currency, you not only have something that is storable and can be applied in the future, but you also have something that can be applied to third parties,” says Ken Sorenson, an active member of the Time4Time network. “And you can’t tax time.”

Though the idea of Repair Café or a timebank might be foreign to most people, says Wallace, the appeal of both is intuitive, and the implications for those she calls “undervalued” by our economy—the elderly, the unemployed, minorities, women—are immense.

“You’ve got the gift of giving people the opportunity to use their skills and talents, instead of essentially being on the trash heap,” says Josephine Leigh, a member of the Steering Committee for the Repair Café. “I think there’s a lot of potential there.”

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The three sisters of the harvest seasons—corn, beans and squash—help usher in fall.

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Sister Act

Corn, beans and squash usher in the fall story and photos by emily teel

S

ummer doesn’t officially end until late September, but we seem to embrace Autumn as soon as it arrives. In those few weeks when vegetables straddle the seasons, I can’t help but think of the three sisters of the harvest seasons: corn, beans and squash.

The three sisters is a system of companion planting where each of the three crops sustain one another. Succotash, from the Narragansett word “sohquttahhash” for broken corn kernels, typically features lima or shelling beans alongside corn and peppers. This version riffs on Cajun macque choux, and makes for a spicy and rich one-skillet meal.

Wild rice pairs with southwestern flavors of charred vegetables and sunny cilantro-lime vinaigrette in an entree-worthy salad, and empanadas are perfect meals to fill those back-to-school lunch-boxes. emily teel is a food freelancer dedicated to sustainable, delicious food in Philadelphia.

See more of her work at emilyteel.com .

Bison and Bean Empanadas Total time: 2 hours | Makes 12 For dough: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup masa harina ½ teaspoon salt 6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter or lard, chilled and cut into pieces 1 egg ¼ cup cold water For filling: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound ground bison 1 onion, minced 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons hot peppers minced (about 1-2 peppers) 1 cup winter squash, peeled and grated ½ teaspoon ground cayenne ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ¼ teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup cooked tepary, pinto or yellow eye beans 1 egg (for egg wash)

To make dough: In a food processor, cut dry ingredients together and add butter or lard. Pulse until mixture looks like wet sand. Add egg and water until it comes together. Remove and wrap in plastic.

To make filling: In a large pot, heat olive oil over high heat and sauté for one minute. Add bison, garlic and hot pepper, and break up meat and distribute it evenly throughout the pot. Add salt and spices, stirring occasionally, until bison is browned.

Remove from heat and stir in squash and beans.

Cool to room temperature.

For empanadas, divide dough into 12 portions and, one at a time, roll each portion into a 5- to 6-inch round. Place on a baking sheet and add two tablespoons of filling on one half, leaving a border. Fold dough in half over filling. Press edges together and crimp with a fork. Place baking sheet in refrigerator to chill. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Make egg wash by combining remaining egg with one tablespoon water and beating well. Remove empanadas from refrigerator and brush them with egg wash.

Bake empanadas 15 minutes, rotate trays, and then bake 15 minutes more until crimped edges are beginning to brown.

Remove from oven, cool slightly and serve.

Late Summer Succotash

up any remaining bacon bits. When onion has browned slightly, add garlic and hot pepper.

Cook for another minute and add beans, squash and corn. Stir together and add marjoram, salt and black pepper.

Add water or stock, stir, cover and cook for two minutes. Remove cover and cook another two minutes, stirring, until liquid has evaporated and beans look bright green and the vegetables have begun to stick and caramelize.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in crema, top with reserved bacon and serve.

Charred Corn & Wild Rice Salad Total time: 1 hour | Serves 4 1 cup dry wild rice ½ pound zucchini 1 medium red onion 1 large or 2 small poblano peppers, seeded 2 ears of corn ¼ cup olive oil 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1 avocado, medium dice Salt For dressing: ½ cup olive oil ½ cup fresh lime juice (about 3-4 limes) ¼ cup dijon mustard 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar 1 teaspoon salt ½ bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped

Total time: 45 min | Serves 4 4 slices bacon (optional) 1 medium onion, diced 1 large bell pepper, any color, seeded and diced 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 hot pepper, seeded and finely chopped ½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut crosswise ½ pound summer squash, finely chopped 4 ears of sweet corn (kernels cut off) 1 teaspoon dried marjoram ¼ cup stock or water cup Mexican crema or sour cream 1 teaspoon kosher salt Black pepper, to taste Dice vegetables.

Cut bacon into small pieces and add to large skillet. Bring heat to medium, stirring until bacon has rendered fat and looks crispy and bubbly.

Remove bacon and reserve, leaving drippings in the pan. If omitting bacon, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

Increase heat to medium-high and add onion and bell pepper, stirring and scraping

In a small saucepan, bring rice, two and a half cups of water, and a pinch of salt to a boil.

Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, covered, for about 50 minutes until rice has absorbed almost all the water. When rice is tender, but retains a snappy texture, spread it onto a baking sheet to cool completely.

Cut kernels from corn and chop zucchini, red onion and poblanos into medium dice. Heat broiler to highest setting and, on a baking tray, mix corn and diced vegetables with olive oil and a healthy pinch of salt. Spread vegetables into a single layer and broil without stirring for 10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to caramelize.

Stir and spread into a single layer again, and broil another 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.

While rice and vegetables cool, combine all dressing ingredients except cilantro into the jar of a blender and blend until homogenized. Add cilantro and pulse just until combined.

In a wide bowl, combine rice, roasted vegetables and dressing to taste. Top with tomatoes and avocado and garnish with a few leaves of fresh cilantro. Refrigerate remaining dressing.

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Super Model Philly Foodworks

A

lthough we talk about community supported agriculture (CSA) frequently in the pages of Grid, it’s a relatively new busipromises flexibility for ness model. First introduced into the U.S. in consumers, a market 1986, it offered a brilliant solution to a problem farmers for small food regularly faced: cash flow. By encouraging consumers producers, and a who wanted fresh produce to pay farmers in advance, bridge from rural the model bridged a gap in the winter and early spring to urban when farmers had little to sell. When crops are ready to be harvested, consumers get a weekly box—a share story by of a wide variety of the freshest fruits and vegetables shaun brady you can buy. It’s a big win for both the eater and farmer. & photos by While the model has proven to be a success, it can be challenging for customers to keep up. Undaryl peveto familiar vegetables need to be identified and researched before preparing, and if you have a busy week at work that keeps you out of the kitchen, the pile of vegetables can stack up quickly.

This insight is one that led to the founding of Philly Foodworks, a distribution business created by Dylan Baird, Ryan Witmer and Jamal Bell, and the introduction of a hybrid CSA model. The

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consumer still pays in advance, so it remains economically beneficial to the farmer, but they can choose what they want, when they want it, making it less rigid. Philly Foodworks currently offers food from more than 30 producers within a 150-miles radius of the Philadelphia area.

But it isn’t all about consumer choice. Ultimately their goal is to strengthen the bond between the rural grower and the urban buyer. Philly Foodworks is also trying to create a marketplace for the fledgling specialty food producer.

Says co-founder Ryan Witmer: “There are a lot of different barriers to small producers, and one of the greatest is where and how they sell their food, which is largely limited to farmers markets and other forms of direct retail. After going through a difficult growth phase, they might get into Whole Foods, but there’s this major gap between their direct efforts and then getting into a retail shop. We’re able to fill that gap and hopefully be another lily pad in their development. And on the consumer side, the product that we’re offering seems to be sought out by a lot of consumers: it’s Philly-raised, unique and artisanal, and really healthy, but can be difficult to find and sometimes expensive.”

An Idea Germinates Baird, Witmer and Bell met while working with landscape architect and “guerilla gardener” Skip Wiener at his Urban Tree Connection (UTC), an urban farm and community development organization in the Haddington area of West Philadelphia. The UTC has a mission to assist low-income, urban neighborhoods by transforming empty lots, most often through growing food. Together they launched Neighborhood Foods, a CSA program that eventually spawned Philly Foodworks.

As their ambitions evolved from urban farming into a distribution model, it became clear to the Philly Foodworks founders that they needed to separate from UTC, where education is more important than business. For example, Baird mentions an incident when some students ruined a kale crop by uprooting the plants instead of harvesting the leaves. “[For] a subsidized nonprofit, that’s a learning experience, but as a business you can’t really deal with that,” he says.

“Urban Tree Connection definitely incubated this,” Witmer says. “But running a distribution business on a 3/4-acre farm that’s set up for community programs is crazy. You pile all of this ambition into a very tight space, and then realize that you need to separate.”

Wiener recognized the ambition and entrepreneurial spirit of Baird, Witmer and Bell, and encouraged them to pursue their own goals, especially when he saw the CSA growing to the point where it was becoming a distraction to Urban Tree Connection’s core urban farming mission.

“The three of them are workaholics,” Wiener says. “Dylan has an incredible vision and drive; Ryan is boots-on-the-ground, able to get any-

Philly Foodworks’ Kat Wojciechowski sorts the Tuesday CSA haul at the company’s distribution center in northwest Philadelphia.

thing done and anything built; and Jamal has a tremendous ability to mobilize people in the community. They’re incredibly driven and have shown a lot of skills in terms of growing something out of nothing.”

Each of the three bring their own expertise to the partnership: Baird, 24, a graduate of Temple University’s Fox School of Business, is interested in developing a financially viable model for local food distribution; Witmer, 28, was raised on his grandparents’ farm in Ohio and brings a lifelong knowledge of practical farming; and Bell, 63, has an extensive familiarity with retail and community outreach. He

came to Philly Foodworks after starting an urban farm at the House of Umoja, a grassroots residential program for ex-gang members in West Philadelphia. He now operates Philly Foodworks’ weekly farmers market offerings in Northern Liberties’ Liberty Lands Park, and thus maintains a very direct connection to the company’s consumers.

“Sometimes people haven’t even seen certain vegetables, so you get the opportunity to educate people and [change their] eating habits,” Bell says.

“We’re not here just pushing food out for dollar signs. We’re not only selling people food, but we’re really conscious of what we’re selling them.”

Reuben Riehl, one of the producers for Philly Foodworks, at his farm in Honey Brook, Pa. s e pte m b e r 20 14

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Financial Security for Farmers and Producers In 2013, before Neighborhood Foods evolved into Philly Foodworks, it won $125,000, professional services and products from Temple’s “Be Your Own Boss Bowl,” a university-wide business plan competition. Those funds allowed them to move into a 5,000-square-foot warehouse space in SHARE Food Program’s facility in North Philadelphia that now serves as Philly Foodworks’ headquarters. In late July, the space still showed evidence of the move, with accounting papers on packing pallets and plastic chairs hastily pulled up to a makeshift table.

Remnants of the previous day’s CSA shipment were evident; Bell was busily stacking produce boxes that were strewn about, while Baird inventoried the leftover mushrooms, fruits and breads that remained in the walk-in freezer. The space also includes a dry storage room where the company keeps a variety of value-added products like pasta, jams and coffee.

“We want to work with varying levels of producers,” Baird says, pointing out professionally packaged snacks and handmade teabags from Dustsun Apothecary that sit side-by-side on the shelves.

“Metropolitan Bakery has a great product and a brand name that people recognize, and this tea comes from someone in West Philly who gathers this stuff around the neighborhood and dries it.”

Philly Foodworks is also able to lend a financial hand to small-scale producers. For example, they bought mason jars in bulk and passed along the discount to their producers.

They’ve also instituted a practice of paying for a season’s worth of produce up front, providing farmers with funds in the critical spring planting season without the burden of interest-bearing bank loans, in a sense expanding the usual CSA model. That initial investment is then paid back over the course of the season as deliveries are made to the CSA. “It’s as if you could pay off your loan to the bank with vegetables,” Baird says.

Reuben Riehl is an Amish farmer in Honey Brook Township who raises beef and egg-laying chickens in addition to produce. Philly Foodworks has become his primary customer, which has allowed him to forgo his twice-weekly travels to Philadelphia markets, and he also gathers crops from five other area farms to sell to the CSA. Riehl says that the early payment provides an enormous advantage. “That’s huge in the spring,” he says.

“If I hadn’t had the payment up front, we would probably have been dependent on a line of credit for getting seeds and fertilizer, getting the crops in the ground. It was a great boost.”

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Reuben Riehl's son gathers produce.

Philly Foodworks held their first community dinner in late July at Heritage Farms in Northwest Philadelphia.

The Product Line The Philly Foodworks CSA offers three different share types. “Farmer’s Choice” utilizes the traditional CSA model, providing 10 items weekly depending on availability and changing with the seasons. “Mix Share” includes five items based on the same model, supplemented by credits to be used in Philly Foodworks’ online market, which sells a variety of products, including additional produce, baked goods, meats, herbs and natural medicine. “Your Choice” is a commitment to spend a set amount over the season but completely à la carte.

“We wanted to leave the traditional CSA model available because some people really like the surprise and challenge of cooking the vegetables that they receive,” Witmer says. “Other people have a different schedule and don’t have the time or patience to figure out what to do with all these different things, so they just want to select what they’ll use.”

Katrina Liu, a recent graduate of Temple University’s law school, signed up for the Neighborhood Foods CSA and followed the trio as they transformed into Philly Foodworks. Now in her second CSA season, she

Jamal Bell, Rebecca Ebner and Dylan Baird visit at the community dinner at Heritage Farms.

appreciates how the program connects her love for cooking with her interest in sustainable practices. “I think what Philly Foodworks does really well is ensuring that CSA members are part of a larger community in Philadelphia,” Liu says. “I really enjoy the great produce that I get, but I really enjoy the sense of participation in a real food movement.”

Philly Foodworks also offers flexible payment terms for consumers, allowing payments in up to four installments rather than in a single lump sum; additional items can always be added to a share via the online market; home delivery is available in some sections of the city; and if vacation or other contingencies don’t allow for a pick-up during any given week, accounts will be credited with 48 hours’ notice.

For the future, Philly Foodworks’ main focus is expanding their CSA, which currently delivers 400 shares, and adding a winter CSA to take the

program year-round. In September, they’ll also take over a contract at Chestnut Hill’s private Crefeld School for which they’ll make lunch for students in the morning and have access to the school’s kitchen for the remainder of the day.

They hope to use leftover produce and other items to make their own products, such as preserves, stew-in-a-bag preparations and sauces, either for inclusion in future CSA baskets or for sale to local retailers.

The Social Mission Connection is key to Philly Foodworks’ social mission, which emphasizes creating community as much as healthy eating or supporting farmers. That’s apparent in their blog posts, which feature interviews with some of their frequent producers. They also host community dinners, which bring together producers, CSA customers and supporters for a communal

meal. They held their first in late July at Heritage Farms in Northwest Philadelphia. Customers were invited free of charge to enjoy a meal consisting entirely of food offered by the Philly Foodworks CSA. “The idea is that what you’re buying from the CSA is an experience,” Baird says, declaring their first dinner a success. That connection is also evident in how Philly Foodworks vets potential farms to supply their CSA. “It’s not just that we want to make sure that they’re using organic growing methods or whatever,” Baird says. “We’re sitting down with Ruben and Esther Riehl and their seven kids and eating cinnamon buns and drinking the milk they just got from their cows. Food plays an important role in community, so you can use food to create relationships with people, and suddenly there isn’t this barrier between urban and rural.”  s e pte m b e r 20 14

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aug

Greensgrow Shrimp Boil Benefit

To raise funds for their Community Kitchen, which hosts lessons in cooking, canning, fermenting and much more from local artisans, Greensgrow Farms will be hosting a shrimp boil benefit prepared by Chef Justin Swain from Rex 1516 and Chef Carolynn Angle from the Standard Tap. The dinner will also feature craft beer, fruit cobbler, live music from Zydeco-a-Go-Go and free dance lessons, as well as a host of raffles, one of which includes a private dinner with Greensgrow founder Mary Seton Corboy.

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→→ Sat., Aug. 16, 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets $40 to $60.

2501 E. Cumberland St. For tickets, visit greensgrow.org/shrimpboil

aug

Beyond Sustenance Heritage Dinner

Beginning with an interactive museum tour, the African American Museum in Philadelphia’s Education Department will use the museum’s exhibits to engage guests through storytelling while First Person Arts spoken word artists tell stories of their connection to urban farming and the land. Guests’ experiences will then extend to a family-style dinner that will offer contemporary versions of traditional African American recipes.

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→→ Sun., Aug. 17, 4 to 7 p.m. $60 for non-members,

$50 for members of the AAMP. African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St. To purchase tickets, email volunteer@aampmuseum.org or call 215-574-0380 x220.

aug

sep

05 TO

07

Philadelphia Honey Festival This year’s Honey Festival will be taking place around Philadelphia at the Wagner Free Institute of Science on Sept. 5, at the Wyck Historic House, Garden and Farm on Sept. 6, and at Bartram’s Garden on Sept. 7. The festival hopes to raise awareness about the importance of honey bees for the environment, food supply and economy, and to promote urban beekeeping and gardening. →→ Fri., Sept. 5 through Sun., Sept. 7; check online for times. Free. Wagner Free

Institute of Science, 1700 W. Montgomery Ave.; Wyck Historic House, Garden, and Farm, 6026 Germantown Ave.; Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd. phillyhoneyfest.com

aug

Survival Skills at Pennypack

In another installment of the Junior Naturalist program, the Pennypack Environmental Center invites children ages 8 to 12 to learn the basics of outdoor survival through crafts, games and exploration. A snack will be provided.

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→→ Tues., Aug. 19, 1 to 3 p.m. $5 per child per activity.

Rep. Steve McCarter Food Drive

Pennsylvania Rep. Steve McCarter’s food drive started at the end of July and will run through Thursday, Aug. 28. McCarter welcomes all non-perishable food items to be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at his district office in Glenside, Pa.

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→→ All weekdays through Thurs., Aug. 28. 9 a.m. to 5

p.m. 215 S. Easton Rd., Glenside, Pa.

Registration required. Pennypack Environmental Center, 8600 Verree Rd. To register, email pec@ phila.gov or call 215-685-0470.

aug

To have your event considered for publication in Grid, email events@gridphilly.com. Submissions are due on the 19th of every month. For a full list of calendar events, visit gridphilly.com.

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Night Market

The Philadelphia Food Trust’s regular Night Market event celebrates Philadelphia’s local and vibrant restaurant and food truck scene while showcasing different upand-coming neighborhoods. Since 2010, The Food Trust has hosted 13 night markets, attracting 200,00 people and over 300 vendors. This August, the dedicated food security nonprofit brings the party to Lancaster Avenue. Celebrate a night out with diverse food and drinks, and vibrant arts and culture.

21

Morning Meadow Walks

Wednesdays through Sept. 10, take a vigorous, guided tour of a five-acre to meadow at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve to learn about native warm season grasses, meadow ecology and plant-pollinator interactions. Observe grasses, native bees and butterflies, and watch the insects gather nectar or pollen from milkweeds, mints, bonesets and coneflowers.

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10

PENCIL IT IN!

aug

→→ Thurs., Aug. 21, 6 to 10 p.m. Free. Lancaster Ave. and 35th St. thefoodtrust.org/night-market

aug

Solar Party: A Green Carpet Event

Solar States is hosting a Solar Party atop the Crane Arts building for a starstudded “Green Carpet” event complete with local beverages and bites. Attendees can watch the sun set over the Philadelphia and mingle with sustainability leaders.

21

→→ Wed., Aug. 20 through Wed., Sept. 10., 10 to 11

a.m. Free for members, included with admission for non-members. Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Visitor Center, 1635 River Rd. (Rt. 32) New Hope, Pa. bhwp.org

→→ Thurs., Aug. 21. 5 to 10 p.m. 1400 N. American St., Ste. 401. facebook.com/events/258241487700378

p h oto by Sa rah Plonsk i

Aug 21

GMO Free NJ Summer Film Fest: Big River

In the last of the nonprofit’s summer film festival, GMO Free NJ will screen Big River—a companion film to King Corn—that follows up the filmmakers’ experiment growing an agroindustrial acre of corn with an investigation of the environmental toll it took on the people and places downstream. Refreshments provided. →→ Thurs., Aug. 21, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Free. 771 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, N.J. GMOFreeNJ.com

AUG

Morris Arboretum Summer Concert Series: Joanie Leeds & the Nightlights Joanie Leeds & the Nightlights plays a family-friendly concert at the Morris Arboretum.

Additionally, the student band from Rock to the Future, a Philadelphia-based non-profit that provides music education to underserved youth, will open the show at 5:45 p.m.

21

→→ Thurs., Aug. 21, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Check online

for prices. Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, 100 E. Northwestern Ave., Flourtown, Pa. To purchase tickets, visit morrisarboretum.ticketleap.com

Aug

Turtles, Frogs and Mud Puddles

Children 5 to 7 are invited learn about reptiles and amphibians at the Pennypack Environmental Center’s Explorer Program, which includes crafts, snacks and games that explore the area’s turtle and frog habitats.

21

aug

New Moon Farm Dinners A collaboration between High 23 Street on Market and cheese courtesan Madame Fromage, this locally grown, community-centered dinner series is open for reservation. The family-style, outdoor dinner will include locally curated cheeseboards and a meal prepared by the High Street team. Attendees will have the chance to tour the farm and meet the animals after the meal. →→ Sat., Aug. 23, 7 to 10 p.m. Birchrun Hills Farm,

Chester Springs, Pa. $85. BYO. For reservations, visit madamefromageblog.com

aug

23

Volunteer Days at The Francisville Farm & Orchard

Join Urbanstead, Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation and other volunteers for a day of farming and fun in the Francisville Urban Farm & Orchard. Every Saturday through the end of September, the group welcomes volunteers to help make Philadelphia into a greener, healthier and more sustainable space. →→ Sat., Aug. 23 through Sat., Sept. 27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 1708 Ridge Ave. urbanstead.org

aug

26

Perception vs. Reality: A Local Forum on Climate Change

A House Democratic Policy Committee hearing hosted by Rep. Steve McCarter.

Legislators and members of the public will discuss the science of global warming and climate change.

sep

FringeArts Fringe Festival The 18th edition of this festival celebrates the opening of the first-ever permanent headquarters of FringeArts, which includes a bar, late-night programming and a waterfront brasserie. The festival will feature six theatrical world premieres, as well as a host of international and local artists.

05

→→ Fri., Sept. 5 through Sun., Sept. 21. Tickets range in price. For tickets, visit fringearts.com/festival

sep

Make Your Own Bread Philly Bread’s Pete Merzbacher will teach the basics of fermenting grains and sourdough starts. Attendees will learn the secrets of the 12 stages of making bread, and Merzbacher will make a sourdough starter for everyone to take home.

06

→→ Sat., Sept. 6, noon to 2 p.m. $35. Registration

required. Greensgrow Community Kitchen at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, 2139 E. Cumberland St. greensgrow.org

sep

Pennsylvania Coast Day

A festival in celebration of the Pennsylvania Coast, featuring a Delaware River ferry ride, kayak excursion and pedal-boat rides.

There will be a Pennsylvania Tug Boat Festival, model ship races and exhibits, and kid activities.

A shuttle will bring guests to a round-trip tour of the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, where attendees can compete in the Philly Fun Fishing Fest, explore the historic water works and explore the tidal Schuylkill River.

06

→→ Thurs., Aug. 21, 1 to 3 p.m. $5 per child, per activity.

Registration required. Pennypack Environmental Center, 8600 Verree Rd. To register, email pec@ phila.gov or call 215.685.0470

AUG

Plant Disease Management This Ecological Gardening course at 23 the Mt. Cuba Center revolves around the identification and multifaceted management of fungi, bacteria and viruses. Students will learn how to diagnose plant disease and learn about prevention and control through healthy gardening alternatives. →→ Sat., Aug. 23, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $90. Mt. Cuba

Center, 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin, Del. To register, call 302-239-8807, email education@ mtcubacenter.org or visit museumtix.com .

aug

Plant Art Workshop

The African American Museum in Philadelphia will host a free, handson drop-in workshop that teaches children to transform vegetables and flowers into little masterpieces such as stamps and stationery.

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→→ Sat., Aug 23, noon to 3 p.m. Free. African

American Museum, 701 Arch St. 215-574-0380. aampmuseum.org

→→ Tues., Aug. 26, 2 to 5 p.m. Curtis Hall, 1250 W. Church Rd., Wyncote, Pa. pahouse.com/ McCarter

aug

Wellness Walk Trade in the sweaty gym for open 30 skies, fresh air and friendly company with an invigorating walk along the trails of the Schuylkill Center. The walk will be led at a moderate pace, along a wide and more level trail. →→ Sat., Aug. 30, 2 to 3 p.m. Free.

8480 Hagy’s Mill Rd. schuylkillcenter.org

sep

→→ Sat., Sept. 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. Walnut Plaza

on Penn’s Landing (Columbus Ave. at Walnut St.).

DelawareEstuary.org

sep

Greenfest Philly

As the largest environmental festival in the city, Greenfest Philly is designed to show the people of Philadelphia about easy steps they can take in their daily lives to move closer to sustainable living. With over 100 exhibitors and vendors, Greenfest will feature local green wares, great food, live music, live demonstrations, kid-friendly activities and more.

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→→ Sun., Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The historic

Plant Pathology

This weekly session at the Barnes Arboretum will focus on a systematic approach to identifying signs and symptoms of the Delaware Valley’s common biotic and abiotic woody plant diseases. Wednesdays through Oct. 22.

03

→→ Wed., Sept. 3, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. $180 for non-

member, $162 for members. Barnes Arboretum, 300 N. Latches Ln., Merion Station, Pa. barnesfoundation.org

Headhouse Square, on 2nd Street between South Street and Pine. Free. greenfestphilly.org

sep

09

Kensington Community Food Co-op Marketplace

The Kensington Community Food Coop will be hosting a market featuring local produce, eggs, yogurt and bulk goods on the second and fourth Tuesdays of September. Please bring containers to purchase items. →→ Tues., Sept. 9 and Tues., Sept. 23, 6 to 8 p.m.

2009 Frankford Ave. kcfc.coop s e pte m b e r 20 14

gridphilly.com

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sep

The HomeGrown Music Festival

The inaugural edition of a festival celebrating Philadelphia’s urban farms and community gardens will be a fusion of local music, gardens and farms to support food justice, independence and sustainability, while providing opportunities for local musicians. The festivities take places across four urban farm sites, and will also include a citywide garden build competition.

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sep 14

Interactive Workshop: Invasive Species of Cooper River Watershed

Hosted by Sustainable Cherry Hill, this workshop aims to help homeowners identify and avoid garden plants that are invasive and harmful to the southern New Jersey ecosystem.

The workshop will feature a presentation, a demonstration on how to report invasive species to the NJ Invasive Species Strike Team, and a walk around Cooper River Park to identify the invasive species found there.

→→ Fri., Sept. 12 through Sun., Sept.

14. For times and locations, visit philadelphiahomegrownmusicfestival.com

or call 215-236-1878

sep

Second Saturdays Volunteer

Every second Saturday of the month through Oct. 11, volunteers can partake in a day of outdoor field work of engaging servicelearning projects chosen by Awbury’s Landscape Director, Denis Lucey. Participants are also encouraged to explore the sites of Historic Germantown after a morning of volunteering.

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→→ Sun., Sept. 14, 1 to 3 p.m. Free. Camden County

Environmental Center, 1301 Park Blvd., Cherry Hill, N.J. sustainablecherryhill.org

sep

sep

Beekeeping 101

Find out how beekeeping can be useful to you—whether for honey, as a pollinator in your garden or as a way to offset presentday bee population concerns. For beekeepers of all levels, this workshop will cover all you need to know about honey bees. Don Shump will take you through a beekeeper’s first year and discuss local resources. Attendees will receive a $10 Greensgrow gift card after class.

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A forum at the Free Library of Philadelphia will examine how Pennsylvania state and local governments are coping with the effects of global warming. Featuring Robert McKinstry of the Ballard Spahr law firm’s Climate Change and Sustainability Initiative, and Sarah Wu of the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

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→→ Mon., Sept. 15, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Free. Parkway

Central Branch Free Library of Philadelphia, Room 108, 1901 Vine St.

sep 18

Food For Thought: Eating in Season

As fall approaches, how do we keep eating locally? What is fresh? Hosted by the Schuylkill Center and the Weavers Way Co-op, this event will guide attendees on eating locally with—and sometimes in spite of—the seasons.

Local wine and appetizers will be offered while exploring seasonal eating in the Schuylkill Center’s forest pavilion.

→→ Sat., Sept. 13, noon to 2 p.m. $25. Registration

required. Greensgrow Farms, 2501 E. Cumberland St. greensgrow.org

18

Delaware Valley Green Building Council’s Annual Green Building Celebration 2014

The Delaware Valley Green Building Council’s Groundbreaker Awards—touted as the green building event of the year—celebrate transformative leadership in the green building community and industry. At the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Philadelphia, the DVGBC will honor those transformative people, organizations, and projects that are moving our market, impacting the region, and influencing others to do the same around the corner or around the world. The award ceremony is open to the public. →→ Thurs., Sept. 18, 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets for members

Climate Change Forum

→→ Sat., Sept. 13, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free with

registration. The Francis Cope House at Awbury Arboretum, One Awbury Rd. awbury.org

sep

→→ Thurs., Sept. 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. $20. 8480 Hagys Mill Rd. schuylkillcenter.org

cost $135, non-members $195, and students $35.

480 S. Broad St. Purchase tickets at dvgbc.org/ celebrate2014

sep

27

Weavers Way Co-op Urban Farm Bike Ride

Join cyclists of all levels on an urban farmland adventure through Philadelphia’s farming scene to see what “local” is in its purest form—right in our own backyards. The Urban Farm Bike Ride includes talks with the city’s urban farmers, snacks and water throughout the ride and beer and pizza at the end. It starts and ends at Philadelphia Brewing Company and will go through Kensington, South Philly, West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, Germantown, Roxborough and Mt. Airy. The shorter ride is 21 to 23 miles and the longer ride is 30 to 35 miles.

All proceeds benefit Weavers Way Community Program, the non-profit arm of the co-op. The ride is a rain or shine event. All registration fees are non-refundable. →→ Sat., Sept. 27. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early bird (by Sept.

2) tickets are $39.50. Regular tickets are $45.

Philadelphia Brewing Company, 2439 Amber St. weaversway.coop/bikeride

MILO K., Hermit Crab

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sept e m be r 2014

illustration by Daniel Kaye

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Watered Down A closed-loop system springs a leak

I

n 2010, my husband Ben and I had been bit by the small-farm bug. I had just swapped a career in managing concert venues and nightclubs to start working with farm and food businesses. He was a paramedic who had lived on a Kibbutz in Israel for four years milking cows, picking avocadoes and doing field work.

We had just moved into our first apartment in Philadelphia, but were sure that within five years we’d buy a farm and build something of our own.

We grew sprouts, wheatgrass and greens under a small shop light. We hung upsidedown tomato planters, with boxes of basil and cilantro underneath to catch the drainage. Our humble harvests had us wide-eyed, knowing that we were planting the seeds of our future.

One day I came home from work, and Ben had surprised me by building our koi fish tank into an aquaponic herb planter. I was mesmerized watching the fish swimming through tunnels of dangling basil roots. Aquaponics is a soil-free cultivation that takes hydroponics to another level by creating an ecosystem that uses the fish waste for plant food. In hydroponics, the grower mixes nutrients into the water reservoir to feed the plants.

Wanting to experiment with both techniques, we traded in our dining room table for a 16-square-foot hydroponic system to grow greens.

When our koi started to get too big for their tank, something clicked.

Why not retrofit this hydro system to be fed by the fish and solve two problems at once? We were soon swept off our feet by aquaponics, watching every Murray Hallam video we could find on YouTube, and phrases like “closed-loop sustainable system” started peppering our dinner conversations. But soon our apartment was bursting at the seams with equipment, and tying to balance the flow of water for 10 hours a day wasn’t working. We kept springing leaks, which the bank below us did not appreciate.

So, we decided to move to the Wissahickon area and find a south-facing yard. Frimmer

by Rebecca Frimmer

Family Farms was born at Lauriston Street in 2012. This was going to be our first foray into real farming—we were going to actually sell vegetables. The farm would be an experimental micro-farm to see how much could be produced in a 250-square-foot space. We bought a hydroponic system with 300 plant sites and a pop-up garage that we modified into a high tunnel, growing tightly spaced, orderly rows of lettuce, kale, mustards and herbs for the local restaurant scene. Not exactly saving the world,

but a pretty sweet first gig.

Hydroponics worked well as long as the weather was great. Without a true greenhouse and total environmental control, we had wild temperature fluctuations. There were days that our water temperatures reached 90+ degrees.

The hydroponics pros have heaters, chillers and electronic nutrient dosing machines that constantly test and amend the water solution. We had none of that. A slew of problems meant that we were putting more lettuce in the compost pile

than into bags for sale. We were total amateurs and we knew it.

Then came our “AHA!” moment—going back to aquaponics. Natural fertilizer, no water changes, koi that could be sold to landscapers; surely this would be more sustainable. The first few months were great, but then reality set in.

Fish food was expensive and made of genetically modified soy, corn and cotton, forcing us to ship organic fish food from Florida. We had to use electricity to pump water and power fish tank heaters in winter. We still had water temperature issues, and then the filters and carrier tubes started clogging and leaks and blockages cost us entire crops—300 heads of lettuce—in one afternoon’s time. Our plants turned odd colors, and diagnosing problems became expensive and difficult. Not to mention that our water-grown greens were not as firm and delicious as greens grown in soil.

We were so frustrated that we gave our fish away and went back to the drawing board. Outdoor aquaponics and hydroponics are not kind to the part-time farmer.

Then we had our next big moment of realization—soil is stable. Today, our farm has three 18-foot-long raised beds in the tunnel, each with a row of vertical stacking planters, giving us more planting sites than our previous compact hydro system. We also built eight more vertical planters for strawberries. Our old hydroponic tank brews bubbly compost tea.

Now we actually enjoy our time on the farm. It doesn’t matter if the irrigation line busts, or it gets too hot, or if the nutrient solution is perfectly balanced, because things don’t happen so fast in the soil. Nature is in control, not us, and the results are beautiful and far more satisfying.

Rebecca Frimmer is Entrepreneur-inResidence with Kitchen Table Consultants for farm and food businesses. The Frimmers continue to dive into all aspects of farming and are learning about no-till farming, carbon sequestration, and how farming practices affect global warming.

Each month, Dispatch features personal reflections on adventures in sustainability. Have a story you’d like to share? E-mail getinvolved@gridphilly.com 30

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sept e m be r 2014

illustration by sarah feron e

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a world of mystery

One MES student explores the power of water right here in Philadelphia.

Meg Malloy Master of Environmental Studies ‘07, University of Pennsylvania To learn more about where your water comes from, visit www.upenn.edu/grid

Meg Malloy was first enchanted by water as a little girl at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

There, she says, “I felt the magic of coming upon a tidal pool, observing the creatures left by the tide. I knew there was a whole world under the ocean that we humans didn’t fully comprehend.”

As an undergraduate, Meg pursued a degree in molecular biology. But several years into her career as a laboratory technician in Philadelphia hospitals, she heard about Penn’s MES program, and felt the call of the aquatic world once again. “I felt like I finally had the opportunity to understand how complex the environment is, and how to explain those complexities to others. I saw how I could mesh all my interests — water, global health, environmental education — and create one unified program.”

Meg pursued a Resource Management concentration, and for her capstone project created a set of lesson plans to teach schoolchildren about the City of Philadelphia’s integrated watershed management plan. Through her capstone project, she made connections at the Philadelphia Water Department that eventually enabled her to create her own environmental education business. Today, she consults part time and also works as an Environmental Scientist at the City’s Office of Watersheds.

Staff from Penn’s MES Program are here to answer your questions face-to-face on the second Wednesday of each month.

Walk right in.

www.upenn.edu/grid

“The MES program 100% gave me the opportunity to come full circle and feel like that kid again exploring tidal pools. I get to work with water every day, and show people how water connects each and every one of our daily lives.”

www.upenn.edu/grid

www.facebook.com/UPennEES

@PENN_EES