Pentridge Children's Garden Celebrates 15 Years

PIONEERING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM IN WEST PHILADELPHIA
EXHIBITS PHOTOGRAPHS OF LOCAL LIFE TAKEN BY THE CHILDREN

The groundbreaking Pentridge Children's Garden, founded by activists
in an empty lot in a very low-income section of West Philadelphia, is
celebrating its 15th anniversary with a photo exhibit by the children
of their lives. The opening of the photo exhibit--selected, prepared
and installed by the children--will take place December 1st at Satellite Coffee
shop, at 50th Street and Baltimore Ave., from 5 pm to 9 pm. Photos
below were taken by the children.

The Pentridge Children's Garden is a volunteer-run community
children's garden located at 4929-31 Pentridge St. in West
Philadelphia. We have been a youth gardening program since 1993, and
eventually managed to buy the garden and build a greenhouse, where we
are continuing to cultivate vegetables into the winter. Partly
founded as an opportunity for children of different racial and ethnic
backgrounds to meet each other on friendly ground, we have watched a
generation of kids grow up, graduate high school, move away, become
mothers and fathers, and go to college. We have grown hundreds of
tomatoes, moved wheel barrow after wheel barrow of dirt, counted
worms, eaten green beans, sorrel, sunflower seeds and popcorn that we
harvested. Our apple trees climb bigger and taller each year. There
have been camping trips to Seven Star Farm, adventures to Cobbs Creek,
and field trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show. Annual cook outs,
pumpkin carvings, and parades are talked about as the years come and
go. Old timers of eight years old give tours to the new kids,
violence is not tolerated and amazing conversations about food, nature
and the world spill into our well loved soil.

Pentridge Children's Garden now sell vegetables at Clark Park Farmers
Market on Saturdays. The kids help wheel down a cart with our food
and flowers, they teach the customers about the vegetables and
carefully record all sales.

Through the Support of the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the
Leeway Foundation, garden volunteers have apprenticed with Master
Gardener Blanche Epps. Blanche has passed on to us what she learned
from her grandmothers and a life time of urban gardening. Through a
partnership with Philly Green and The Neighborhood Garden Association
we have installed a water line, a new fence, an art shed, a tool shed,
picnic benches, a green house and more garden beds.
Fundraising

In 2005 we purchased the land and became part of the West Philadelphia
LCA Land Trust.
Although we raised $18,000, we still are in debt $5,000 with an
agreement to repay a $1000 a year for the next five years. January is
our deadline. So we need your help.

Please contact Beth Pulcinella, coordinator of Pentridge Children's
Garden, at bettypulse@gmail.com for more information.

Comments

Congratulations!

Submitted by Guerrilla Gardener (not verified) on Mon, 11/19/2007 - 10:49am

For information on another community garden and children's program that did not do so well, read "Budd Street Garden Bulldozed" at http://www.phillyimc.org/en/2007/03/38109.shtml

Let's all fight to make sure that more of our community spaces remain vital like the Pentridge Garden.

hmmm.

Submitted by hmmm. (not verified) on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 5:44am

just looking at this picture pisses me off.
insincerity.
misplaced shame and guilt.
mis-diagnosis.
how bout this..
get out of my neigborhood.. and tak you parties, bikes, beers, bars, trash.
stop eating up our food.
stop taking up our clothes from the secondmile.
stop trying to "bum-it" till you feel like cashing back in the game.
leave our hood.
we dont need your answers , help, radio stations, " temple drop outs, upenn terrorisim , poilce, brutalizing culture. take it on back to your side.
do work from over there. start with all that privilage yall got. (im talking bout most of you.. and probably yall too who are shaking your heads, think about it).
this might not be the place to say it.. but the photo say it for me..
take it on back... self serving educated fools.

Great garden

Submitted by Barb Williams (not verified) on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 4:57pm

This garden has been in West Philly for 15 years and has a lot of happy alum, all grown up. Good luck on the opening!

Dear hmmmm

Submitted by seand (not verified) on Sat, 01/19/2008 - 2:15pm

Whats up with the anger. Some young women do a free volunteer program where kids grow food and learn about gardening. Why would anybody have a problem with that?

You don't approve of gardening?

Comments

Congratulations!

hmmm.

Great garden

Dear hmmmm

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