SuStainable PhiladelPhia

aPril 2010 / issue 13 gridPhilly.com

t a k e o n e !

Gardeningt h e

i s s u e

snakes in the

garden[ page 20]

the new urban

activists get their

hands dirty

[ page 12]

essay: on the

heartbreak of harvest

[ page 30]

Primex Garden Center Independent, family-owned and operated since 1943

Love Gardening?

Love gardening?

This is the place for you.

Conveniently located near the Glenside train station, Primex offers over 250 organic and eco-friendly gardening products. You can pick up compost bins and rain barrels, check out the on-site demonstration garden, recycle your pots and flats or take advantage of free soil pH testing. Our knowledgeable staff is always ready to answer your questions or help you out with anything you need!

435 West Glenside Avenue • Glenside, PA 19038 • 215-887-7500 • www.primexgardencenter.com

3april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

publisherAlex Mulcahy

215.625.9850 ext. 102 alex@gridphilly.com

distributionClaire Connelly

215.625.9850 ext. 100 claire@gridphilly.com

managing editorLee Stabert

lee@gridphilly.com

art directorJamie Leary

jamie@gridphilly.com

assistant to the publisher

Tim Mulcahy tim@gridphilly.com

copy editorsAndrew Bonazelli

Patty Moran

production artistLucas Hardison

customer serviceMark Evans

mark@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 105

internAriela Rose

Cassie Cummins

writersMichael Boyette

Bernard S. Brown Cassie Cummins

Alli Katz Marisa McClellan

Alex Mulcahy Ariela Rose Lee Stabert

Char Vandermeer Samantha Wittchen

photographersLucas Hardison

Jessica Kourkounis

illustratorsJ.P. Flexner

Melissa McFeeters

published byRed 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

Year OneIt’s time to celebrate, Grid is turning

one! In honor of this occasion, we’re throwing a party at Yards Brewing Company on Satur-

day, April 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. (see inside back cover for details). We would love if you stopped by, had a beer and said hello.

I suppose this is a time for reflection, something I’ve had little time to do since this magazine’s incep-tion. “Lurker” is a term used to describe a person who reads a message board but never contributes. And, for years, that’s more or less what I was in the sustainability community. I would go to forums at the Academy of Natural Sciences, often dragging a less-than-interested friend. Once inside, I would occasionally grab their arm and exclaim things like, “Oh my God, I think that’s Christine Knapp! From Penn Future!” I was like a 12 year old at spring training. I spent my spare time scouring local news-papers, trying to get a clearer picture of the major players and their goals. During this period, I was lucky to discover Will Dean, a journalist who regu-larly covered sustainability issues for the City Pa-per. Together, we put together a prototype. I was no longer a lurker.

Turns out entering the fray was less like testing the water, and more like stepping into the eye of hurricane.

Last August, I got married—I know, a great idea during the first year of a business. The reception was a whirlwind: It was all pivot, embrace, “Thanks for coming,” repeat. This entire year has been a similar experience. I was ill-prepared for the avalanche of email, the all-caps messages (I LOVE YOUR MAGA-ZINE!), and the infectious enthusiasm of the many, many people who wanted, in some way, to be a part of it.

The sustainability elders—the movers and shak-ers who I would name if I didn’t fear leaving some-one off the list—were all accessible and helpful. They were not only patient as I learned my DVGBCs from my DVRPCs, but often suggested story ideas as well. They’ve had high hopes for Grid, and I hope we haven’t let them down.

Let me also thank the brave few who advertised in our first issues. There were many people who liked what we were doing, but were sure that, like many other independent publications, we were doomed to fail. The recession didn’t help. I’ll always feel grateful to the folks who believed enough to invest early.

While I still see many places for us to improve, it thrills me to look at this issue and see at its center a Philadelphian as inspiring as Nic Esposito. “Farm-

ing melds two parts of my personality,” he says in the story (p. 12). “I want to work hard and I want to be part of something bigger than myself.” You might not be ready (yet) to quit your job and devote yourself to urban gardening, but you can certainly grow something, no matter where you live.

Inspiring people to act and get involved is what I’ve always wanted Grid to do. “Lurking” is a good way to start, but it’s much more fun when you take a chance, challenging yourself in new ways. As Paulo Coelho writes in The Alchemist, “When a person re-ally desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream.” One year into Grid, I can’t disagree.

One last thing: As my employees can attest, I think it’s incredibly important to prepare Philadelphia for the expiration of

PECO rate caps on January 1, 2011. (Really, I can’t stop talking about it.) Next year, energy prices in our area will increase by as much as 30 percent. In coming issues, Grid will be shining a spotlight on the things we can do to prepare for this change—whether it’s making our homes more energy effi-cient or explaining alternative energy solutions.

Alex MulcahyPublisheralex@gridphilly.com

p.s. A few weeks ago we launched our blog, The Griddle, to keep you better informed about all things sustainable. Stop by gridphilly.com and let us know what you think!

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foodies who love their flowers should also take note: beth Kennett, head chef at liberty Hill farm in vermont will give a cooking demonstration at this year’s flower show. liberty Hill farm is a working dairy farm that opens its doors to visitors interested in an immersive agritourism experience. Kennett’s fresh, rustic, locally-sourced cooking has inspired a flood of national press, including features in Gourmet Magazine and The New York Times.

It seems impossible that, in a few short months, Philadelphians will be sweating through their shirts, but it’s true. Energy

costs are sure to be a concern this summer, and small changes make a huge difference.

This is the thrust behind RetroFit Philly’s Coolest Block Contest, an initiative sponsored by the City of Philadelphia, the Energy Coor-dinating Agency (ECA) of Philadelphia and the Dow Building & Construction business group. The winners will receive energy audits and white roofs for their entire block, free of charge.

Cool roofs reflect the sun’s heat rather than transferring it to the home below. They are about 50 to 80 degrees cooler than typical asphalt roofs. Though they come in many colors, white is ideal because it most efficiently reflects the sun’s rays. Many Philadelphia neighborhoods are well-suit-

ed for white roof installation—rowhomes with no- or low-slope roofs receive the most benefit from this technology. Residents of the winning block will also receive insulation and air sealing products that can reduce heating and cooling costs by as much as 30 percent.

To participate, download an entry form from retrofitphilly.com, get signatures from your neighbors and return the form to the Energy Co-ordinating Agency (1924 Arch St.). Entry forms must be received by April 5. General information on cool roofs and entry rules are also available on their website.

Contest aside, white roofs, proper insulation and air sealing are economically prudent ways to drastically reduce a home’s carbon footprint, and the subsequent utility bill—nobody likes an overworked air conditioner.

· News · busiNess · recycliNg · Food aNd more

Isle of WhiteretroFit Philly gives Philadelphians a chance to win free energy upgrades by lee stabert

pHoto by maria-José viñas, aGu

TIGER Beata u.S. department of transportation grant should mean big things for the city’s walkers and bikersby lee stabert

The final weeks before spring—when the itch for the outdoors becomes borderline

unbearable—is the perfect timing for this announcement: TIGER, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Trans-portation Investment Generating Eco-nomic Recovery Discretionary Grant Program, has awarded our region $23 million in recovery money to be used towards the development of biking and walking trails.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) were instrumental in winning this money, working in concert with six counties and agencies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The project has been dubbed GREAT-PA/NJ (Generating Recovery by Enhancing Active Transportation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey), and ma-jor components include the completion of the Schuylkill River Trail and work on the East Coast Greenway.

Enthusiasm for projects such as Schuylkill Banks—which hums daily with all sorts of activity, from athletes in training to families headed towards the Art Museum to eco-friendly com-muters—shows the city’s appetite for innovative urban transportation so-lutions. This money is a tremendous opportunity to continue our region’s forward progress.

Prepare yourselves: in January 2011, electricity rates in philadelphia will increase, if not skyrocket. back in 1997, the pennsylvania House of rep-resentatives passed a deregulation measure that capped utility rates for consumers in preparation for allowing competition—or “energy choice”—in

the market. peco’s cap will expire next year, but citizens in other areas of the state are already feeling the heat from rising bills. the caps for ppl electric utilities, which services 25 percent of pennsylvanians, expired January 1 of this year. the company estimates customers’ monthly bills will

increase by 29.7 percent (18.4 percent for small businesses and 36.1 percent for mid-size businesses). these rate hikes make it more important than ever to retrofit and weatherize homes and businesses. for information on this complicated set of changes, visit puc.state.pa.us/utilitychoice.

News Alert

6 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

The area has some excellent spots for a casual dinner or snack, but they’re mostly bars special-izing in ramped-up pub food. There is nowhere for eaters in this rapidly developing neighbor-hood to pick up a pint of local milk, a quick sand-wich or lasagna to heat up at home.

Cavuto Boyle, a licensed dietician and chef, started Healthy Bites three years ago, offering meal delivery, catering and nutrition consulting. She has always had a passion for healthy eating, but has become increasingly interested in sus-

tainability, with a large focus on local and organic products. She knew many of her neighbors were going through similar transformations.

“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for five years,” says Cavuto Boyle. “I’ve just been dying for something like this. I absolutely love this neigh-borhood, and we’re huge supporters of all the restaurants, but there’s nothing that you can just grab and go. And there are no little markets—it’s pretty difficult to grab something that’s healthy, local and sustainable.”

Bite MarksKatie cavuto boyle’s healthy bites fills a void in graduate hospital by lee stabert

They say one of the keys to a successful business is seeing a need, and then filling it. That is Katie Cavuto Boyle’s plan. Her newly opened Healthy Bites To-Go Market/Café looks to bring wholesome, locally-

sourced grab-and-go products to the Graduate Hospital neighborhood.

/ local business

Healthy Bites offers variations on certain staples—soup, chicken, fish, frittatas and lasa-gna—that change daily. They also serve breakfast and sandwiches. Cavuto Boyle teaches cooking classes every other week, and if you have at least six people, you can get a private session. After the class, everyone sits down to a family-style meal with wine.

Since opening in mid-February, Cavuto Boyle has experienced a groundswell of support from the neighborhood. “We really want this to be a community experience,” she explains. “We’re getting to know everyone who walks in the door. This is just as much their market as it is ours. They let us know what they want to see on the shelves.”

Seventy-five percent of the products in Healthy Bites’ market are locally sourced. All the dairy, milk, cheese and produce come from Lancaster County (through Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op). They also carry local pastured eggs, poultry and bacon, Severino fresh pastas, Claudio’s cheese, Zahav hummus, Scoop ice creams and sorbets (made in Chester County), Otolith Sustainable Seafood, Wild Flour Bakery goods, Baker Street Bakery breads, BT Brownies, locally-sourced honey, One Village Coffee, and Burlap and Bean Coffee (a brand out of Newtown Square).

As the weather warms, Healthy Bites will add outdoor seating and install planter boxes out front for herbs. They will also serve as a pick-up spot for Lancaster Farm Fresh’s CSA.

“The great thing about having the market and the café is that we’re really not wasting anything,” says Cavuto Boyle. “We get beautiful produce, and all the scraps get made into stock—we’ve made veggie stock every single day. We’ll also be composting, and using the compost for the herb garden.” ■+

2521 christian st., 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. mon. – ◘Fri., →8 a.m. – 9 p.m. sat., 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. sun., 215-259-8646, healthybitesdelivery.com

pHotos by lucas Hardison

7april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

Bloom Times

Jennie Love, owner of the Mt. Airy floral boutique Love ’n Fresh Flowers, describes her business as “far from tradi-

tional.” Operated out of Love’s home studio and garden, Love ’n Fresh sells only flowers grown within a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia. In fact, Love grows most of them herself.

Love was raised on a farm and has always had a special relationship with flowers. A couple of years ago, while volunteering at Weaver’s Way Farm, she began to entertain the idea of growing flowers professionally. She then spent two years in an intensive academic program at Longwood Gardens. She is now a certified horticulturalist and member of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG).

“Sustainability is a buzzword at the moment,” says Love. Many associate the word with farms and food, but Love believes sustainability is equally relevant to the floral industry, which is currently hampered by the use of toxic chemi-cals, unfair labor policies and high fossil fuel consumption. Local flowers, on the other hand, are sustainably produced, create jobs and forge a unique relationship between the consumer and the grower. Growing flowers locally also leads to beautified landscapes and increased biodiversity. “I hope my clients come to understand all these facets of locally-grown flowers,” says Love. “And that they are willing to support them.” —Cassie Cummins

love ‘n Fresh Flowers has hours by →appointment only. mixed bouquets are available for sale at area farmers’ markets and neighborhood businesses. Visit the website for a list of retail locations or to contact love for an appointment. germantown ave. & roumfort st., 215-479-4585, lovenfreshflowers.com.

love ’n Fresh Flowers is the place for locally-grown blossoms

Soap DishSpotted hill Farm proves that size doesn’t matter by lee stabert

Donna Bowman’s farm isn’t very big, but neither are its pri-mary inhabitants: a herd of minia-

ture Nubian goats.They’re inquisitive, friendly little crea-

tures, with long, floppy ears and prominent noses. Bowman breeds them, and uses their milk for the homemade soaps and lotions she sells through the farm’s website and at local farmers’ markets.

Not all of her products contain goat milk, but they are all hand-crafted by Bowman on-site. Spotted Hill’s soaps, lotions and lip balms are all-natural, mild and smell lovely. (This writer has been using a bar for months and can’t imagine a return to commercial soap.)

Running this farm—and this business—is the fulfillment of a dream for Bowman and her husband. When they hit their 50s, and the kids were finally grown up, they made

it a reality. They sold their house in Haver-town and haven’t looked back. “I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever done, but this is where I belong,” says Bowman. “This is something we’ll do ’til we’re carried out of here.”

In addition to providing milk—and amusement—the goats are slowly clearing the farm’s back woods, one nibble at a time. Those woods contain (shhhh!) a cache of mo-rels, and on April 25, Spotted Hill will host Mushroom Madness, a benefit for the Boy-ertown Farmers’ Market featuring foraging and feasting. They also periodically invite the

community to the farm for PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) field

days featuring local craftspeople, goods from local farmers and a chance for kids to interact with the animals.

→ spotted Hill products are available at local farmers’ mar-kets and also online at spottedhillfarm.com and at, 530 colebrookdale rd., boyertown, 610-473-9637 (by appointment)

8 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

You’re a Green Onegrinch spurs change in chestnut hill by lee stabert

Chestnut Hill might be one of the city’s most verdant neighborhoods, but it has a long way to go before becoming its green-est. Moving the Northwest Philly enclave closer to that goal is the

mission of GRINCH (Green In Chestnut Hill), a community organization ap-proaching its first birthday.

GRINCH started with Amy Edelman, owner of the Night Kitchen Bakery on Germantown Av-enue. A few years ago, Edelman decided she wanted her business to be certified by the Green Restaurant Association. It was a long, exhaustive process, but with the help of a consultant, Night Kitchen satisfied all the requirements. (The trick-iest was eliminating Styrofoam; the bakery never used it for any of their packaging, but the cake dummies in the window had to go.)

“I realized as the process was going on that I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint,” says Edelman. “And I realized that there were other businesses out there that wanted to as well.” Al-ready a member of the Chestnut Hill Business

Association, Edelman partnered with both the Mt. Airy Business Association and the Apoth-ecary Garden, another local business, to launch monthly seminars on composting, recycling and sustainability. They were incredibly well-attended, and showed that there was an appetite for change in the neighborhood.

Soon after, Edelman ran into Jennifer Reed, an old friend. They got to talking about opportunities for expanding these sustainability initiatives to the whole neighborhood, not just business owners. GRINCH was born. A few months later, fellow resident Alix Rabin came on board to help out.

/profile From the beginning, their first priority was recycling. Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill’s main shopping thoroughfare, doesn’t have pe-destrian recycling. At last year’s Garden Festival, GRINCH recruited a horde of high school stu-dents to patrol the Avenue, collecting recyclables from festivalgoers. They’ll do the same thing this year—and hope that a full-time, permanent solu-tion is around the corner.

GRINCH has also organized workshops with students from the Jenks School to teach them about recycling and reducing trash. In Novem-ber, the organization hosted their first “Weird Waste Day,” an event that collected over 10,000 pounds of used electronics. It was so successful that they’re throwing another one on Saturday, April 10 (see event listings on p. 29 for details).

In January, GRINCH teamed up with a few other neighborhood organizations for a Christ-mas tree recycling event. “We were worried about getting 100 to cover the cost of the woodchipper,” says Edelman. “We ended up getting 260 trees. It was the very first time we’d held that event, and we’re going to do it every single year.”

Other upcoming plans include the addition of a GRINCH-engineered “Eco-Alley” to Chest-nut Hill’s annual Garden Fest. Located on West Highland Avenue, this offshoot will feature green vendors and organizations (including Grid).

Chestnut Hill has a bit of an uptight image—especially in comparison with its Southeast

neighbor Mt. Airy, a long-time hotbed for community activism and environmen-talism (in no small part due to the incredibly influential and storied Weaver’s Way Co-op). But that is chang-ing, as young people and

new businesses, lured by the beautiful historic homes and tree-lined streets, move in and start getting involved. GRINCH is hoping to be instru-mental in guiding the neighborhood to a more sustainable future. As Rabin quipped, “This isn’t your grandmother’s Chestnut Hill.” ■+

For news and upcoming events, →visit griNcH’s blog at greeninchestnuthill.blogspot.com.

greensgrow Farmcsa@greensgrow.org215-427-2702greensgrow.org

herrcastle Farmhaeusa19@epix.net717-284-3203herrcastlefarm.com

Keystone Farm mail@keystonefarmcsa.com570-247-2550keystonefarmcsa.com

lancaster Farm Fresh co-opcsa@lancasterfarmfresh.com717-656-3533lancasterfarmfresh.com

landisdale Farmlandisdalefarm@juno.com717-865-6220landisdalefarm.com

red earth Farmredearthfarm@enter.net570-943-3460redearthfarm.org

red hill Farm redhillfarm@osfphila.org610-558-6799osfphila.org

Wimer’s organicsbudwimer@gmail.com717-445-4347wimersorganics.com

it’s april, which means it’s time to sign up for a csa—many of the top ones fill up fast! purchasing a share from a local, sustainable farm (or network of farms) guarantees you fresh, seasonal produce throughout the spring and summer months, at a great price. visit the farms’ websites for information on pickup locations, prices and what you can expect in a typical share.

toP oF the hill Grinch’s leadership (left to right): alix rabin, amy edelman and Jennifer reed

9april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

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the iSSue: recyclinG your biKe blow-outs

by Samantha Wittchen

Bicycle Tubesthe challenge: Spring is coming to Phila-delphia, and the potholes are in full bloom. You hop on your bike for the first time since the Snowpocalypse hit and take one of those craters at full speed. Suddenly, you have a defunct bike tube or tire on your hands. Improperly handled stockpiles of tires can be breeding grounds for mosqui-toes, harbors for vermin and targets for toxic fires. The rubber from tires is also suitable for recycling into other useful products. Bicycle tubes are a little tricki-er—they’re usually made from vulcanized rubber, which is cost-prohibitive to recycle on a large scale.

the Solution: Since ground rubber from tires can be used in applications ranging from athletic field turf to asphalt to floor-ing, your best bet is to take your tire to someone who will recycle it. According to the Rubber Manufacturers Association’s 2007 Report, the demand for ground rub-ber increased 43 percent from 2005 to 2007. Of the half-dozen bicycle shops I contacted in Philadelphia, none of them accept used

tires or tubes for recycling. Luckily, Pep Boys, which accepts automotive tires, also accepts bicycle tires.

As for tubes, recycling options in Philadelphia seem to be nonexistent, but Boulder-based Ecologic Designs (ecolog-icdesigns.com) partners with companies and communities to reclaim bike tubes and make them into new products. Of course, the most environmentally-friendly option for dealing with your blown-out tube is to patch and reuse it. It’s cheaper, less waste-ful and easy to do.

the eco-aware consumer: The options are scarce, and determining the recycled content (if any) of a bicycle tire can be dif-ficult. However, Greentyre makes a re-sponsibly-manufactured, puncture-proof polyurethane tire. As for tubes, unless you go with a latex rubber tube—they’re made from a renewable resource, but are generally more expensive and need to be inflated more frequently—you’re limited to purchasing a new vulcanized rubber tube. ■+

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A nswering a question about his favorite things to grow is a challenge for Nic Esposito. After a few nods to his Italian heritage—eggplants, tomatoes—he settles on a response that speaks volumes about the work he is doing in his West Philadelphia community: “I love planting perennials,” he says with a smile. “It

might make me sound lazy, but I love the idea of putting something in the ground—like rosemary or berry bushes—and seeing them grow back. It gives you a stake in where you are.”

Gardeningt h e

i s s u e

Growth IndustryNic Esposito and a new generation of urban activists are starting in the gardenby lee stabert

13april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

If you’re searching for an indication of where the sustainabil-ity movement is headed next, look no further than Esposito—flannel shirt, beard, muddy boots and all. The new urban activ-ists are here, and they’re getting their hands dirty. Literally.

A generational shift is underway, and it’s starting in the gar-den. This new crop of community leaders share the passion and mission of their forebears while embracing an exciting breed of pragmatism and socially-responsible entrepreneurship. They realize that creating a progressive future for our urban cen-ters means making sustainable sense, but also economic sense. They still want to organize, educate and recycle, but they also want to grow things—viable markets, civic connections and, of course, food.

Esposito—a community gardener and innovative urban agri-culture advocate—is by no means the only young Philadelphian working on the ground to revolutionize life in our city, but he is an excellent case study. Deeply devoted to his West Philly neighborhood and expansive in his vision for a more verdant and connected future, Esposito makes a compelling case for gardening and urban agriculture as the keys to unlocking a better way of life.

E sposito grew up in South Jersey, but his family’s roots are in Italian South Philadelphia. He had a conven-tional suburban upbringing—food came from the grocery

store—but credits his politically progressive parents with giving him an open mind. “I was always in the outdoors,” he recalls. “I’m a writer, so I spent a lot of time writing poems in the woods.”

After graduating with a degree in English from Rowan University, Esposito spent a few years as a nomad. From the get-go, he knew he wanted to do service. After turning down a Peace Corps commission, he signed up with AmeriCorps and spent 10 months in the NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). Placed on a team based in California, he spent those months traveling around the country—mostly to hurricane-ravaged areas on the Gulf Coast. “Everywhere we went had a farm,” he says. “It was this seren-dipitous thing. Everywhere I ended up, I was able to volunteer on a farm.” His final project for NCCC would be trans-formative—Esposito’s team was sent to Danny Woo International District Com-munity Garden in Seattle. It was his first experience with community gardening.

“I guess there’s power in being an English major,” says Esposito. “I had great research skills. I started reading as many books as I could and went to a million workshops. I WWOOFed [an international network of organic farms offering room and board in exchange for labor] in Bolivia and Argentina, and eventually ended up at EarthShare Gar-dens in Lafayette, LA.”

Esposito recalls one afternoon in particular, sitting with friends in the Louisiana sun, packing CSA shares and chatting about everything from farming to philosophy. “I hadn’t felt that content in a long time,” he says. “After college, we all kind of run around, trying to figure out who we’re going to be, and where we’re gonna work. Farming melds the two parts of my personality; I want to work hard and I want to be part of something bigger than myself. The first time I grew something and ate it, I was hooked.”

Around Christmas 2008, Esposito’s grandfather grew ill. He moved back to the area to be closer to his family, but also to tackle a long-term challenge. “You learn a lot traveling around,” he says. “But to do a real, sustainable project, you have to have a home base. Louisiana wasn’t the place for me—plus, there’s just something about Philadelphia.” [↘]

Farming melds the two parts of my personality; I want to work hard and I want to be part of something bigger than myself. The first time I grew something and ate it, I was hooked.—nic e sp o sito

green thumbnic esposito poses with seedlings in pHs’ greenhouse at weaver’s way farm

14 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

He answered a Craigslist ad and moved into a house in West Philadelphia with raised beds in the backyard. His new roo-mates introduced him to Erica Smith, a relationship that would prove essential.

His housemates had bought worms from Smith for com-posting, and heard she was working to establish a community gardening association in West Philly. Once Esposito and Smith hooked up, that project became the UC Green Gardening As-sociation. “That was the beginning,” says Esposito. “From there, we scoured West Philadelphia looking for land.”

Smith made a connection with the Woodland Cemetery Board of Directors, who wanted to install a community gar-den. Meanwhile, the pair also began a partnership with the Enterprise Center; the organization had just secured the rights to a plot of SEPTA land at 46th and Market.

By last July, things were moving forward at the Woodland Cemetery community garden and 22 volunteers were hard at work building raised beds. By pooling their resources, Smith and Esposito have become a force: “With Erica, it’s probably one of the best working relationships I’ve ever had with somebody,” explains Esposito. “The partnership is very organic. We aren’t getting paid for any of this.”

Esposito did eventually get a job, running the Urban Nutri-tion Initiative’s garden at University High School. He started to notice some inherent weaknesses in the current urban ag-riculture models. In recent years, the emphasis has been pri-marily on education and volunteerism—both great things—but the next step is to make these plots economically viable. “UNI was amazing,” says Esposito. “It really showed me what it is to develop youth in the garden, and what it is to run an urban

garden. We sold to farmers’ markets and made money. But we give the youth all these skills—green building and grow-ing—and they get out and there’s no job market for gardening. So, that’s what we’re trying to make a model for at the Enterprise site by putting together a co-operative garden.”

This experiment—dubbed the Walnut Hill Community Farm & Growers Co-op—has been kick-started by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Community Grow-ers Alliance (CGA) grant, an innovative funding program for small, entrepreneurial growers—from backyard gardeners with a surplus of cucumbers to community gardens hoping to become self-sufficient. The Walnut Hill Farm will replace an old staging ground for the El at 46th and Market that’s cur-rently a dirt lot.

“Basically, through the CGA grant, we’re going to have the resources to set up a farm, and sell at farmers’ markets,” says Esposito. “And that’s how workers will get paid. It’s a different model for youth—no grants or stipends. We need to create jobs. You can tell someone to eat healthy, but if they don’t have a job to be able to buy the food or a stake in that community, they’re not gonna get to do it.”

Like many from this new school of activism, Esposito talks a lot about the economics of change—though it’s not about getting rich. It’s about adopting an entire lifestyle—in the spheres of both work and play—that results in a vibrant market for social-ly-responsible goods and services. The only way the movement can become truly sustainable is if it can survive outside the Petri dish of non-profits and grants.

These changes are happening nationwide, and Esposito gives a hat-tip to President Obama. “A community organizer becoming President was huge,” he explains. “I feel like I can go into meetings with higher-ups of the real estate department of SEPTA and Enterprise—everyone is in suits, and I’m in my flannel shirt and dirty boots—and be taken seriously. It’s no longer, ‘Oh no, here come the tree-huggers again.’”

w hile devoting time and energy to his neighbor-hood’s green spaces, Esposito is also working towards an MFA in writing. His main project is a novel about four

people in West Philadelphia establishing an urban homestead. He also writes a blog for local band Hoots & Hellmouth’s web-site (bandmember Rob Berliner is a current roommate) called “Notes from the Urban Homestead.”

His background as a writer makes him an eloquent and engag-ing advocate for a new way of living: “So much of the American narrative has been about going out to the individual,” he says. “Now we’re coming back towards the group. And we’re real-izing it’s not such a scary thing to be close to people, to rely on them.”

When asked about his vision for Philadelphia, 10 years down the road, Esposito gets excited. First of all, he hopes compost becomes the new recycling. “I was just in Toronto,” he says. “The fact that they have a green bucket, a blue bucket and a trash bucket in front of everyone’s house blew me away. We waste so many resources. They call compost ‘black gold,’ and it really is.”

He also envisions the rise of an urban homestead movement. These self-contained enclaves would feature small-scale live-stock, gardens and traditional energy sources such as wood-burning stoves, showing that a style of traditional, sustainable

pHotos by lan dinH

hoW the WeSt WaS Won esposito works with neighborhood teens to install the woodland cemetery children’s Garden, summer 2009.

Gardeningt h e

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15april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

Fourth in a Limited edition • available mid-march 2010exitseries.com • FLying Fish brewing co. • cherry hiLL, nj

living is possible—and economically viable—within a modern city. “There have to be zoning changes,” says Esposito. “We need chickens in Philadelphia. They had them 50 years ago. My grandfather kept chickens at his house at 7th and Pierce. We also need bees. Bees increase organic pollination expo-nentially, while chickens eat waste and create more fertilizer.”

Change is always complicated, and Esposito isn’t naïve about the challenges that come with working in diverse, economically- disparate urban neighbor-hoods. “We need to take back the conversation about gentrification,” he explains. “It’s a double-edged sword for a lot of activists. I see this malaise—people get so caught up not knowing what to do in a com-munity that a lot of good ideas fall by the wayside. Gentrification at its simplest is an economic issue, and, at its most important, it’s a moral issue. I want to make a community better and I want the people here to make it better with me. And while people squabble over what’s the right thing to do, big corpo-rations are coming in with tons of capital and buying up land, putting up fast food restaurants.”

The only way to impede fast food and agribusi-ness is to replace them with something better. After all, people have to eat. Food initiatives have amaz-ing potential as vehicles for progressive, innovative thinking—growing, cooking and eating in a thought-ful, nourishing way is making a comeback. “The baby boomer generation did a lot in terms of civil rights, and opening people’s minds,” says Esposito. “But, man, they were sleeping when it came to what they were putting in their bodies. I was looking at pictures from when my family used to own land in Mt. Laurel. There’s an image of my Uncle Danny—he was a total South Philly guy, played strings for the Quaker City String Band in the Mummers Parade—and I see a greenhouse. I couldn’t believe it. He kept bees and had a greenhouse. My grandparents grew vegetables in the front yard. What were my parents doing this whole time?”

Every new movement is treated with a degree of skepticism—Esposito even hears it from his own family—so it’s important to remind people that these aren’t new ideas, they’re old ideas. “Sometimes peo-ple think it’s a fad,” says Esposito. “I tell them that community gardening has been going on in Philly since 1681. Penn designed this city around commu-nity gardens. He built it around orchards. He called it a green town.”

While this movement might take root in the garden, to be truly sustainable it has to become a broader ethos—one that impacts every area of your life. “I don’t get disheartened,” says Esposito. “At the end of the day, when you pick some food from your garden and invite a few people over—and you have time to do it because you’re not overwhelmed with bills and work and all that stuff—it’s a better way to live. People are realizing that.” ■+

on april 18, esposito will give a talk on →the ethics of organic gardening at the ethical society (1906 south rittenhouse sq.).

16 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

housE spEcIAl:

illustrations by J.p.flexner

pot luckw hat do a trash-picked drawer, a broken watering can and an empty

Chinese take-out carton have in common? Planter potential. If you’re looking to start a container garden, but don’t feel like spending a small

fortune on pots, there’s nothing wrong with appropriating an eclectic collec-tion of repurposed containers to get you started.

Take a trash night tour and you’ll be surprised by what you find. Grab a drawer or two from an aban-doned bedroom set and then raid your basement for leftover water-based paint, or swing by a paint store and browse through their abandoned custom paint shelves—you’ll find plenty of wacky colors on the cheap.

For additional style points, find a funky drawer pull and affix it to your new masterpiece. Then, drill a few drainage holes in the bottom of the drawer and line the drawer with a layer of plastic, taking care to pull the plastic through the drainage holes, and then perforate it. The goal is to create adequate drainage

while protecting the base of your planter. Shallow-rooted plants, like lettuce and radishes, will work well in this sort of system.

There are just so many options. Even galvanized watering cans kick the bucket. No worries: just drill a few holes in the bottom, fill ’em up with dirt and a plant—basil is a nice option—and, presto, landfill fodder becomes the source for endless batches of pesto.

to create the pot, 1 fold the cover flaps down inside the body of the carton. 2 poke a few drainage holes into the bottom. to elevate your carton and keep it from resting in a pool of water,

3 insert four quilting pins with large beaded heads into the bottom edges of the carton. 4 seal the drain holes and pin entry points with hot glue to maintain the waterproofing.

to transform your sec-ond container into the base, 5 unfold the car-ton and lay it flat. draw a line one-and-a-half inches outside the base square. cut along the line, leaving a rectangle.

lop off the four corners on a diagonal, to create an octagon. 6 fold the container upwards to fashion a tray.

in honor of your pot’s lineage, use it to start a nice, hot chili pepper.

Like the paperclip, the Chinese take- out carton is a marvel of functional design. It’s always painful to throw them away, and now you won’t have to. First, polish off every last scrap of fried rice or General Tso’s, then wash the containers thoroughly. One container will be used for your pot, the other for the catch tray.

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Gardeningt h e

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Repurposed planters go from junk to germinationby char vandermeer

Transform Take-out Containers

17april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

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18 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

sEEd MonEyWhen it comes to seeds,Kim Massare does thework for you by char vandermeer

As any gardener can tell you, it’s easy to plant too many seeds—especially when your garden is, at best, a postage stamp with limited sun. Over-planting has an upsetting side effect: having to discard those carefully nurtured seedlings. Looking to offset the cost of her investment and rescue her extra plants

from the trash bin, Massare posted an ad for them on Craigslist. The response was immediate and en-thusiastic.

Until a recent “sad scooter accident,” Massare delivered the sets herself. Now, fledgling gardeners (who receive regular updates on their adopted chil-

dren) pick up their seedlings once they’re ready for the outside world.

“Over the weeks I’d send emails to people with pictures of their plants,” says Massare, who dispenses free gardening advice along with her seedlings. “It was really fun to finally meet these people. A lot of them were just getting started gar-dening and we chatted, with them saying, ‘I have this kind of space. What do you think would be best for that?’”

Massare features varieties that are hardy and grow well in Philly’s climate. In fact, many of her seeds are saved from the previous year’s harvest, ensuring that the healthiest plants and most vigorous producers become future candidates for Startin’ Yer Garten. She carefully hard-ens off her seedlings—a labor-intensive process that, over the course of several weeks, involves trudging the plants from the basement to her yard to gradually ex-pose them to sun, wind and variable tem-peratures. This delicate procedure makes for stronger, more disease-resistant plants and isn’t something novice gardeners are generally eager to undertake.

Tomatoes are her bestsellers and fa-vorites include the famous San Marzano canning tomato, meaty Pruden’s Purples, zesty Green Zebras, and an assortment of pear and cherry tomatoes. Her special “gravy pack” features basil, parsley and tomatoes. Massare offers a variety of oth-er seedlings as well, including peppers, kohlrabi and several different herbs.

Her personal favorite? Definitely the kohlrabi. “It’s a great early spring veg-etable,” she explains. “It really does look like it’s from another planet.” ■+

Startin‘ yer garten → startin.yer.garten@gmail.com; massare’s seedlings cost between $2 and $6.

A few years ago, frustrated by the lack of heirloom varieties available at local garden centers, South Philly gardener Kim Massare went on a seed catalogue shopping spree. She lit up her rowhouse’s basement with grow lights

and brought down all those non-recyclable plastic containers she’d been collecting—Startin’ Yer Garten was born.

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19april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

The pencil-sized, beige snake with two rows of little dark spots down the back has a name, the “northern brown snake” (Storeria dekayi for the scientists out there), and, unlike other native snakes in our region, it seems to thrive in cities.

No one is quite sure why they do so well around urban greenery—it might be that slugs, their favorite prey, are particularly common in

our vacant lots and gardens—but herpetologists have been documenting them in the big cities of the Northeast since the late 1800s. Brown snakes help their cause by staying out of sight, hunting their slimy quarry in thick vegetation and snug-gling up under rocks, boards, old lawn furniture or just about any other object that might warm up in the sun.

Gardeners find their brown snakes eventually, as do the neighborhood children—two demo-graphics that tend to spend a significant amount of time digging and playing close to the ground. Most other Philadelphians don’t know there’s anything as wild as a snake living behind their rowhouse; indeed, the ophidiophobes would be happier not knowing.

There’s probably no snake more harmless than the brown snake. It will puff up a bit to look big and tough, but it’s hard to look threat-ening at 10 inches long (they’re born at about three inches, and a brown snake longer than 12 is a bruiser). Its teeth aren’t big enough to break human skin, and it packs no venom. Only soft, gooey creatures fear the brown snake, and that, at least, should endear them to the Philadelphian striving to protect flowers and veggies from the slow but ravenous slug hordes.

If you have no garden, but would still like to meet a brown snake, start looking in May. They spend their winters huddled together in communal hibernation dens, but by late spring they’ve spread out to hunt, get lucky and have their itty-bitty babies. Search in a community garden or vacant lot, and check under surface objects with a bigger footprint than a piece of office paper. I’ve had luck with everything from railroad ties to discarded clothing. Always do the snake the courtesy of moving it out of the way before you put its roof back down—it will find its way back, and we don’t want anyone to get smooshed. ■+

phillyherping.blogspot.co → m

d on’t freak out—it’s just a snake. It’s a really tiny snake, totally harmless. The worst it can do is poop on you. ¶ Sure, you weren’t expect-ing to find a real live snake in West Philly (or North Philly, or Northwest

Philly), roaming the soul patch of green that passes for your backyard. Worms, yes; slugs, unfortunately, yes; maybe a few other of your standard garden bugs; but a snake?

cIty snAkEsGardeners, meet your new best friend: the brown snakeby bernard s. brown

Gardeningt h e

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Garden Tendersif you don’t have a garden of your own, or just want to get more involved in your community, the pennsylvania Horticulture society’s Garden tenders program is a great place to start. operated under the philadelphia Green program, Garden tenders is a training course for community groups, non-profit organizations and individuals interested in starting community gardens on vacant lots, in parks and around schools and churches. the program starts with “basic training”—upon completion, graduates are invited to attend additional workshops.

wednesdays, march 17 – may 5, saturday, april 17 at PHs, 100 N. 20th → st., 5th floor. To register, visit phsonline.org/phlgreen/gardentenders.html. For more information, contact sally mccabe at gardentenders@pennhort.org or 215-988-8846.

20 g r idP h illy.com pHotos by lucas Hardisonapril 2010

populAr MEchAnIcsA ll gardeners use potting soil,” says mark

Highland, president of Organic Mechanics. “Why not use a local product?” Founded in 2006, the company,

located just outside of Coatesville, makes a variety of soils for every level of planter—from large organic farms to bo-tanical gardens to recreational gardeners.

The Schuylkill Center offers:

Land Restoration

Environmental Art

Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation

Environmental Education for Children and Adults

This month at The Schuylkill Center:

Native Planting for Urban SpacesApril 14 / 6:30pmLearn how native plants can turnyour urban garden into an oasis forwildlife.Hosted by Art in the Age116 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia

Native Plant SaleApril 24 and 25Members’ Preview on April 23rdOur 6th Annual Native Plant Sale features 100 species of trees, shrubs,wildflowers, grasses, ferns, and vines.

8480 Hagy’s Mill RoadPhiladelphia, PA 19128

Tel.215.482.7300

For more information about these and other programs:

www.schuylkillcenter.org

how does your

garden grow?

GRID ad Land:Layout 1 2/24/2010 1:12 PM Page 1

A local company forsakes peatby alli katz

Most commercial potting soil uses a large amount of peat, an accumulation of nutrient-rich, partially decayed organic material. Most peat used in the United States has to be imported. “Peat is a natu-ral resource harvested by big trucks and vacuums in Canada and then shipped down here,” explains Highland. Organic Mechanics takes peat out of the equation. Instead, they use three primary ingredi-ents for their potting soil: compost, coco-nut coir (a fibrous byproduct of the coco-nut industry) and worm castings. This combination makes for a rich soil that—with the exception of the coconut fibers—is produced almost entirely in the region. The compost they use is from a company just a few miles from their warehouse and is carefully monitored both for moisture content and sourcing. The coconut fiber, while primarily imported from India, is shipped compacted, expanding to five times its original size when it arrives at Organic Mechanics. “We’re using two products with a combined carbon footprint smaller than peat,” says Highland. “It retains moisture longer and is healthier overall.”

Healthy soil is a passion for Highland. “I used to have plant blindness: that’s a shrub, that’s a tree, that’s some grass. But as I started learning about horticulture, I discovered that the health of the plant is ultimately connected to soil health.” After getting a B.A. from the University of Florida in environmental horti-culture, Highland worked for a landscape con-struction company in California. He eventually came back east to earn an M.S. in horticulture from the University of Delaware and began focusing on what makes soil healthy. In 2006, he launched Organic Mechanics, using a nick-name he got during his undergrad days.

At first, the company had only one product—the culmination of years of research and hard work. For the past four years, Highland has concentrated on expanding the product line

and the business. Organic Mechanics now has three products and sells their wares all along the East Coast, from Maine to Virginia, and as far west as Chicago and the Great Lakes. Us-ing local baggers, the company keeps its carbon footprint down and maintains the local connec-tion, ensuring that their affiliates in other states hold up to the company’s high standards.

Organic Mechanics’ goods can be found at Greenable in Northern Liberties, Primex Gar-den Center in Glenside, at Whole Foods and in other natural food stores across the city. It’s not just the soil that makes Highland proud—he loves educating people about gardening. “Good workshop days are the best,” he says. “People go home excited about organic gardening and starting their own compost.” He wants peo-ple to know that there’s a better way to grow things. “It’s not harder or more expensive,” he explains. “It’s just a different way of thinking about gardening.” ■+

organicmechanicsoil.co → m, 610-692-7404

Gardeningt h e

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21april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

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Pr

ilm

ay

Ju

ne

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lya

ug

uS

tS

eP

t

beans

beets

black eyed peas

bok choy

cabbage

carrots

celery

collards

corn

cucumbers

garlic

greens

leeks

lettuce

lima beans

melons

okra

onions

parsley

peanuts

peas

potatoes

pumpkins

radishes

salad greens

shallots

spinach

squash

swiss chard

turnips

waterm

elons

Planting a garden is a delicate dance. t

hroughout the season, as som

e plants enter, others fade, destined for a dinner plate or a lunchbox. som

e do better on brisk spring m

ornings, others crave the stifl ing heat

and humidity of A

ugust in Philadelphia. W

hat follows is a guide to planting from

seed. W

ith a bit of planning, your plot (however large or sm

all) will spend the next few m

onths in a perpetual state of renewal–constantly offering up an array

of delicious things to eat.

Based on the Philadelphia Planting Guide from

Penn S

tate Cooperative Extension. Q

uestions? call the G

arden Hotline: 215-471-2200 ext. 116.

plAntInG GuIdE

22 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

Rhub AwakeningCome spring, we local eaters are deeply hungry for regionally-

grown produce beyond cold-loving Brussels sprouts and storage apples, potatoes and onions. Sadly, with a stinging chill remaining

in the air, summer berries, stone fruit and corn (oh corn!) are still a long way away. Happily, there’s one plant that starts appearing earlier than all the rest, and with its brilliant color and tart flavor, it will give your taste buds the zing they’ve been longing for.

Rhubarb typically appears in April, unfurl-ing wide leaves as the stalks grow tall. It comes in hues ranging from a rosy green all the way to vivid crimson (hothouse rhubarb is typically darker in color than its outdoor cousins). Take care to avoid the leaves—they’re toxic when ingested. Most sellers trim the stalks before bringing their rhubarb to market, so it’s rare to encounter the leaves.

One particular pleasure of rhubarb is that it is tremendously versatile. It can bring a delicate tanginess to a main dish, be roasted down into a juicy, tart compote (perfect for stirring into yogurts or piling on toast) or be simmered with sugar and water into a bright, flavorful syrup (drizzled into sparkling water, it’s the ideal springtime cooler).

/recipes

recipes and photos by marisa mcclellan foodinjars.com

Rhubarb Syrup2 ½ cups chopped rhubarb1 ½ cups sugar1 cup water

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. ��Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook for approximately 10 minutes, until the rhu-barb has slumped and released its color into the water and sugar. Remove from heat.

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth ��and place it over a bowl. Pour the cooked rhu-barb into the cheesecloth—the syrup will run into the bowl below and the solids will remain in the strainer.

After letting it strain for 15 minutes, gather ��up the corners of the cheesecloth to create a bun-dle of rhubarb solids. Give it a gentle squeeze, working the last drops of syrup into the bowl. Discard the cheesecloth bundle.

Allow the syrup to cool for an hour prior to ��use. Store in a resealable jar or bottle; keep re-frigerated.

Roasted Rhubarb Compote1 pound of rhubarb, cut into 2-3 inch

lengths½ cup maple sugar1 orange, zested and juiced2 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine rhubarb, maple sugar, orange zest and juice in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.

Butter a large baking dish and pour the ��rhubarb into it, arranging the pieces to lie in a single layer.

Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the rhubarb ��pieces are tender. Serve over ice cream, stirred into yogurt or spooned onto toast.

23april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

Pork Tenderloin and Rhubarb Sauce1 pork tenderloin, cleaned of any silver skin4 tbsp. olive oil, divided2 cups chopped rhubarb

(approximately 4-5 stalks)1 ½ cups chopped red onion¼ cup brown sugar¼ cup apple cider vinegar salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Heat two ��tablespoons of olive oil in a large, oven-proof skil-let over high heat. Season your pork tenderloin

(Meadow Run Farms sells a particularly good one) with salt and pepper. Place the tenderloin in the skillet and brown on all sides. Once it’s browned, place the pan in the oven and cook 10 to 12 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil ��in another skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for four to five minutes, until they’ve begun to brown. Add the chopped rhu-barb and stir to combine. Add the vinegar and sugar, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Re-duce heat to medium and let cook until it relaxes

into a chunky sauce, stirring frequently. Add a splash of water if it appears to be thickening too quickly (it will thicken further once it’s removed from the heat).

Remove the tenderloin from the oven and, ��using tongs, place it on a cutting board. Tent with foil and let rest for five to 10 minutes (internal temperature will climb an additional five to 10 degrees during resting). Slice into medallions and serve with the rhubarb sauce spooned on top.

This sauce also pairs well with pan roasted chicken. ■+

Gussied-Up Tabbouleh[ serves 8 ]

When I first became a vegetarian, tabbouleh was one of the few dishes in my culinary repertoire. I recently updated this Middle Eastern staple—beloved for its pairing of fresh vibrant herbs with sweet, chewy

bulgur. I’ve added a bit of lemon zest to brighten the flavor, and instead of soaking the bulgur in water, I soak it in veggie broth for an added layer of flavor. ¶ Tabbouleh is classic for a reason—it’s easy to make, tasty, frugal and healthy. What more could you ask for?

1 cup dry bulgur 1½ cup vegetable broth 1 small bunch of italian

parsley, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 small bunch of mint, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 cloves of garlic, minced2-3 hothouse tomatoes,

chopped1 small onion or

small bunch of scallions, finely chopped

1/3 cup grated carrot or carrot pulp leftover from juicing (optional)

1 small organic lemon, juiced and zested

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste

optional additions: finely chopped black olives, ca-pers, raisins, toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds

In a medium bowl, soak the ��bulgur in broth for 30 minutes.

Mix the remaining ingredi-��ents in a large bowl.

Stir the plumped bulgur into ��the ingredients in the large bowl. Chill or serve at room tempera-ture. ■+

by dynise balcavage, urbanvegan.net

24 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

Club Boxmugshots makes buying local even easier

Mugshots Coffeehouse and Café has a deep commitment to local food, and their buying club is a

logical extension of that philosophy. The weekly club is a simple way for customers to purchase food straight from the farm.

The club—which began modestly two years ago at Mugshots’ Manayunk location—has now extended to Fairmount, serving the café’s loyal base of customers.

“It started out with a small group,” says Mugshots co-owner Jill Fink. “Then we re-ceived a grant from the Merchant Fund to help the program grow.”

A weekly newsletter, What’s Sprouting, is sent out each Sunday to those who register on Mugshots’ website (mugshotscoffeehouse.com). Customers can follow the order form link and select items they’d like based on what local farmers have produced that week. Categories include produce, dairy, poultry, vegan treats and locally-baked breads.

“Ultimately, I think our customers under-stand and appreciate what we do because their food is coming from real people and not a factory farm somewhere,” says Fink.

The ordering process runs from Sunday until Tuesdays at 2 p.m., though some items, like meat and raw dairy, must be ordered by Monday. Once the orders have been complet-ed, employees box them for customers to pick up on Friday or Saturday at either location.

“I love handing people their boxes with these beautiful carrots and turnips and beets sticking out from the top,” says Fink. “Being able to buy those things that have the greens still attached makes you have a connection with the earth.” —Ariela Rose

110 cotton st., manayunk, →6:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. mon. – Thurs., 6:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Fri., 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. sat. & sun., 215-482-3964. 2100 Fairmount ave., Philadelphia, →6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. mon. – Fri, 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. sat., 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. sun., 267-514-7145

Green Cuisinegreenwood Kitchen makes tasty snacks that everyone can enjoy by ariela rose

F or eight years, Jaynel Hollis struggled with abdominal pains, nausea, headaches and fatigue. There was no explanation, until she discovered she was gluten-intolerant. She set out on a mission to

provide others who suffer from food allergies with gluten-free and vegan food made with local, organic ingredients, establishing Greenwood Kitchen and Bakeshop.

/buy local

“I wanted to give people a safe haven where they didn’t have to worry about the kitchen being contaminated with items that were not gluten-free,” says Hollis.

What began as a line of raw snacks has flour-ished into a full-fledged baking operation run from the comfort of Hollis’ home. She mans the kitchen while her husband brings the treats to local farmers’ markets. The two-person op-eration works rigorously to fill orders received through the bakery’s Etsy.com shop and supply products for the 18 stores that distribute Green-wood Kitchen goods.

Hollis’ food—including customer favorites like raw walnut fig granola and sun-dried to-mato basil bread—is available at local shops such as Milk & Honey, Pumpkin Market, the

Fair Food Farmstand and Whole Foods. “When we can’t get an ingredient organic,

we get it local,” says Hollis. “Either one or the other, but both is definitely the best.”

The packaging, designed by Hollis’ hus-band, is as carefully thought-out as the ingre-dients. Items sold on Etsy.com are packed in compostable wood cellulose fiber bags, while those sold in stores will eventually come in bio-degradable rice paper bags.

Hollis hopes to finalize a brick and mortar location for Greenwood Kitchen within the next year.

Visit → thegreenwoodkitchen.com for distri-bution locations, menus and Hollis’ recipe blog; order online at jaynelhollis.etsy.com

25april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

One of the reasons for leeks’ popularity is their strong constitution. Many varieties can survive in very cold ground through the win-ter months. A vendor at a recent Piazza Winter Farmers’ Market told me that his French leeks actually get sweeter the lower the temperature drops.

There is really only one challenge to work-ing with leeks—the grit. When you slice open a leek, its concentric rings look a bit like the cross-section of a tree. Because of the way they grow, the individual layers can trap dirt. For-tunately, there is a simple trick for eliminating the problem.

This method works if you’re using leeks in any sort of chopped form (as is the case in most recipes). Just fill a mixing bowl with cool water, chop your leeks (only the white and pale green portions are edible) and dump them in. Using

your hands, separate the rings. The leeks float, but after a few minutes all the sediment sinks to the bottom. Now, all you need to do is skim the cleaned slices out of the water, and you’re good to go.

The most wonderful thing about leeks is their versatility. They can play the part of aromatic in stews, soups and braises, but they can also step to center stage as the featured player. The saucy goodness of leeks slow-cooked in but-ter and white wine make a wonderful pairing with pasta. (Bacon wouldn’t be a bad invite to that party either.) Cooked gratin style with gruyere and cream, they make a delightful side dish for roasted or grilled meats. Tried-and-true preparations include potato leek soup (a great way to use up those storehouse tubers) and quiche (leeks are lovely in any egg dish). —Lee Stabert

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Having grown up in a leek-less household, I find them endlessly intriguing—in no small part due to their resemblance to obese scallions. But leeks are so much more than portly onions;

they have an amazing rich, mellow flavor and a dynamic range of textures, depending on how they’re cooked. ¶ A member of the Alliaceae family, which also includes onions, gar-lic, ramps and elephant garlic, among others, leeks have a long and storied tradition in Europe. They are one of the national emblems of Wales, and in France they are ubiquitous.

26 april 2010g r idP h illy.com

The End of the Line (2009)

The end of the line is a disturbing portrait of what commercial fishing tech-nology (paired with an increasing consumer appetite) has wrought in our seas over the last 50 years. According to Robert Murray’s film, global, edible fishing

stocks will be exhausted by 2048.This is a film about overfishing, plain and simple. Other issues confronting our global

fish populations (pollution, decreasing water quality, disease spread from farmed fish) are only mentioned briefly. That focus gives the film a tight, logical momentum.

The hero of our story is Charles Clover, former Environment Editor of The Daily Tele-graph in London, a man with enough heart and gravitas to serve as the film’s emotional

center. The End of the Line was inspired by Clover’s book of the same name, and throughout the proceedings we return to him as he discusses international regulation efforts, illuminates shock-ing statistical predictions and pesters world famous sushi res-taurant Nobu about serving blue fin tuna, a species he likens to white rhino or snow leopard in its proximity to extinction.

The End of the Line has a truly global scope—from the devastat-ing effects of the dwindling cod population in Nova Scotia (what does a community do when the motivation for settling there dis-appears?) to scarcity in West Africa, where fishing rights sold to corporate interests are devastating local fisherman, to the

demise of the centuries-old bluefin tuna fishing tradition in the Mediterranean. There is one graphic in particular, showing the spread of commercial tuna fishing since 1952, that underscores the staggering, widespread nature of this crisis.

If the film has a weakness, it’s an overreliance on dramatic music and swooping action shots. Murray’s message is scary enough without the men-ace of bombastic B-movie swells. There is also a bit of a conflict between the onslaught of dead fish shots, meant to evoke disgust and horror, and the film’s subsequent call to treasure traditional fishing practices and rescue the com-munities that depend on them—all fishermen kill fish. Murray also doesn’t do too much naming of names (Nobu, Mitsubishi, the world’s top bluefin buyer, and communist officials in China who fabricated yield numbers are the no-table exceptions), leaving the film with few clear villains.

The End of the Line is an intensely sad film, and also an important one. The sea sustained mankind for millennia, and in the last 50 years we have wreaked havoc on this vital ecosystem. Mankind has to change the way we fish—and the way we eat—if we hope to rescue our oceans from the brink. —Lee Stabert

This film is available on dVd (including through Netflix). →For information, visit endoftheline.com.

a Place of my own:the architecture of daydreamsby Michael Pollan, penGuin, $16

Did you think we could get through an entire issue of

Grid without mentioning Michael Pollan in our media section? Maybe next month.

Best-known for his work on food politics, Michael Pollan’s second book, A Place of My Own (1998, reis-sued in 2008), focuses on architecture and building, documenting his efforts to construct the titular place of his own.

By his own admission, Pollan was not a handy-man when he undertook this project. “Apart from eating, gardening, short-haul driving, and sex, I generally prefer to delegate my commerce with the physical world to specialists,” he writes. Faced with a seemingly shrinking house—his wife was expect-ing their first child when he began the book—and an impulse to escape from the abstractions of writing to work in the “real world,” Pollan begins to build.

Pollan immerses himself in some serious read-ing to prepare himself (it seems he’s not particularly good at avoiding words), and he hires two people to help him: an architect, Charlie, who is able to help him imagine what this building will look like, and Joe, his gifted but contrarian contractor who hap-pens to think of architects as clueless intellectuals. Tension, and occasional comedy, ensue.

At the core of this book, and really all of Pollan’s books, is a discussion of how humans relate to na-ture. His answer? In the 20th century, not particu-larly well. Though he had approached construction as a way to escape abstractions, he found that archi-tects, informed by a post-modern sensibility, had been seeking abstraction. Just his luck!

Pollan excels at devouring scores of books and then, with the help of some hands-on experience, constructing a coherent narrative from them. While he was unable to perfectly square his little house, he did build it, and his insights are always on the level. —Alex Mulcahy

27april 2010 gr i dPh i lly.com

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Mar2527 PhS Workshop:

divide and conquerGet more out of your garden by propagating the plants you already have. Meadowbrook

Farm general manager John Story will show you which types of root systems have to be divided, what plants can be layered and how to get the most out of both common and unusual plants. You may end up with enough new plants to start a whole new garden!

mar. 25 or 27, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., →$25 members, $30 non-members, meadowbrook Farm, 1633 washington ln., abington Township, 215-988-8869, register at phsonline.org.

Mar29 informational Workshop:

Financing opportunities for green infrastructure

Hosted by the Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative (T-VSSI), the workshop aims to supply municipal officials and others in the area with in-depth information about federal and state green infrastructure programs (includ-ing those dealing with stormwater, alternative energy, green buildings and energy conserva-tion).

mar. 29, 1 – 4 p.m., Temple university’s am- →bler campus learning center auditorium. To register, send an e-mail with your name, title and name of organization to Judy shatz at judy.shatz@temple.edu.

apr010813152027

tree tenders basic training: Spring SessionsJoin the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources TreeVitalize program this spring and help spread the benefits trees bring ev-eryone. The free three-part series in-cludes training in Tree Biology, Urban Stresses on Trees, Tree Identification, Basic Tree Pruning and Root Care, and

Tree Planting and Community Organizing. The labor intensive program is open to those ages 16 and up.

Thurs. apr. 1, 8 and 15, 6 – 9 p.m., oak lane →day school, 137 stenton ave., blue bell or Tues. apr. 13, 20 and 27, 6 – 9 p.m., llan-erch Presbyterian church, lansdowne rd. & east Park rd., Havertown. To register, visit phsonline.org or call 215-988-8844.

apr10 Philly Spring clean up

Last year Philly’s Annual Spring Clean Up attracted over 21,000 volunteers

who collected over 3.25 million pounds of trash and 48,000 pounds of recycling. This year’s event, entitled “Keep Up the Sweep Up” hopes to continue the momentum of last year and get as many volunteers as possible to grab their rakes, trash bags and recycling bins and transform their neighborhoods. Interested participants can register as groups, site leaders and volunteers.

apr. 10, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. For project site →locations throughout the city, registration and applications, visit phillycleanup.com.

apr10

grinch Weird Waste dayWhat do you do with those old TVs, cell phones, computers and keyboards

you no longer have use for? The second annual Weird Waste Day hosted by Green In Chestnut Hill (GRINCH) is a chance for area residents and businesses to dispose of electronic waste in a responsible way. E Force Compliance will reuse or recycle the electronics and use any additional revenue for future recycling events. (See the story on p. 28)

apr. 10, 1 – 4 p.m., Valley green bank →parking lot, west Highland ave., chestnut Hill, greeninchestnuthill.blogspot.com; for details, contact amy edelman, 610-505-6282 or chefamybeth@hotmail.com.

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go green expoAdmire and purchase the best prod-ucts the green world has to offer for home, business, pets, fashion, food and automobiles. The expo combines Business-to-Business and Business-to-

Consumer experiences into a three day event, en-suring that there’s something for everyone.

apr. 16 & 18, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; apr. 17, →10 a.m. – 6 p.m., $5-$10; free for business buyers and children under 12, greater Philadelphia expo center, 100 station ave., oaks, gogreenexpo.com, 484-754-3976

apr17

bold action to Protect Water Quality in Philadelphia and beyondThe Philadelphia Water Department is

on a mission to protect and improve water qual-ity in our city. This workshop seeks to educate watershed groups, conservancies, municipal government officials and local residents on the changes that individuals and the city can make to keep the waterways safe. Featured speakers include Christine Marjoram, Manager of the Stormwater Plan Review & Incentive Program, and Marc Cammarata, Manager of Watershed Planning and Engineering for PWD. A light breakfast, lunch and materials will be provided for attendees, plus they’ll have a chance to win a rain barrel!

apr. 17, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., free for PennFuture →members; $10 for non-members, Friends center, 1501 cherry st. register by apr. 9; visit PennFuture.org or call 717-214-7920.

apr18

Fifth annual Social entrepreneurship conference: the impact of design on

Sustainable businessHosted by Temple University’s Fox Net Impact graduate student organization, this conference will bring together Philadelphia-based design-ers, artists, students, entrepreneurs and busi-ness professionals. The goal is to shape an eco-friendly future by melding innovative business ideas and creative design.

apr. 18, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., free for Temple →students; $20 for professionals, Temple university, Howard gittis student center room 200, 1755 N. 13th st. To register, visit foxnetimpact.org.

apr07 Subhankar banerjee lecture

at tyler School of artArtist, writer, educator and activist

Subhankar Banerjee’s resume is full of proj-ects that raise awareness about the issues that threaten the well-being of our planet. His fo-cus on indigenous human rights and land con-servation in the Arctic has resulted in efforts such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has received honors such as the Greenleaf Artist Award from the United Nations Envi-ronment Programme and a National Conser-vation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Foundation. Banerjee will share his experiences at this free lecture.

apr. 7, 7 p.m., Temple university’s →Tyler school of art, Tyler auditorium (rm. b004), 13th & Norris sts., subhankarbanerjee.orgCaribou Migration I, 86x68 inches, 2002

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Hmmm… I was hoping nobody had noticed. I could tell him I’d been too busy. I could tell

him it’s my way of tithing. I could tell him I be-lieve in leaving something for the squirrels and birds.

But the truth is, I just don’t like to harvest.I love the turning of the beds, the planting, the

waiting, the sprouting, the watering, the weed-ing. Yet when it comes time to pull the trigger, I flinch.

Half my spinach runs to seed. Pea pods turn from green to yellow to papery gray. Cucumbers bloat up like old ladies’ feet. Tomatoes sag and tear and bleed, begging to be put out of their misery.

Am I suffering from a psychological condi-tion? If so, what is it called? Harvest anxiety? Overripatosis? Pickophobia? I’ve looked on the Internet and couldn’t find anything. But I’m not the only one who feels this way—Novella Car-penter, an urban farmer in Oakland, CA, writes of the grief that seasoned her first homegrown Thanksgiving dinner. She’d made the mistake of naming her turkey Harold.

I would never name a tomato Harold. A to-mato is not a pet.

It’s more like a child. In the spring, you set the tiny vine carefully in

the trench and wrap it up in a blanket of compost. You lie awake as it spends its first night out from under your roof, at the mercy of whatever sluggy slimy predator happens along. You watch and worry and hover and fuss, until one day there’s a tomato, red and ripe and perfect, glowing against the dark green vine.

That’s the worst moment of the season. Because the instant you pick that first tomato,

it’s over. The rest is just a long downhill slide to-

ward autumn. At least tomatoes

have the decency to humor you with an extended childhood. Corn is even crueler. It grows too fast. There are days in July when you go to work and it’s looking up at you like a three-year-old, and then by the time you get home it’s calling you old man and accusing you of selling out.

And unlike tomatoes, corn comes ripe all at once. You must salvage whatever sweetness you can as quickly as possible. For a time, you are buried in it. Corn for breakfast. Corn for lunch. Corn for dinner. Corn for a midnight snack. You get fed up. Then it’s gone—packed up, out the door and off to Corn College.

When I think of corn, I remember a certain August day when my children were not quite ripe. On that day, it felt as if they’d be young forever—an endless summer of possibility. We’d driven into the countryside, doing the kinds of things that children still found magical—riding rides and buying toys and viewing small-town wonders—and now we were coming home.

The road was hilly and twisty, and we kept expecting to see a barn or a house or a billboard. But all we saw was corn. The stalks stretched away in all directions in soft green waves. The setting sun lit the pollen-filled air. It was so beau-tiful. Mom, Dad, Josh, Sarah, Dan. Crowded into our little car like peas in a pod. We were together. We were happy. The day was full and perfect. The harvest was yet to come. ■+

Growing Painsby michael boyette

My neighbor is standing at my back fence, looking at my ripening tomatoes. “I wanted to ask you something,” he says.

“Every year, you work so hard to grow them. So why don’t you ever pick them?”

Corn is even crueler. It grows too fast. There are days in July when you go to work and it’s looking up at you like a three-year-old, and then by the time you get home it’s calling you old man and accusing you of selling out.

illustration by Katie falKenberG

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