Word on the Street

November 2015

WELCOME!

Autumn is a time of harvest, remembrance, and gratitude. This issue is dedicated to the members of Soil Generation, individuals and organizations who work tirelessly in Philadelphia to enact justice in land, food, seeds and community health. We welcome you to learn a little bit more about who we are and the work that we do in the community. We are thankful to be in service to our communities!

The making of Soil Generation...the meeting where we choose a new name.

Soil Generation-"SG 4life"

-- Kirtrina Baxter

Sometimes we wonder if our work is truly making a difference. We strive daily, working or volunteering in non-profit organizations contemplating the efficacy of our programs. The structural violence perpetuated against very specific communities is relentless and can be staggering, even immobilizing at times. These are the communities in which we work, live, and to which some of us belong. We experience the suffering and struggle alongside our neighbors. Our work fighting these unjust practices and systems, at times, make enduring them a bit easier to swallow and at other times brings enormous grief and sadness.

Soil Generation at Teens4good Farm with farmer Drew Gold

What I have found to be a great help to me in this work is friendship. This year has been instrumental to relationship building in my life. The relationships I have formed through Soil Generation, Philadelphia's garden coalition, have informed, nurtured and carried me through many times of disillusionment. I am eternally grateful to be a part of this movement with such concerned and action-oriented people who have no shortage of interests, skills and talents. We come together as dedicated individuals willing to confront racial & economic disparities in our food ways. We work, play, laugh, and scream righteous indignation, together. SG has become my second family here in Philadelphia and this is my "shout out" to them for being such amazing, inspiring people. Thank YOU for being in my life!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo journal of our year...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Philly Vacant Land Train-the-Trainer

Philadelphia Vacant Land and Community Gardens 101

BY ALICIA DORSEY

This is a cross-post from Red Hen Exploring. The original article can be found here.

Philadelphia is addressing blight and crime by revitalizing stressed communities with community gardens and green space. I have been learning the process of acquiring vacant land and hope to assist in building community with the knowledge I have acquired from the Public Interest Law Center, PHS, Soil Generation and other gardening groups. Pictured is a community garden in Strawberry Mansion on my families block, if you look in the background you can see vacant lots, one in which my family has been squatting on for about 15 years and another growing grass as high as our crops. Read more...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

SG Meetings

Our monthly meetings are informative...We often bring in organizations to keep updated on important campaigns and other services which are helpful to gardeners.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

SG-EXPERIENCES

SG enjoyed some great learning experiences in 2015:Philly Campaign for Affordable Communities, Hoodstock-Policy Circle, Anti-racism Training, Seeds of Change conference, Afroecology Political Training... and more that aren't pictured

----------------------------------------------------------------------

GARDENING AS COMMUNITY POWER

Written by Kirtrina Baxter & Nicole Sugerman

Nicole Sugerman & Kirtrina Baxter pose at a garden build for bartered services.

With all the civil unrest around the brutality and unjust policing of communities of color, people are looking around their neighborhoods to see just how they can make a difference. People are asking their community leaders, "what are the next steps for

justice?" and thinking about strategies to gain community adhesion and sovereignty. The topic of community power and how to attain it, is chief among concerns.

Read more here...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Garden love SG style!

some members in the garden

(click on the pic for more info on the gardens/organizations mentioned)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resilient Roots Farm with Lan Dinh

Marian Dalke at Norris Sq. Neighborhood Projects Las Parcelas Garden

Mill Creek Farm with Ras Micaiah

Urban Nutrition Initiatives Community Farm and Food Resource Center with Chris Bolden-Newsome

Sally McCabe of Pennsylvania Horticulture Society at North Philly Peace Park

One Art Community Centers Oasis with Khenti Pratt

Philly Orchard Projects Robyn Mello at Awbury Orchard

Jessica Mammerella- owner of Early Bird Farm

Atiba Ellerby-founder of Phila Urban Roots Collective

Greener Pastures Guild House West Garden with Ari Rosenberg

Jamillah Meekins at The Masters Garden

Mariposa Food Coops Jasmine Hamilton at Urban Tree

Annie Preston of Phila Parks & Rec loves the little ones

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How we move in our communities!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natural Beauty products creator & Community Art workers

Charlyn Magdaline & Sam Spetner working with Phila Mural Arts Project

Nyambi Royster-Owner of Nyambi Naturals

--------------------------------------------------------------

Seedkeeping

Owen Taylor-Seedkeeper with Roughwood Seed Collection and Philly Seed Exchange

Black Peanuts and Bambara Groundnuts

This is a story that starts in the valleys of Paraguay, travels to the West African coast, and then to North Carolina. It involves look-alike groundnuts, adopting familiar foodways far from home, and a beautiful purple-black underground bean.

These peanuts were given to me by William Woys Weaver. I manage his Roughwood Seed Collection in Devon, PA. Will got them from a man in Seagrove, North Carolina, where they have been grown in African American kitchen gardens for many generations. Read more on Owen's blog...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open Source Plant Breeding

Nate Kleinman & Dusty Hinez co-founders of The Experimental Farm Network

Agroecology, Permaculture & Restoration Agriculture

These terms generally apply to the same sorts of practice: developing a productive managed ecosystem through the use of perennial plants working in harmony with natural processes. Agroecology has been called "forest gardening," because it can be done in existing forests or through the creation of new forests.

Agroecological systems mimic natural systems and thus have all the benefits of actual forests: they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and sequester it in their roots; they need few external inputs; and though they take a long time to establish, they ultimately require less work. Read more on the Experimental Farm Network website.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Community Art & Sustainability

Community-Driven Effort To Build 'Earthship' In West Philly

Reprinted from CBSPhilly story by Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)

A community center in West Philadelphia is embarking on a months-long project to build a large, green structure run solely on solar energy. It's called an "Earthship" and it'll allow those living there to reduce their carbon footprint. "It produces its own food, they generate their own electricity, they have water catchment systems - all of the plumbing is internal," says Malaika Hart, CEO of One Art. Read entire article here...

Malaika Hart-(top left photo, left) CEO of One Art Community Center where they are building an Earthship and an urban farm Oasis.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Participatory Art

Bri Barton of Historic Fairhill Garden has authored a coloring book about death

Everybody Colors makes art that needs your participation. Whether it's a coloring book, or a giant mural in the woods, it's not done until YOU color it in!

Everything Dies! A Coloring Book About Life! is a playful, poignant celebration and exploration of life and death.

My name is Bri Barton and I made this coloring book. It's my first one. I'm really excited. This coloring book is a part of my personal healing process and is a reflection of my own experiences.

Mill Creek Farm's 10th Anniversary Benefit Party

Celebrate 10 years with us on Saturday, December 5th, 5 pm- 8 pm at The Penn
State Philadelphia Center, 675 Sansom Street one block from Independence Hall and the beautiful Washington Square Park. The Benefit Party features refreshments prepared with Mill Creek Farm produce, locally sourced brews, live music and a silent auction. All proceeds benefit Mill Creek Farm's environmental education and food access initiatives. Tickets are $25 and include food, drinks and live music. Children are welcome and attend for free. Click photo to learn more.