STORIES

“Without NGT’s help in Northern Liberties, I can’t imagine how different our quality of life would be. The gardens bring so much joy to the neighborhood, and the Spooky Garden serves a wide cross section of the community.”

— Dennis Madigan, Spooky Garden

“I love when you turn the corner onto Kauffman St and you’re met with a pergola where people often stop to take pictures.”

— Elizabeth McCardell, Kauffman Street Community Garden

“This is a wonderful garden–a beautiful space! I’ve been diggin’ here since 1994.”

— Otto, Seedy Acres

“My garden is a place of inspiration where I go to think, take photographs and grow bitter melon.”

— Chris Hibbard, Chester Avenue Community Garden

“I had nightmares of bulldozers destroying our garden before NGT – now I can dream of ways to improve the space and make it accessible to more neighbors. We are neighbors and gardeners, not lawyers – if NGT didn’t help us preserve our garden, the land would have likely gone to the highest bidder. The play garden is an invaluable part of many neighborhood children’s childhood experiences –  it used to be a vacant lot that people used to use as a bathroom and short dumping site. NGT has helped to us to make a small community garden into a beautiful, safe and useful space for neighbors and visitors to enjoy.”

— Julius Rivera, Collins Smith Barrick Play Garden

“This is the most beautiful, peaceful place. If we lose this space, we lose the harmony it has brought to the neighborhood.”

— Victor Young, Five Loaves Two Fish Community Garden

“The garden revitalized the neighborhood. It’s a recreational and therapy center.”

— Viery Ricketts-Thomas, Glenwood Green Acres

“A 20’ x 15’ urban plot provides astonishing amounts of fresh, healthy food almost year round.”

— B. McKenzie, Southwark/Queen Village Community Garden

“The garden provides a reminder that the connection to the earth also serves as a connection to one another.”

— Cyndi Line, Southwark/Queen Village Community Garden

“One of the key benefits of being a NGT member is knowing your garden space is preserved and protected. PCG has a sense of security and permanence knowing that being a part of NGT our garden space will continue to serve the West Philly community well into the future.”

— Carol McDuffy, Pentridge Children’s Garden

“Growing my own tomatoes, doing it in a communal setting where I run into friends and neighbors—couldn’t get much better.”

— Carla Puppin, Bel Arbor Community Garden

“The Garden is very important for my community and especially for the seniors… It is like a home. They grow the foods we eat and they see each other. It lifts their spirits. When the land is protected, we don’t have to worry and we have more space to include more people.”

— Naw Doh, Growing Home Gardens on Mercy Street

“Harvesting bounty from our garden with my daughter is a profound joy. We made jam from our garden’s berries in the summer, and ate it all up on the first snow day this winter. How cool is that?!”

— Alexis Buss, Chester Avenue Community Garden

“Thinking about losing the garden was heartbreaking. With NGT as an advocate we can ensure a future for the garden and they can help us maintain it in perpetuity.”

— Vita Litvak, Pastorius Community Garden

Preservation of the Old Tennis Court Farm is a testament to the power of community collaboration. It demonstrates that a focused partnership with organizations like NGT and Natural Lands and by working together we can accomplish the unimaginable. We don’t know the impact to our neighborhood had the Old Tennis Court Farm property been developed. We do know that by preservation, the neighborhood is graced with productive green space that provides benefit to the immediate area and the community at large.  Whether it be the gardener tending a plot, the recipient of the harvest or the person simply walking by, it is a vehicle for so many elements of healthy body and spirit.

— Mark Kearney, Old Tennis Court Farm