PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A community garden in South Philadelphia that has been a lifeline to area immigrant communities has a new lease on life of its own.
After fears developers might start building on it were squashed, the 100-plus-acre Growing Home Gardens at 8th and Erin streets underwent a $110,000 renovation.
"The Growing Home Gardens have been here for about 10 years. They mainly serve immigrants and refugees from Burma, Bhutan and China, although we also have native-born American gardeners here," said Joel Arnold, community building and planning coordinator for SEEMAAC, a nonprofit serving immigrant and refugee communities in the city.
"A lot of our gardeners are very low-income," he explained, "and a lot of these foods are very hard to find in Philadelphia, a lot of them are native to Southeast Asia or are incredibly expensive. So to be able to grow those foods here, whether it's cooking at home for a family or for a restaurant here in the city, it makes a world of difference."
Some of those gardeners told KYW Newsradio through an interpreter that many rely on the garden for food, "and to share also." Some food served in area restaurants is also sourced from the Growing Home Garden.
However, the garden came to need a lot of repair work, with broken beds, fencing and water lines. All of that was addressed through the recent renovation.
"Which is brand new garden beds, new fences, new water lines, new everything so that our neighbors know this is a space that's going to be here in the community," said Arnold.
"It's not going anywhere and it's now one of the best conditioned gardens here in the city of Philadelphia."
