Here’s a great opportunity for gardeners to get free compost and check out West Philly’s Dirt Factory. The Dirt Factory, which opened almost a year ago at 4308 Market Street, is inviting neighbors to Dirt Day on Saturday, May 18 where you can receive free compost created at the facility from waste contributed by local residents, attend free workshops and tour the facility. In addition, there will be free food from West Philly businesses, plantables, and even free buckets for collecting your compostable waste. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and here’s the workshop schedule:

• 11 a.m. – noon:  Making Your Own Compost featuring Christine Tilles, Penn State Extension Educator
• 1-2 p.m.:  Vegetable Gardening with Compost featuring Jessica Herwick, Penn State Extension Master Gardener

Everyone can take home up to 10 gallons of compost for free at tomorrow’s event, and while there, take a tour of The Dirt Factory to learn how the compost was made. Attendees are requested to RSVP at compost@universitycity.org

Reminder: The Dirt Factory is open for compostable waste drop-off from 5-6 p.m. on Wednesdays. For more information go to: universitycity.org/dirt-factory

The traveling exhibition featuring contemporary botanical artworks depicting plants discovered and introduced by two generations of the Bartram family is opening today at Bartram’s Garden (54th St & Lindbergh Blvd). The exhibit coincides with Bartram’s Spring Plant Sale (members-only preview of the plant sale is also today) and many of the plants depicted in the artists’ works will be available for purchase during the sale, which will run throughout the weekend.

The exhibition will be installed in the gallery of the restored Barn, built in 1775 by John Bartram, and the oldest barn in Philadelphia. It will be on display through May 24, then will travel to further venues throughout the southeastern US. For more information, go here.

Bartram’s Spring Plant Sale will be open for general public this Saturday and Sunday (May 4 & 5), 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The plant sale is an annual fundraiser for the garden. For more information on what plants are available for sale this weekend, check out this page.

One of the Fresh Food Hub’s staff members, Mecca, showing off some brussel sprouts. (Courtesy of West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub)

West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a non-profit mobile market dedicated to improving nutritional education and access to affordable healthy, locally-grown food, will return to Powelton Village for its second season starting April 30.

At the Fresh Food Hub, West Philly residents will be able to purchase locally-grown and seasonal organic fruits and vegetables, as well as conventional produce, milk, local free range eggs, bread, healthy snacks, and fruit salad. Developed in collaboration between Preston’s Paradise and Greensgrow Farms, the market will operate between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at its regular 37th Street and Lancaster Avenue location and will travel to three local senior centers on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings. It accepts cash, credit cards, EBT/SNAP, and FMNP senior coupons.

“Local and organic foods are crucial components to a sustainable food system,” said Julia Dougherty, food access coordinator for the AmeriCorps VISTA program at Drexel University, one of the Fresh Food Hub’s partners, “but it is most important for the Fresh Food Hub to increase overall fruit and vegetable consumption in its target neighborhoods to ensure that the customers’ basic nutritional needs are being met.”

The market will also serve as the pickup location for three CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs: Greensgrow CSA, which offers locally-grown vegetables, fruit, dairy, protein, and specialty items such as beer, honey, and pierogi; Neighborhood Foods CSA, which is focused on urban-grown produce, and offers local fruit, value-added products, honey, and flowers; and Greensgrow’s LIFE Box CSA, a low-cost option only available to customers receiving SNAP benefits.

“Traditionally, the large up-front deposits required by most CSAs prohibit low-income shoppers from enjoying the benefits of joining a CSA,” said Dougherty, whose role is to support the Fresh Food Hub through community outreach and partnership efforts. When enrolled in a CSA, clients pay dues at the start of the farming season in order to receive a weekly or bi-weekly box of local harvest. “But there are farms and organizations—such as Greensgrow and Greener Partners in Media/Collegeville—which are working to remove that financial barrier because they recognize the importance of incorporating educational components in food access work.”

According to Dougherty, profits from the Fresh Food Hub will go towards educational programming in the neighborhood, including cooking classes, nutrition education, and garden demonstrations at Drexel’s recently established Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, located on 35th and Spring Garden Streets.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/WPFoodHub.

Here is the complete 2013 Fresh Food Hub schedule as of this point:

Tuesdays – Fridays
2 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
37th and Lancaster (regular location)

Wednesdays
11 a.m.
Sunshine Senior Center
58th Street and Walnut Street

Thursdays
11 a.m.
St. Ignatius Senior Homes
44th Street and Fairmount Avenue

Fridays
11 a.m.
West Philadelphia Senior Community Center
41st Street and Poplar Street

Saturdays
Available to travel to special events in the community

– Annamarya Scaccia

Here’s another CSA option in West Philly. The West Philly Foods CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is taking applications for the upcoming growing season.

Run by The Enterprise Center, this CSA includes a box of fresh, locally grown produce – from herbs to tomatoes to berries –  delivered monthly and optional items, including jams, pies, baked goods and bread. The program even includes shares for beer, pesto and flowers.

The program is also committed to providing fresh produce to low-income residents around the Walnut Hill and surrounding neighborhoods. The program also employs local youths in the program and helps connect a growing network of young urban farmers.

Pick-up locations include the Walnut Hill Community Farm at 46th and Market and Milk and Honey Market at 45th and Baltimore.

Here’s a chance to learn a lot about the quality soil – especially if you plan to grow something in it. The Soil Kitchen will be open in Clark Park this Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Urban soil is often full of contaminants like mercury, cadmium and lead, so if you want to have it tested and see if it’s safe to use, bring a plastic bag of dried and homogenized soil (with as few stones as possible). The University of Pennsylvania Department of Earth and Environmental Science’s mobile lab will be on site to do the soil testing. The results will be provided for free and can be location-anonymous. You can also learn strategies for dealing with gardening on contaminated soil at this event.

NOTE: if it rains tomorrow, the event will be held at the lobby of Hill College House at the University of Pennsylvania (3333 Walnut St).

For more information visit the Soil Kitchen 2013 website. And here are soil sampling instructions… in comic strip form:

Neighborhood Foods, a West Philly urban farm, is bringing its CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) back to Four Worlds Bakery for pick-up and adding one new pick-up point at 37th and Lancaster this year. Here’s a reminder of how CSA works: Customers pay the farmer at the beginning of the season and receive a box of local produce every week.

This year, Neighborhood Foods is working directly with Lancaster farmers to supplement what they grow in the city and are also incorporating Philly-produced jam, honey, bread, and locally roasted coffee, all of which are available through the CSA.

Neighborhood Foods consists of a group of activists, farmers, and entrepreneurs of all ages whose main goal is to unify communities through urban farming and civic action. They offer educational programs for people of all ages, bring neighbors together through events, and make fresh local produce accessible in low-income neighborhoods. All of the income from the CSA goes to support these programs.

The Neighborhood Foods CSA runs from May 24 through October 25. To sign up, please visit neighborhoodfoods.org or email: neighborhoodfoods@gmail.com.