Vanishing Gardens

Those potting shacks are now illegal.

by Bruce Schimmel

It's easy to miss the massive Common Ground garden at the airport, even from the air. Located at the north end of a runway, near I-95 on Bartram Avenue, its patchwork of browns and greens, dotted with ramshackle sheds, might be mistaken for a squatter's village. Like a blot to be erased — which is apparently the Nutter administration's intention. What a waste.

With nearly a hundred plots, this community garden is the biggest in the city, among the oldest and easily the most productive. For more than 35 years, its gardeners — many elderly and immigrants — have harvested literally tons of vegetables yearly. Its fruit trees pump out bushels of peaches, pears and apples. In late summer, its trellises bend with grapes destined to become South Philly's dago red.

By this garden's contract with the city, none of this food can be sold. So, much of the harvest is shared with friends, family and especially with churches and food pantries that serve the hungry.

But now, thanks to some cute legal moves, it could all disappear. In a parody of bureaucratic cruelty, this little paradise is slated to be paved and, yes, become a parking lot.

Which is why, counters the airport's Deputy Director James Tyrrell, it paid so many millions for it. Though he couldn't say how many millions, Tyrrell confirmed that the airport got the garden from the Redevelopment Authority, along with another parcel on Bartram, now filled with cars.

Under their new contract, the airport can remove the gardeners, some of whom have farmed the land for decades, with 60 days notice. And those potting shacks and greenhouses are now illegal.

Al Moore, 74, is president of the Eastwick Community Gardens Association, and he's anxious about the future of Common Ground. The former court bailiff says they used to have a 15-year lease. But in 2008 they were offered two one-year leases — and this is their last year.

Here's why: Though nothing's public, officials confirm that Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler wants to build what she calls "Aerotropolis" — a transportation hub where people and freight would move seamlessly between truck, ship and air.

Still, according to Cutler's aide, Andrew Stober, the gardeners have nothing to fear. "Aerotropolis is 30 to 50 years from now," he said. Besides, he added, the city recently welcomed a new crop of gardeners to a nearby parcel, bringing in electricity and water.

But Moore finds little comfort in this. Ironically, those recent arrivals are actually refugees from "The Farms," a community garden along the Schuylkill. In 2008, the city tossed them out, and razed their shacks, greenhouses and fruit trees.

Asked why the airport won't issue a 15-year lease, Tyrrell replied, "Why would we? With airport expansion, there's no reason to enter into long-term [leases]. It's not like they've got loans or have made any capital improvements."

No capital improvements? Tell that to those who've invested thousands of hours and dollars in a garden that feeds the hungry. Tell that to an administration that talks up gardening and nutrition, but is walking over those who've done this work for years.

(bruce@schimmel.com)

For more on how Philadelphia's community gardens feed the hungry, download the PDF at bit.ly/canon_pdf.