Next Sunday March 4th – Workparty at MEEP–MErcy Edible Park

Sunday, March 4th, 10am-3pm
521-536 Mercy Street, Philadelphia, PA 19148
Potluck
Freestore
Funtime
Weather Permitting

There is LOADS of work and fun to be had, as always. We will be having all the usual:

WORK TO BE DONE:
- We have two apple trees to go in to the ground, so you can learn how to swing a pickaxe, and plant a tree in one go!
- Also, a mountain of beautiful woodchips has to be spread to all our pathways, & we want to plan out a new huge spiral planting bed.
- Hugelkultur mounds may also be created with a bunch of last year’s coffee, compost, weed & wood stock.
- New compost bin construction – we just found out we’ll be getting all the organic matter from a new South Philly juice bar!

POTLUCK:
Bring a bowl, spoon, and a dish of fine homemade grub! People love coffee, tea, and other tasty, healthy treats as well!

FREE STORE (spring cleaning):
That’s right, you read it: FREE! Think of it as a good way to donate all your stuff to a thrift store, but your friends get to go through your stuff, and you get to go through theirs! All donations are picked through and distributed for free! At day’s end, we donate it all to the Houston Center a couple of blocks away for free distribution to the neighborhood!

Get a jump on that SPRING CLEANING!

SUPPLIES that we ask/encourage you to help us out with (we could always use):
Straw bales
Compost/soil
newspaper
trashbags
recycling bins
trashcans
seeds
fruit trees
berry bushes
garden tools
cash…
anything else that seems fitting in a garden!

WE BELIEVE:
- A few people are powerful enough to change a neighborhood.
- Everyone should be able to do what they’re good at.
- There is no leadership without leading by example.
- “The big picture” comes into focus when it starts local.
- The world has enough stuff. Use free & recycled materials.
- Playing in the dirt in the middle of a city is really fun.
- Philadelphia is beautiful.
- Teaching people to grow organic food, improve the soil, cook healthy meals, harvest rainwater, compost waste, save seeds, talk to their neighbors, play outside, stand up for their beliefs, consume less, & act more will create the future we need.

Join the Occupy Vacant Lots group to help clean up the 2000 block of East Susquehanna Avenue in East Kensington with the neighborhood!

Bring trash bags, gloves, food, drink, warm clothes, smiles & love. We’ll all switch off between cleaning, brainstorming, & talking with area residents. Whatever you want to do during this action, come do it!

The Berks El stop is closest to this location if you’re taking public transport.

This is just the beginning. We envision a future Philadelphia where every vacant lot is a free food-producing space, community orchard/ food forest, community park space, beautiful flower garden, or some variation thereof. Access to fresh, free food will take us to the next step of self-sufficiency & break us from the cycle of dependency we have on the government & fossil fuel-guzzling corporate food system.

We want to act hand-in-hand with pre-existing community organizations, resident activists, children, religious & educational institutions, & every individual in this city tirelessly working towards these same goals. If we combine minds, hearts, & resources we won’t have to wait around anymore for someone else to make the change.

Let’s take our city & our happiness in our hands! Rise up together!

What to bring:
- Warm clothes that can get dirty
- Trash Bags (big, black heavy duty ones are best)
- Gardening gloves or work gloves
- Food & drink for sharing with others
- REUSABLE dishes & silverware to eat & drink with!

January 16 2012, MLK Day of Service – Join the staff of the Trolley Car Diner and East and West Mount Airy Neighbors in sprucing up A.B. Day School with paint in the staff lounge, corridors, nurse’s office and you may attend to housing workshops.
What: Mt. Airy USA Martin Luther King Day of Service Project
Where: A.B. Day Elementary School, 6324-42 Crittenden Street (corner Johnson Street) Philadelphia, PA 19144
When: Monday, January 16, 2011
Time: 9:00 am-1:00 pm
Refreshments: Provided by Trolley Car Diner
Project Coordinators: Cynthia Bradley, Mt. Airy Airy USA, & Erica Hawthorne, Trolley Car Diner
RSVP: Cynthia Bradley at cbradley@mtairyusa.org or call 215-844-6021 , x214
For more information, visit: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=usqlrun6&oeidk=a07e5encggm23f92c30

MLK Day of Service 9-12pm
At the Woodlands Cemetery -40th and Woodland Ave. for clearing out
winter debris.
Please RSVP. 215-573-4684 lunch and tools provided.

4th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service Project at Bartram’s Garden!

This year’s project is going to be working around a newly planted orchard as part of a larger farm and community resource center that we have been developing with The Urban Nutrition Initiative, Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, Philadelphia Orchard Project, and other community partners. The first planting of the orchard was installed this past November with Philly Orchard Project and we are looking toward additional planting and development this coming spring!

On MLK Day we will be specifically focusing on clearing and preparing an area adjacent transitional border between the open orchard space and a wooded area. Our goal is to plant berry bushes, smaller understory fruiting trees such as pawpaw and persimmon, and maximize as much of the area for food producing and edible plants as part of the larger farm project.

Please sign up or register via email volunteer@bartramsgarden.org or call 215-729-5281 x 105

Project Details:
Monday January 16th from 9am-12noon
Volunteers will meet at Bartram’s Garden in our coach house (signs will be posted to direct folks when they arrive)
Gloves, Tools, Water, and Lunch will be provided (lunch will be at noon)
Please wear outdoor work attire such as warm clothes, sturdy foot wear, etc…as it is an outdoor project in mid January.

Also if anyone has additional questions please email or call. Confirmation emails will be sent out the week prior or as people register.

This is a rain or shine event and moderate to heavy duty work. All are welcome to sign up but please keep in mind the nature of the project.

Occupy Vacant Lots – Fri 12/16/11 from 10 am to 3 pm
Clean-up & neighbor meet-n-greet on the 300 block of Cecil B Moore! Come see what transformation looks like.
Bring trashbags, gloves, rakes, food & drink to share, smiles, good spirits, & love.

Join Teens4Good for a fall Garden Workday this Saturday Dec 3rd in West Philly as we put our farm to sleep for the winter. Our N Philly Teens4Good garden is located at 8th and Poplar.
We will be cover cropping, planting 2nd round of garlic, pruning
berrie bushes and more. Meet the youth interns at Teens4Good and take
home some fresh produce from our high tunnel. To RSVP please contact
Aviva Asher. AvivaA@federationnc.org. Workday runs from 10am- 2pm.
(A great excuse to grab breakfast at Honey’s and then walk 4 blocks
West to us.) Bring a friend and dress for cold weather!

Check out the event for the Emerald St. Urban farm Earthship Greenhouse Build, It will be from Oct. 14-17 9AM-5PM each day at Emerald St. Urban Farm 2312 Emerald St. in Philly.