The Bel Arbor Community Garden, one-quarter acre in size, is situated on the south side of the 1000 block of Kimball Street in South Philadelphia. It consists of 25 individual garden plots, a small orchard area, a perennial grasses and wildflower meadow, and a woods/thicket area. Forty adults and fifteen children are involved. The area is the rear portion of a large tract of land on the 1000 block of Washington Avenue that was left vacant after a six-story factory burned down in 1993. When the building was torn down, the remaining block-long empty lot quickly became an ugly and dangerous dumping ground. A handful of neighbors organized clean-ups, but we realized that the short-dumping would continue unless another approach was taken.

In the fall of l994, we contacted Philadelphia Green, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's greening outreach program, to inquire about starting a community garden on the land. Philadelphia Green staff proposed the idea of a tree farm provided that the owner's permission could be secured. Our group of neighbors formalized itself under the name of Bel Arbor, Inc. and obtained the owner's permission to plant trees. In April, l995, Philadelphia Green planted nearly one thousand saplings, and Bel Arbor members assumed the responsibility for watering and tending the trees. When the owner decided to develop a portion of the property in 1996, we organized "Digging up Days" and volunteers from community groups all over the city came to dig up trees for their own gardens or parks. With the aid of our councilman, our group negotiated a five year agreement with the owner to maintain a green space along the Kimball Street side of the property. We transplanted 40 trees into the new space. Twenty-five of those trees were grown to street tree size and planted in Bella Vista.

Concomitantly with the creation of the tree farm, the same group of volunteers organized to create the Kimball Street Community Garden on a narrow stretch of land behind Christ's Presbyterian Church that abutted the Kimball Street green space. That land was trash-strewn and weed-filled. Church members, delighted with the idea of caretakers, gave their permission for a garden. At the time, neither Church members nor our group knew that half of that narrow space was actually part of the Washington Street property. We created fourteen gardens and Philadelphia Green's Garden Tenders Program provided additional soil, mulch, water barrels, and a picnic table. In 1999, the owner of the property donated the land on which both the garden/tree farm were located to the Neighborhood Gardens Association (NGA), a private, non-profit land trust dedicated to helping preserve community gardens.

In 2000, the two groups (most of whose members were one and the same) merged and became the Bel Arbor Community Garden. The last trees from the tree farm were planted as street trees in 2002. The area where the street trees were grown is now given over to a wildflower-grasses meadow, a woods/thicket area, our mini-orchard (two apple and two cherry trees) and the communal barbecue pit. Over the years, Philadelphia Green has provided technical support and grants for garden improvements (water hose hookups, stone pathway). NGA has also provided grants for erecting an iron fence and for improving communal areas. Bel Arbor members have held fundraisers, pay yearly dues, and volunteer their labor and skills for projects in the garden. The motivation behind the project was simple. South Philadelphia is one of the most densely built neighborhoods in the city. Back yards are tiny. Those of us who got involved saw the opportunity to create a green space out of a vacant lot in the heart of the city.

Locally Grown Food. In our individual plots, we grow our choice of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, all without the use of pesticides, and within walking distance of our own homes. We also have a mini-orchard with 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, raspberry and black currant bushes. We practice good water conservation by mulching all our garden plots. Our garden participates in the City Harvest program overseen by Philadelphia Green. In the program, prisoners at the Northeast Prison grow vegetable seedlings for participating community gardens in Philadelphia. The community gardens dedicate an area to grow the plants, and the resulting produce is given to food cupboards in the community. In our case, this past summer we grew over 200 pounds of tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli, potatoes, beans, peppers, etc., that we gave to a seniors center in South Philadelphia.

Composting. We have three compost areas. At the entrance to the garden, there is a plastic compost bin for household vegetable and fruit scraps. A second open compost bin is for all easily compostable garden waste and weeds without seed heads. A third slow-compost pile is the catch-all for stalks and branches, and the matter breaks down over time. Eleven gardeners bring their household compostables from home to the garden compost bin. As that bin fills up, it is emptied and mixed into the second open bin. In the fall, gardeners rake up approximately 15 45-gallon bags of leaves in Bardascino Park, a corner park nearby. This provides the 'brown stuff' throughout the year for the household compost bin. All this composting supplies us with our own compost and mulch.

Recycling. Our gardeners are great scavengers/recyclers. All the bricks (except for those in one paved area in front of the barbecue pit) the cobblestones, granite slab benches, architectural remnants, and the plastic chairs and tables were scavenged from trash dumps, demolition sites, or household 'trash' set out at curbside. We purchased the gate at the garden entrance from a Center City resident and gardeners installed it on successive nights in October, 1997--the urban equivalent of a barn raising.

Natural Habitat. The wildflower/perennial grasses meadow (20' x 40') and the woods/thicket area (250 square feet) provide habitat for birds, insects and bees. Since starting the garden, we have seen the yearly return of goldfinches that feed on the sunflowers and purple coneflower, and ocasional spring and fall migrating birds. Our grass patch is a fescue grass, maintained organically and fertilized with vermicompost. Gardeners cut it with a hand-push mower (purchased second hand at a sidewalk sale). Our garden has received the National Wildlife Federation's 'Certified Wildlife Habitat' designation.

Education. In conjunction with Philadelphia Green, our garden has been the site of gardening workshops open to the community. It has also been the site for filming short gardening tips shown on local television.

Our gardeners produce approximately 1000 pounds of vegetables for their own consumption over the growing season. The City Harvest plot produced about 200 pounds of produce this past season for seniors in South Philadelphia. By composting household vegetable and fruit scraps, our gardeners remove approximately 3500 pounds from the city waste stream each year. By composting leaves from adjacent Bardascino Park, we remove about 450 pounds from the city's waste stream. All the compost has gone back into the soil in the garden.

As an open green space with plants, bushes, and trees, even in its small quarter-acre size, our garden provides a habitat for insects, bees, and birds, and a resting place in spring and fall for migrating birds. Gardens such as ours already exist in Philadelphia and in many other communities and cities. They can be (and already are) models for sustainability in urban environments. It is impossible to quantify the sense of community that results from gardening, weeding, and working together.