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94geisha-blog · 7 years ago

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Urban Stewardship at Mill Creek Park

Right in the heart of West Philadelphia lies a hidden gem, mostly known to the nearby community as the Mill Creek farm. On May 8th, I chose to volunteer at this nearby location which was still unheard of to me. Upon my arrival at Mill Creek Farm, I met with the Farm’s Project director Akebu-Lan Marcus who also goes by “Key”. While I was not familiar with the history, Key gave me a brief yet informative rundown of the site. Created in 2005, Mill Creek Urban farm is both an educational farm and environmental education center. The site of Mill Creek farm was once had a running creek which ran through it. In the 1900’s the creek was capped, filled up and renovated to create homes. Due to certain economic and geological factors, the houses built on the site began to subside in the 1970’s. The vacant lot sat unused up till 2005 when a nonprofit agency by the name of ALTOE was awarded 1.5 acres of land by the Philadelphia water dept.

Today, Mill Creek farm provides a vast amount of activities as well as produce for the community to utilize. There are volunteer held work days as well as after-school programs for students, workshops, and cookouts held during the weekends.

The mission of the site is simple; Mill creek farm is dedicated in improving local access to fresh, chemical free produce at a low cost for the surrounding community and neighborhood.

Work-day hours

My first day at Mill creek farm started at 10 am sharp. I was greeted at the gate by Key who had already started his daily work routine of shoveling soil. The volunteers for the day only consisted of me and another Temple student, so we had a lot to get done in a timely manner. The weeds that newly sprouted within each patch were invasive to the existing plants so it was our first task to remove them. What I thought would be just a simple task ended up taking over an hour. While weeding I also had to face my fear of critters such as huge spiders, bee’s, garden snakes, and a multitude of other insects.

After two hours spent in the hot sun, and weeding each row of plants, extreme exhaustion began to take over. I think that I simply mis-underestimated how much strength it takes to carry out tasks on a farm and how this very site relies completely on manual labor. Throughout the day, I so badly wanted to take a break or simply just call it a day but I thought about how small of a group we were and how our efforts were actually making an impact on the farm.

At the end of the work day, Key encouraged us to invite more volunteers as this farm is a community effort which is an integral part of sustaining the farm. To my surprise, I found out that Key was the only official staff member throughout the entire farm. I noticed Keys efforts of taking on all staff positions and I realized how dedicated he was not only to this community farm, but as to urban agriculture and sustainability.

This time on day two of our workday, I brought along my mother to volunteer at the farm with me. My mother is an advocate for sustainable living who also enjoys gardening and growing our own plants so she naturally fit in. Our tasks for the day were to spend an hour weeding the remainder of the patches as well as putting up a trellis for the tomatoes. I was also able to observe good soil vs bad and watch how compost is created by the director. On this day , the tasks seemed to be a bit easier for me to complete because I came prepared , well rested, and equipped with water. Key, the director of farming is very knowledgably of growing agriculture as well as identifying different plant species. My mother and Key spent the remainder of the plant day exchanging tips and ideas for enhancing the farm. One of the many great thing about Mill Creek farm is that they are open to any donations. As a donation, My mother later brought along papaya seeds to be planted which are native to our country.

On the third and last workday that I attended, the number of volunteers that showed up doubled the amount of the previous day. We started off the day this time introducing ourselves and splitting into groups with different tasks. I chose to plant basil in the asparagus patch since I had a bit experience. While at this task, I learned how the plants had sort of a symbiotic relationship and benefitted from being planted together, which is called companion planting. The work day went by much quicker, as the volunteers and I were talking, working, and helping out each other. It certainly did take a community effort in which we completed the tasks way quicker than just the three of us on the first day. Since we all completed the tasks much quicker than we expected, Key decided to show his appreciation by harvesting the asparagus straight from the garden to be cooked as our meal for lunch. That afternoon we all contributed in setting up the fire, washing the vegetables, and cooking the vegetables right on the fire ground. This was an amazing experience for me because I felt such a sense of community and belonging with this group of people from various backgrounds all connected by the love of nature and sustainability.

Overall, I had an absolute amazing time volunteering with Mill Creek farm and I plan to return and attend more work days with my new-found friends and volunteer here throughout this summer.

Questions

What course concepts did you see in action?

A concept that I saw in action was the importance of maintaining good quality soil. The lead director of the farm, Key, stressed on how important it was to create natural compost instead of going the other route of using chemical laced soil or fertilizers. As we were planting and weeding, I was able to observe how rich the farms soil was. The amount of different types of bugs and critters was also a good indication of a healthy biodiversity within the land. The Key to Key’s fertile farm was the fact that he customizes his own soil. Key educated us on how he uses charcoal, sand and compost in his soil to get the perfect environment to grow healthy crops. Another concept that I got to see in action was how Key creates compost for his own soil.

What expectations did you have about your urban greening stewardship experience?

I initially thought that the farm would have many volunteers as well as leaders of the event but it was the total opposite. I was astonished to see how Key was the only employee that handles all the tasks on the entire farm. I was also shocked to see how most of the community doesn’t really utilize the crops on market days. The fact that the farm has been here for more than 10 years and hasn’t really garnered enough recognition from the entire community puzzled me. grocery stores, convenience stores, and fast food chains will always surpass farms like this especially in an urban community due to a lack of education on things like agriculture and nutrition. I also had expected to do different activities on the farm, but it seemed like weeding was one of the main tasks. Although I didn’t really mind doing this task, I did want to explore and handle the other tasks of the farm such as the bee hive. I wasn’t sure if I was going to meet some new people through this service and it exceeded my expectations. Through the service I’ve met and been in contact with about 8 people who plan on returning to do another service day.

How well are you able to communicate with your supervisor at the site?

Considering the fact that Mill creek farm is shortly staffed, I still think that Key did a great job of making himself available to assist all the volunteers. I’ve honestly never met someone so passionate about sustainability and agriculture than Akebulan “Key”. The amount of time he spends on a daily basis doing work on the farm exceeds the time that I work at my job. The fact that Key doesn’t even get paid doing this work also exhibits how dedicated he is as well as how he feels like it’s more of a duty. I was very happy to contribute at least a little bit of my time to Mill Creek farm, and I’m very thankful to have met Akebulan “Key”.

How can you educate others or raise awareness about this urban greening stewardship issue?

The sad reality of today is that we live in a society today where most people don’t have much regard for our environment and agriculture. Whether it’s to obtain information or produce, we depend so much on technology, and outside forces. Mill creek farm is an initiative to help the community become less reliant on these outside factors. This project made me more aware of not just the environment but of the very things we consume every day. One way I think I can continue to educate and raise awareness to get more involved is to continue to spread the word around to those who may want to become more involved. Another way that I found helpful was through social media. I noticed that ever since I’ve been documenting this service, I’ve been getting a lot of questions to where the farm is located. I believe that social media is a driving influence in todays society, and with that can promote stewardship services like this. To start off, I personally plan on returning back to Mill creek farm this summer with more volunteers accompanied with me.

How does this address the community needs?

Mill creek farm is located on 54th and Brown street in West Philadelphia which happens to surround by poverty. Most of the community don’t have nearby access to grocery stores or fresh produce. The term used for these instances are referred to as “A Food Desert.” Mill creek farm not only provides food to the community but it also educates the members on local food system development and sustainability. Mill creek farm provides afterschool workshops for children to attend as well as gathering for the community.

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