Philly Forests is a 3-acre farm in northwest Philadelphia, PA, that uses sustainable and regenerative growing practices to produce greens, peppers, tomatoes, allium, plums, strawberries, blackberries, and herbs. They operate a philanthropic Urban Ecology Program where they use a percentage of crop revenue to purchase trees, shrubs, and perennials to distribute for free to residents living in Philadelphia’s lowest canopy areas, generally lower-income, BIPOC-populated neighborhoods. They received a $2,800 grant to establish an irrigation system in their tree and native plant nursery instead of watering by hand.
The folks at Philly Forest successfully installed a nursery irrigation system! This system will help keep the trees healthy, reduce water waste, and reduce the labor needed to keep the trees watered. Executive Direct Jasmine M. Thompson told us, “the amount of trees that survive in the tree nursery is up from 70% to 95%!” Last year, they served about 4,000 public school students, 15 business owners, and 311 residents in their target zip codes with their tree program.
