EASY BEIN’ GREEN
Resource center coming soon to Farm Park
As it prepares to debut an outdoor version of the Philadelphia Flower Show in June, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has another monumental project in the works — a Green Resource Center at the Norristown Farm Park.
Expected to be operational sometime this spring, the center, which will be located along West Germantown Pike across from Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, will include a two-acre teaching farm, a greenhouse with heating and cooling systems powered in part by solar energy, a shade area for seedlings, a wash station, a pavilion for public programming, pollinator gardens, community garden
beds, and workforce development opportunities in conjunction with YWCA Tri-County Area.
It’s all made possible by a grant from the Montgomery County CARES Act Food Security Assistance and Workforce Development Program, noted VP and Chief of Healthy Neighborhoods Julianne Schrader Ortega.
“We’re trying to be responsive to this opportunity from the county, and because it’s federal dollars it took a little time to work through the details even though we’re moving pretty quickly,” she said. “The PHS Green Resource Center at Farm Park will provide the training, space, and resources for Montgomery County residents to learn about gardening and careers in the field of horticulture while also being a vital place to nurture social
connections with others.”
The center will incorporate an existing barn as a backdrop, to be used for storage, Schrader Ortega added.
A pavilion will be constructed next to the barn for the public programming portion of the facility, with staff available weekdays to answer questions and explain the operation.
“We’ll be the service provider on-site managing the activities and the programming in partnership with the Farm Park staff,” Schrader Ortega noted.
In its support of the YWCA Tri-County Area’s workforce development efforts, which expects to serve 200 people this year, the center will engage participants in YWCA’s Food for Success program in receiving hands-on education and soft skills training in horticulture through a culinary arts training program, Dignity Kitchen.
“YWCA is committed to drive change, to listen, to support and most importantly, to act,” said Stacey Woodland, Executive Director of YWCA Tri-County Area in a press release.
“We’re still working out some program details but we’re excited by the feedback we’ve already gotten, people saying they want to be volunteers or they want to do a garden bed. They’ve reached out to Farm Park rangers and have seen us on site doing some tree pruning and other work,” Schrader Ortega said.
The PHS Green Resource Center at Farm Park will support a county-wide effort to engage and support gardeners in growing more
food for themselves and their neighbors, which has become critically important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A press release noted that according to Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” studies, 7 percent of Montgomery County residents are facing food insecurity with an estimated rise to 11.1 percent in 2020. Many food pantries have experienced a 50 percent increase in demand over the past few months, thereby heightening the need for broad collective action to support the health and well-being of local communities.
To that end, the PHS Green Resource Center at Farm Park will offer education, material distribution, technical assistance, seedling propagation, and networking, supplying the necessary resources for gardeners to increase access to fresh food while helping “to cultivate strong social connections across barriers of age, language, and race.
“As a result of the economic impacts of COVID-19, it is estimated that over 100,000 Montgomery County residents are experiencing difficulty accessing nutritious food for themselves and their families,” said Valerie Arkoosh, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “That is why the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners approved $1 million in CARES Act funding for the County’s Food Security Assistance and Workforce Development Program. This new PHS program will increase food sovereignty for participants, their families, and their communities while also providing tools for job training and self-reliance for the future.”