Community garden fosters African farming traditions in Southwest Philadelphia
The season for building and installing raised beds is now coming to a close, with plans to do more neighborhood outreach and install more beds next year.
By Peter Crimmins
WHYY
Dev 7, 2020
Excerpt:
Glover and Rahman are with the Sankofa Community Farm. Saying a little prayer, as Glover did silently, is part of Sankofa’s mission to bring African spirituality and heritage to community gardening.
“The word Sankofa comes from the Twi language in modern Ghana,” Glover explained. “It means, ‘Go back and get it.’ Go back and learn your culture, bring it to the present and wear it like armor.”
Glover directs Sankofa’s home garden program, personally building and installing 56 raised beds at individual homes this year. Earlier in the year, before the pandemic, Sankofa advertised to anyone with a yard in Southwest Philadelphia to sign up to receive a raised bed. The program is subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, enabling Sankofa to charge just $25, about 80% less than the cost of the raw materials.
The bed installed on Thomas Avenue now belongs to Colleen Goodwyn, who lives there with her two dogs, two cats, and 9-year-old daughter. She said she had never gardened before, but always wanted to grow her own food.
