Monday, October 8, 2007
Best Wishes to Kelly Dietz and Michael Burns on the Occasion of their Wedding
Best wishes for a long and happy life together to Kelly Dietz and Michael Burns. Kelly and Mike, our hosts for Green Fest 2007, were married this past Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, in their beautiful woods at Cayuta Sun.
Pledge NOW to Support Ithaca Community Radio
Ithaca Community Radio needs your PLEDGES OF FUTURE FUNDING now to help support their application for an FCC license. For the first time since Ithaca Community Radio was formed, the Federal Communications Commission is accepting applications for new non-commercial FM radio licenses. The window to apply is Oct 12-19 . The FCC has a list of qualifications that applicants must meet. One of these is financial - the FCC requires that the applicant already have on hand, or have commitments of funds, to cover purchasing and setting up the station facilities and operating it for 3 months. Even though an applicant has three years to build a station from the time the FCC approves the application, which is plenty of time of raise money based on a reality, the FCC requires that the funds be in hand at the time of the application.
ICR is trying to raise 250K in pledges before October 19. These pledges can be: (1) A pledge to make an outright donation of any amount (the more the better) in the eventuality we are awarded a license; OR (2) A pledge to loan ICR some amount for the purpose of building the station. This can include the use of a credit card or equity line; OR (3) A pledge by your organization to hold a fundraiser that will raise xxx dollars; OR (4) The donation of an item worth xxx to be auctioned; OR (5) The donation of necessary pieces of broadcast/audio equipment, new or used. Make pledges by filling out the pledge form at http://www.ithacaradio.org Click on the "make a pledge" button and fill out your details.
ICR is trying to raise 250K in pledges before October 19. These pledges can be: (1) A pledge to make an outright donation of any amount (the more the better) in the eventuality we are awarded a license; OR (2) A pledge to loan ICR some amount for the purpose of building the station. This can include the use of a credit card or equity line; OR (3) A pledge by your organization to hold a fundraiser that will raise xxx dollars; OR (4) The donation of an item worth xxx to be auctioned; OR (5) The donation of necessary pieces of broadcast/audio equipment, new or used. Make pledges by filling out the pledge form at http://www.ithacara
The Booby Trap or Off Our Chests
A correction sent by Leonard Lehrman to Newsday:
"Carl MacGowan's beautiful write-up in the Oct. 5, 2007 Newsday on the late Susan Blake, whom many called The Social Conscience of Long Island, is not quite accurate in saying that the show in which she performed, THE BOOBY TRAP or OFF OUR CHESTS--a musical revue on the link between bras and breast cancer, by myself & Sydney Ross Singer, a founder of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, "poked fun at breast cancer." The piece ironically and even sometimes wryly and amusingly points out the hypocrisies of the culture in which breast cancer flourishes and millions are made and spent by "chemical, cosmetic and drug corporations," with little or no funding available for environmental and nutritional education. That's why the piece was performed, with Susan, as part of "Prevention Is the Cure" Week May 19, 2006 at PeaceSmiths in Amityville, and May 19, 2007 at Islip Methodist Church, and will be performed again in Susan's memory May 18, 2008 at Great Neck House."
"Carl MacGowan's beautiful write-up in the Oct. 5, 2007 Newsday on the late Susan Blake, whom many called The Social Conscience of Long Island, is not quite accurate in saying that the show in which she performed, THE BOOBY TRAP or OFF OUR CHESTS--a musical revue on the link between bras and breast cancer, by myself & Sydney Ross Singer, a founder of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, "poked fun at breast cancer." The piece ironically and even sometimes wryly and amusingly points out the hypocrisies of the culture in which breast cancer flourishes and millions are made and spent by "chemical, cosmetic and drug corporations," with little or no funding available for environmental and nutritional education. That's why the piece was performed, with Susan, as part of "Prevention Is the Cure" Week May 19, 2006 at PeaceSmiths in Amityville, and May 19, 2007 at Islip Methodist Church, and will be performed again in Susan's memory May 18, 2008 at Great Neck House."
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Susan Blake, 54, Amityville singer, activist
New York Newsday, October 5, 2007
by Carl McGowan
Susan Blake, a singer and activist considered by some the heart and soul of the Long Island peace and justice community, died Tuesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 54.
Blake, of Amityville, died at a friend's house in the Westchester County town of Goldens Bridge, said her sister, Nancy Jane Blake, of Peekskill.
For more than 30 years, Blake fought the Shoreham nuclear power plant and protested wars from Vietnam to Iraq through the Amityville activist group PeaceSmiths. Blake organized coffeehouse concerts and discussion forums on topics such as environmental issues and affordable housing.
"Susan has been one of those people who have steadfastly kept the focus on peace and justice issues on Long Island," said Catherine Green, of Sayville, a friend of Blake's since both demonstrated against the opening of Shoreham in the 1970s and 1980s.
"She was persistent and even dogged in trying to move forward a truly compassionate and just approach to things. She was inspiring, she was funny, she could be irascible....It's such a loss for the community."
Blake worked with other activist groups to organize peace vigils and demonstrations outside of congressional offices on Long Island and in New York City, said Dennis Urlaub, of Patchogue, co-chairman of the South Country Peace Group in Bellport.
Her protests often were set to music as she sang at rallies.
"She was the kind of person who swept you along with her enthusiasm, very into music and theater and dance and always planning some kind of an event that combined all of these things into one," said Cindy Rosenbaum, of Goldens Bridge, who befriended Blake when they attended the University of Rochester. "For her, everything was connected: the politics, the art. Everything was an opportunity to further her ideals."
Blake even protested her illness, singing in a show that poked fun at breast cancer. She rejected chemotherapy and radiation, opting instead for holistic medicine treatments.
"Susan, more than anyone I have ever known, tried to live her life consistently with her values," said Green, spokeswoman for Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan.
Blake learned activism while growing up in Wantagh. Legend has it that Blake and her mother, Betty Jane Blake, who died in 2005, chained themselves to a tree to block development of a housing project.
"I can't attest to that, but it sounds very likely," Nancy Blake said. "We were brought up to be citizens of the world and taught that you need to take some responsibility for taking care of this world."
Funeral arrangements and plans for a memorial service were incomplete yesterday.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
by Carl McGowan
Susan Blake, a singer and activist considered by some the heart and soul of the Long Island peace and justice community, died Tuesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 54.
Blake, of Amityville, died at a friend's house in the Westchester County town of Goldens Bridge, said her sister, Nancy Jane Blake, of Peekskill.
For more than 30 years, Blake fought the Shoreham nuclear power plant and protested wars from Vietnam to Iraq through the Amityville activist group PeaceSmiths. Blake organized coffeehouse concerts and discussion forums on topics such as environmental issues and affordable housing.
"Susan has been one of those people who have steadfastly kept the focus on peace and justice issues on Long Island," said Catherine Green, of Sayville, a friend of Blake's since both demonstrated against the opening of Shoreham in the 1970s and 1980s.
"She was persistent and even dogged in trying to move forward a truly compassionate and just approach to things. She was inspiring, she was funny, she could be irascible....It's such a loss for the community."
Blake worked with other activist groups to organize peace vigils and demonstrations outside of congressional offices on Long Island and in New York City, said Dennis Urlaub, of Patchogue, co-chairman of the South Country Peace Group in Bellport.
Her protests often were set to music as she sang at rallies.
"She was the kind of person who swept you along with her enthusiasm, very into music and theater and dance and always planning some kind of an event that combined all of these things into one," said Cindy Rosenbaum, of Goldens Bridge, who befriended Blake when they attended the University of Rochester. "For her, everything was connected: the politics, the art. Everything was an opportunity to further her ideals."
Blake even protested her illness, singing in a show that poked fun at breast cancer. She rejected chemotherapy and radiation, opting instead for holistic medicine treatments.
"Susan, more than anyone I have ever known, tried to live her life consistently with her values," said Green, spokeswoman for Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan.
Blake learned activism while growing up in Wantagh. Legend has it that Blake and her mother, Betty Jane Blake, who died in 2005, chained themselves to a tree to block development of a housing project.
"I can't attest to that, but it sounds very likely," Nancy Blake said. "We were brought up to be citizens of the world and taught that you need to take some responsibility for taking care of this world."
Funeral arrangements and plans for a memorial service were incomplete yesterday.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
Poem for Susan Blake
PeaceSmiths House
Winter evening
mugs of hot cider
guitar music glowing
"Puff the Magic Dragon lives by the sea. . ."
Hearth flames flickering
near sofa
where girl makes a cave under arm
of boy with red hair
"If I had a hammer. . ."
Young woman on frayed brown chair
cushions her man's head
on long lavender dress
Black cherry log crackles
The professor, streaming fingers
through his wife's graying black hair
looks up
"For all we know this may be only a dream. . ."
Maxwell Corydon Wheat, Jr. (c)2007
Susan June Blake, 1953-2007
b. 6/18/53, d. 10/2/07, beloved sister of Nancy Jane, daughter of the late Betty Jane and William A. Blake, "the Social Conscience of Long Island." Coordinator, PeaceSmiths, Inc. Indefatigable fighter against war, capital punishment, nuclear power; advocate for peace & social justice, environmental health & historic preservation. Tireless coffeehouse & forum organizer; presenter of countless poets, folk & concert musicians; singer/actor, oboist, naturelover. Crafter of the written and spoken word, teacher of the interconnectedness of all things. Burial: Friends, Westbury. Public celebration of Susan's life TBA. PeaceSmiths will continue with your contributions: POB 134 Massapequa NY 11758.
Friday, October 5, 2007
We Miss You, Susan
A tribute to Susan Blake by Leonard Lehrman
We miss you, Susan.
We miss your calling and saying "How did you know it was me?"
Who else would call us at 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 in the morning even!?
Occasionally we'd be asleep, but usually we weren't,
and were always happy to hear from you.
Of course you almost always had something for us to do.
But that's ok. If no one else could do it, you knew you could ask us.
You were our conscience, the Social Conscience of Long Island,
and we treasured knowing and working with you.
In the two and a half years we've known you,
since you phoned us in response to Janet Coleman's WBAI interview with me,
you became a member of our family,
at least as close to me as my own brother and sister.
Could it have been mere coincidence
your having been born on my parents' anniversary?
and my having been born on your parents' anniversary?
After Karen, my first wife, died on Christmas 2005,
it was you who helped me pack and sort the clothes she left.
You were just her size, and age - 9 days older to be exact.
Those you chose looked good on you.
The closeness we had never extended beyond hugs and occasional
meaningful hand-holding.
But who else was eager, and welcome, to attend a concert or come
skinnydipping with me? -
the joy you took in those renewing, cleansing ocean baths!
And how many wonderful things you, my dear wife Helene, and I did together -
birthdays at the beach in our birthday suits
A Blitzstein Cabaret
E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman
THE BOOBY TRAP
the Berrymans
Shakespeare & Mother Courage in the Park (waiting for hours for
tickets in the torrential rains)
the Puffins in Manhattan and Teaneck
the Living Theatre
tributes to Mozart, Dr. King, Elie Siegmeister, Joel Mandelbaum,
Morris Schappes, the Rosenbergs,
BAJOUR, Barber, Naturism, Cindy Sheehan, The Green Party...
and perhaps above all: Conscience.
Conscience is not a leaf in the wind to be shaken at a gust
but a deep root holding fast because it must.
That was you, Susan.
We miss you, Susan.
But we know what you'd say:
Don't mourn, organize.
And don't just organize, be peacesmiths - get involved.
Think before you do, but then do it.
No one can do everything.
But everyone can do something.
There's always so much to be done - and always will be -
for each other, for others, and for ourselves -
but not just for ourselves.
If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?
If we are only for ourselves, what are we?
And if not now, then when?
Sometimes some issues have to be prioritized over others.
But that doesn't mean they are to be forgotten.
And you Susan, as long as there are people
with souls on fire to do justice and struggle for peace
As long as there are people who care
or can be brought to care
about war
and capital punishment
Sacco & Vanzetti
Ethel & Julius Rosenberg,
Alger Hiss
Mumia Abu Jamal
about immigrants' rights
women's rights
human rights
about health care and alternatives
about folk and concert music
laughing and dancing - If I Can't Dance, It's Not My Revolution!
then you, Susan, you who goaded and prodded,
facilitated and coordinated,
and led by your example,
You will never be forgotten.
We miss you, Susan.
We miss your calling and saying "How did you know it was me?"
Who else would call us at 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 in the morning even!?
Occasionally we'd be asleep, but usually we weren't,
and were always happy to hear from you.
Of course you almost always had something for us to do.
But that's ok. If no one else could do it, you knew you could ask us.
You were our conscience, the Social Conscience of Long Island,
and we treasured knowing and working with you.
In the two and a half years we've known you,
since you phoned us in response to Janet Coleman's WBAI interview with me,
you became a member of our family,
at least as close to me as my own brother and sister.
Could it have been mere coincidence
your having been born on my parents' anniversary?
and my having been born on your parents' anniversary?
After Karen, my first wife, died on Christmas 2005,
it was you who helped me pack and sort the clothes she left.
You were just her size, and age - 9 days older to be exact.
Those you chose looked good on you.
The closeness we had never extended beyond hugs and occasional
meaningful hand-holding.
But who else was eager, and welcome, to attend a concert or come
skinnydipping with me? -
the joy you took in those renewing, cleansing ocean baths!
And how many wonderful things you, my dear wife Helene, and I did together -
birthdays at the beach in our birthday suits
A Blitzstein Cabaret
E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman
THE BOOBY TRAP
the Berrymans
Shakespeare & Mother Courage in the Park (waiting for hours for
tickets in the torrential rains)
the Puffins in Manhattan and Teaneck
the Living Theatre
tributes to Mozart, Dr. King, Elie Siegmeister, Joel Mandelbaum,
Morris Schappes, the Rosenbergs,
BAJOUR, Barber, Naturism, Cindy Sheehan, The Green Party...
and perhaps above all: Conscience.
Conscience is not a leaf in the wind to be shaken at a gust
but a deep root holding fast because it must.
That was you, Susan.
We miss you, Susan.
But we know what you'd say:
Don't mourn, organize.
And don't just organize, be peacesmiths - get involved.
Think before you do, but then do it.
No one can do everything.
But everyone can do something.
There's always so much to be done - and always will be -
for each other, for others, and for ourselves -
but not just for ourselves.
If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?
If we are only for ourselves, what are we?
And if not now, then when?
Sometimes some issues have to be prioritized over others.
But that doesn't mean they are to be forgotten.
And you Susan, as long as there are people
with souls on fire to do justice and struggle for peace
As long as there are people who care
or can be brought to care
about war
and capital punishment
Sacco & Vanzetti
Ethel & Julius Rosenberg,
Alger Hiss
Mumia Abu Jamal
about immigrants' rights
women's rights
human rights
about health care and alternatives
about folk and concert music
laughing and dancing - If I Can't Dance, It's Not My Revolution!
then you, Susan, you who goaded and prodded,
facilitated and coordinated,
and led by your example,
You will never be forgotten.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
We've Lost a Fighter for Peace and Justice
Terribly sad news from Leonard Lehrman. Many of us had the privilege of meeting Susan at Green Fest when she performed with Leonard and Helene Williams in "The Booby Trap." Leonard writes:
"Susan Blake died this evening, Oct. 2, after a 4-year struggle with breast cancer which had just recently spread to her liver. We've only known her since April 2005, yet during that time we've spoken and/or met with her at least several times a week every week, and sometimes every day. How often have we been astonished at the breadth and depth of her energy and the scope of her interests and activities.
"A tireless organizer for so many good causes, against injustice, against capital punishment, against war, for the appreciation of folk and concert music and poetry, for immigrants' rights, women's rights, human rights--yet she could also laugh at herself, memorably putting across Joel Mandelbaum's satirical song "The Causes Are Waiting for You!"
"And despite losing one breast to the cancer that ultimately killed her, she uninhibitedly joined us repeatedly - whenever we could drive her there - for nude sun- and ocean-bathing at Lighthouse Beach on Fire Island. I've attached a photo Helene took of her presenting a card to Cary Bair there July 21, 2007 on his birthday - in his birthday suit.
"She was a featured performer in - in fact the motor behind - the production of THE BOOBY TRAP or OFF OUR CHESTS, the musical on the connection between breast cancer and bras - which, she believed, may well have been at least a partial cause of her own breast cancer. (WBAI 99.5 FM & wbai.org will broadcast some of her singing of that show Thursday evening Oct. 4 after midnight.)
"She leaves behind a loyal following of activist friends, all of whom have been prodded into consciousness more than once by her persistent urging that there is always something more that can be done to help those who need it.
"No six people could do all she did over so many years as Coordinator of PeaceSmiths in Amityville, with its monthly forum and monthly coffeehouse.
"But working together, inspired by her memory, the organization will, hopefully, continue."
.JPG)
"Susan Blake died this evening, Oct. 2, after a 4-year struggle with breast cancer which had just recently spread to her liver. We've only known her since April 2005, yet during that time we've spoken and/or met with her at least several times a week every week, and sometimes every day. How often have we been astonished at the breadth and depth of her energy and the scope of her interests and activities.
"A tireless organizer for so many good causes, against injustice, against capital punishment, against war, for the appreciation of folk and concert music and poetry, for immigrants' rights, women's rights, human rights--yet she could also laugh at herself, memorably putting across Joel Mandelbaum's satirical song "The Causes Are Waiting for You!"
"And despite losing one breast to the cancer that ultimately killed her, she uninhibitedly joined us repeatedly - whenever we could drive her there - for nude sun- and ocean-bathing at Lighthouse Beach on Fire Island. I've attached a photo Helene took of her presenting a card to Cary Bair there July 21, 2007 on his birthday - in his birthday suit.
"She was a featured performer in - in fact the motor behind - the production of THE BOOBY TRAP or OFF OUR CHESTS, the musical on the connection between breast cancer and bras - which, she believed, may well have been at least a partial cause of her own breast cancer. (WBAI 99.5 FM & wbai.org will broadcast some of her singing of that show Thursday evening Oct. 4 after midnight.)
"She leaves behind a loyal following of activist friends, all of whom have been prodded into consciousness more than once by her persistent urging that there is always something more that can be done to help those who need it.
"No six people could do all she did over so many years as Coordinator of PeaceSmiths in Amityville, with its monthly forum and monthly coffeehouse.
"But working together, inspired by her memory, the organization will, hopefully, continue."
.JPG)
Green Buildings Open House, Oct. 6
12th Annual ASES National Solar Tour is this weekend, Saturday October 6th. Join 100,000 people across 46 states to see how your neighbors are using clean energy sources and decrease energy bills -- and how you can too. Find locations on google maps: http://nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/
In Tompkins County it should be a perfect sunny day to visit some of the 25 homes in the area.
GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN HOUSE -- SAT, OCT 6, 2006
Open House: 10 am-4 pm
Guided Van Tours: 12-4:30 pm
Guided Bike Tours: Details TBA
See firsthand how renewable energy and green building practices are at work in our area. Homeowners and building managers will be on site to answer questions and describe their green building features - such as passive solar design, photovoltaics, wind power, salvaged and non-toxic building materials, straw bale construction, timber framing, masonry stoves, and more.
Members of the public can do a self-guided tour between 10 am and 4 pm. Visit the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association website at www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse AFTER SEPT. 6 for building features and directions or call 607-272-2292 AFTER SEP 7 to request a brochure with rough map. Details on routes, registration, and fees for van tours and bike tours coming soon. Watch for future announcements!
Organized by the Ithaca Green Building Alliance and Cornell Cooperative Extension in conjunction with NESEA's Green Buildings Open House and the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour.
For more information, contact:
Tania Schusler
Environmental Issues Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County
615 Willow Avenue
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-272-2292
Fax: 607-272-7088
In Tompkins County it should be a perfect sunny day to visit some of the 25 homes in the area.
GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN HOUSE -- SAT, OCT 6, 2006
Open House: 10 am-4 pm
Guided Van Tours: 12-4:30 pm
Guided Bike Tours: Details TBA
See firsthand how renewable energy and green building practices are at work in our area. Homeowners and building managers will be on site to answer questions and describe their green building features - such as passive solar design, photovoltaics, wind power, salvaged and non-toxic building materials, straw bale construction, timber framing, masonry stoves, and more.
Members of the public can do a self-guided tour between 10 am and 4 pm. Visit the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association website at www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse AFTER SEPT. 6 for building features and directions or call 607-272-2292 AFTER SEP 7 to request a brochure with rough map. Details on routes, registration, and fees for van tours and bike tours coming soon. Watch for future announcements!
Organized by the Ithaca Green Building Alliance and Cornell Cooperative Extension in conjunction with NESEA's Green Buildings Open House and the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour.
For more information, contact:
Tania Schusler
Environmental Issues Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County
615 Willow Avenue
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-272-2292
Fax: 607-272-7088
Healthy Environment, Healthy Economy, Albany, Dec. 5-6
Join the Citizens Environmental Coalition for the second Healthy Environment, Healthy Economy, a two day symposium on building a safe and sustainable economy for New York State. December 5th and 6th 2007 at the NYS Legislative Office Building in Albany. For more information, visit www.cectoxic.org or call 518-462-5527,x13. Many of us enjoyed meeting CEC staffer Linda Ochs and learning more about the CEC at the CEC's Green Fest table in the Ithaca Commons.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
South Bronx Food Cooperative
Bronx Green Zena Nelson has initiated the South Bronx Food Cooperative. Check out their great website at http://www.sbxfc.org/. SBFC is a green shopping alternative to what is generally offered in the Bronx. Founded and operated by committed local residents, the SBFC is dedicated to making a difference in the community by working together to provide healthy and affordable food available to all who want it.
SBFC is selling on-line and at a distribution center, and is seeking a retail location. SBFC will carry a wide variety of products including local, organic and conventionally grown produce; pasture-raised and grass-fed meat; free-range, organic poultry; fair-traded chocolate and coffee; wild and farmed fish; supplements and vitamins; vegetarian & vegan alternatives; bulk grains and spices; environmentally safe cleaning supplies and much more. In addition, the coop will stock a selection of familiar and common supermarket items making the SBFC a one-stop shopping destination.
Members will share ownership of the coop with fellow coop members. Members have a voice in the decision-making process and can participate in planning and discussions of the organization's future. Equally important, shoppers learn where their food choices come from. Members have access to fresh foods at low prices and learn about local farmers and vendors.
SBFC is selling on-line and at a distribution center, and is seeking a retail location. SBFC will carry a wide variety of products including local, organic and conventionally grown produce; pasture-raised and grass-fed meat; free-range, organic poultry; fair-traded chocolate and coffee; wild and farmed fish; supplements and vitamins; vegetarian & vegan alternatives; bulk grains and spices; environmentally safe cleaning supplies and much more. In addition, the coop will stock a selection of familiar and common supermarket items making the SBFC a one-stop shopping destination.
Members will share ownership of the coop with fellow coop members. Members have a voice in the decision-making process and can participate in planning and discussions of the organization's future. Equally important, shoppers learn where their food choices come from. Members have access to fresh foods at low prices and learn about local farmers and vendors.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Philly Orchard Project
Paul Glover, the founder of Ithaca Hours, a candidate for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2004, and a speaker at our first Green Fest in 2003, moved from Ithaca to Philadelphia several years ago. Ithaca's loss is Philly's gain. Paul's latest project is the Philly Orchard Project, to plant orchards within the city of Philadelphia, in order to provide healthy food free or at low cost, create jobs, stimulate related business, reduce crime, increase summer cooling, make space for beauty and play. The project was featured in The New York Times , September 2, 2007, Replacing Neglect With Peach Trees, by Virginia McGuire:
ON a sweltering summer afternoon in August, Paul Glover rode his bicycle 12 miles to spread mulch around peach trees in a fledgling orchard — in South Philadelphia.
Mr. Glover is founder of the Philly Orchard Project, a nonprofit organization established earlier this year with the goal of planting fruit trees on Philadelphia’s vacant lots, creating “edible community centers,” Mr. Glover said.
Building on Philadelphia’s tradition of community gardens and urban farms, Philly Orchard Project’s leaders are hoping to emulate the success of longstanding urban orchard projects in Boston, Los Angeles and Austin, Tex.
Scott Harris, the executive director of TreeFolks, based in Austin, said his group’s Urban Orchard Program has changed the culture of the city. The increase in residential food gardens has drawn children outside, away from television and video games, he said, and because people are outside more, there is less vandalism and crime.
In Philadelphia, where the population has declined by more than 25 percent over the last half-century, there is no shortage of vacant land.
Domenic Vitiello, an assistant professor of city planning at the University of Pennsylvania, is president of the Philly Orchard Project’s board. He said the population decline had occurred because the city lost nearly all of its industrial economy.
While everyone agrees that the city’s thousands of vacant lots could serve a better purpose, there is no consensus on what should be done with them.
Most tracts make up the small footprint of a row house and are interspersed in a line of occupied homes, their small size making them unattractive to developers.
The lots are also located in less desirable neighborhoods like South Philadelphia and New Kensington, where gentrification has been slow to take hold. Developers are more attracted to Center City, said Joanne Davidow, a vice president at Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors, where they are “building on every little inch of ground.”
It is these less-desired lots that the Philly Orchard Project is targeting. And environmentalists would like to see the vacant lots preserved as green space. Philadelphia Green, a program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, began to “clean and green” many of these lots in 1974. “The city didn’t have a land management program in place to take care of those parcels,” said Michael Groman, the organization’s senior director. When vacant land is neglected, the resulting blight “exacerbates the downward spiral in the neighborhood,” he said.
Susan M. Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, set out to quantify the impact of vacant land on the housing market in a 2005 study. Her study examined New Kensington, an industrial neighborhood hit especially hard by the deindustrialization of the city. She found that cleaning up vacant land raised the value of adjacent homes by 20 percent.
And in a 2006 study, Ms. Wachter and Grace Wong, an assistant professor of real estate at the Wharton School, found that planting trees on residential blocks citywide raised property values on the block by almost 10 percent. The increased market values are attributable to a “combination of landscape changing dramatically, and also a signal that someone is reinvesting in the neighborhood,” Ms. Wachter said.
Real estate professionals in the city know that green space sells houses. Heather A. Petrone, associate broker for Joseph D. Petrone Real Estate and president of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors, said she regularly includes proximity to community gardens in property descriptions. People who may be moving back to the city from suburban areas, where “everybody has an acre,” are especially interested in the gardens, Ms. Petrone said.
As the population in Philadelphia and other cities continues to decline, city officials and urban planners are eager to retain existing city residents and attract new ones.
“Philadelphia will not prosper by merely refilling with people,” said Mr. Glover of the Philly Orchard Project. “Real progress requires that agriculture becomes a prominent part of the structure, economy and culture of the city.” He sees urban agriculture as a way to combat poverty by creating jobs and inexpensive food, while reducing the environmental impact of food production.
A veteran activist, Mr. Glover is best known for founding Ithaca Hours in 1991, an alternative currency designed to strengthen the local economy in Ithaca, N.Y.
Mr. Glover and his organization already have two orchards under way in Philadelphia, and they are planning several more to be planted this fall, when fruit trees can tolerate transplanting.
They expect to plant primarily on land acquired through transfers of development rights, where owners retain the title but give up the right to develop the land. The project also plans to help existing neighborhood groups, like schools and community centers, plant their own orchards.
In South Philadelphia, for example, the group provided peach trees and expertise to a group of youth interns who had started a community garden on land owned by United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, a community development agency that provides educational and leadership opportunities.
Laura Smoot, a youth development specialist who works with the volunteers who planted that garden, said the project had been welcomed by area residents. “Litter and vandalism have drastically reduced since we started planting gardens and fruit trees,” she said.
For 35 years, Sharon Robinson has lived opposite the lot where the new orchard planted this spring is already producing peaches. She remembers when an apartment building on the lot was abandoned. After the city tore it down, the lot sat empty for years, accumulating debris.
Ms. Robinson used to go to a park across town when she wanted to be outside. But since Ms. Smoot and her interns began cleaning up the lot, Ms. Robinson said, she spends time outside on her front porch and contributes to the garden by watering it on weekends.
The group is in the process of finding more sites appropriate for fruit trees, and the city is a possible source of land. Darlene Messina, Philadelphia’s coordinator for environmental and urban sustainability initiatives, said that the city may consider allocating land for orchards or other urban agriculture initiatives, but “it has to make economic sense.”
The city has started a new initiative, GreenPlan Philadelphia, to preserve open space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide. “Orchards are part of that plan,” Ms. Messina said.
In the meantime, volunteers recently gathered to plant perennials around the young trees and layer wet newspaper and compost to keep the weeds down. They lined the beds with broken bricks salvaged from the apartment building that stood in the empty lot before the city tore it down.
“Beauty in cities is not a luxury,” Ms. Wachter said. “It’s a necessary public good.”
ON a sweltering summer afternoon in August, Paul Glover rode his bicycle 12 miles to spread mulch around peach trees in a fledgling orchard — in South Philadelphia.
Mr. Glover is founder of the Philly Orchard Project, a nonprofit organization established earlier this year with the goal of planting fruit trees on Philadelphia’s vacant lots, creating “edible community centers,” Mr. Glover said.
Building on Philadelphia’s tradition of community gardens and urban farms, Philly Orchard Project’s leaders are hoping to emulate the success of longstanding urban orchard projects in Boston, Los Angeles and Austin, Tex.
Scott Harris, the executive director of TreeFolks, based in Austin, said his group’s Urban Orchard Program has changed the culture of the city. The increase in residential food gardens has drawn children outside, away from television and video games, he said, and because people are outside more, there is less vandalism and crime.
In Philadelphia, where the population has declined by more than 25 percent over the last half-century, there is no shortage of vacant land.
Domenic Vitiello, an assistant professor of city planning at the University of Pennsylvania, is president of the Philly Orchard Project’s board. He said the population decline had occurred because the city lost nearly all of its industrial economy.
While everyone agrees that the city’s thousands of vacant lots could serve a better purpose, there is no consensus on what should be done with them.
Most tracts make up the small footprint of a row house and are interspersed in a line of occupied homes, their small size making them unattractive to developers.
The lots are also located in less desirable neighborhoods like South Philadelphia and New Kensington, where gentrification has been slow to take hold. Developers are more attracted to Center City, said Joanne Davidow, a vice president at Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors, where they are “building on every little inch of ground.”
It is these less-desired lots that the Philly Orchard Project is targeting. And environmentalists would like to see the vacant lots preserved as green space. Philadelphia Green, a program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, began to “clean and green” many of these lots in 1974. “The city didn’t have a land management program in place to take care of those parcels,” said Michael Groman, the organization’s senior director. When vacant land is neglected, the resulting blight “exacerbates the downward spiral in the neighborhood,” he said.
Susan M. Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, set out to quantify the impact of vacant land on the housing market in a 2005 study. Her study examined New Kensington, an industrial neighborhood hit especially hard by the deindustrialization of the city. She found that cleaning up vacant land raised the value of adjacent homes by 20 percent.
And in a 2006 study, Ms. Wachter and Grace Wong, an assistant professor of real estate at the Wharton School, found that planting trees on residential blocks citywide raised property values on the block by almost 10 percent. The increased market values are attributable to a “combination of landscape changing dramatically, and also a signal that someone is reinvesting in the neighborhood,” Ms. Wachter said.
Real estate professionals in the city know that green space sells houses. Heather A. Petrone, associate broker for Joseph D. Petrone Real Estate and president of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors, said she regularly includes proximity to community gardens in property descriptions. People who may be moving back to the city from suburban areas, where “everybody has an acre,” are especially interested in the gardens, Ms. Petrone said.
As the population in Philadelphia and other cities continues to decline, city officials and urban planners are eager to retain existing city residents and attract new ones.
“Philadelphia will not prosper by merely refilling with people,” said Mr. Glover of the Philly Orchard Project. “Real progress requires that agriculture becomes a prominent part of the structure, economy and culture of the city.” He sees urban agriculture as a way to combat poverty by creating jobs and inexpensive food, while reducing the environmental impact of food production.
A veteran activist, Mr. Glover is best known for founding Ithaca Hours in 1991, an alternative currency designed to strengthen the local economy in Ithaca, N.Y.
Mr. Glover and his organization already have two orchards under way in Philadelphia, and they are planning several more to be planted this fall, when fruit trees can tolerate transplanting.
They expect to plant primarily on land acquired through transfers of development rights, where owners retain the title but give up the right to develop the land. The project also plans to help existing neighborhood groups, like schools and community centers, plant their own orchards.
In South Philadelphia, for example, the group provided peach trees and expertise to a group of youth interns who had started a community garden on land owned by United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, a community development agency that provides educational and leadership opportunities.
Laura Smoot, a youth development specialist who works with the volunteers who planted that garden, said the project had been welcomed by area residents. “Litter and vandalism have drastically reduced since we started planting gardens and fruit trees,” she said.
For 35 years, Sharon Robinson has lived opposite the lot where the new orchard planted this spring is already producing peaches. She remembers when an apartment building on the lot was abandoned. After the city tore it down, the lot sat empty for years, accumulating debris.
Ms. Robinson used to go to a park across town when she wanted to be outside. But since Ms. Smoot and her interns began cleaning up the lot, Ms. Robinson said, she spends time outside on her front porch and contributes to the garden by watering it on weekends.
The group is in the process of finding more sites appropriate for fruit trees, and the city is a possible source of land. Darlene Messina, Philadelphia’s coordinator for environmental and urban sustainability initiatives, said that the city may consider allocating land for orchards or other urban agriculture initiatives, but “it has to make economic sense.”
The city has started a new initiative, GreenPlan Philadelphia, to preserve open space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide. “Orchards are part of that plan,” Ms. Messina said.
In the meantime, volunteers recently gathered to plant perennials around the young trees and layer wet newspaper and compost to keep the weeds down. They lined the beds with broken bricks salvaged from the apartment building that stood in the empty lot before the city tore it down.
“Beauty in cities is not a luxury,” Ms. Wachter said. “It’s a necessary public good.”
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