Manatawna FarmA new commercial farming pilot-project from the Department of Parks and Recreation may mean that you don’t have to choose between your love of urban-dwelling and that itch you’ve had to dig, plant, grow and harvest. Here’s the scoop from the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Letter of Intent:
“The City of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation has issued a Request for Information (RFI) in support of Greenworks Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Food Charter, to identify farmers and farm institutions who are interested in operating and managing chemical-free sub-acre plots at: Manatawna Farm.”
If you recall Greenworks Philadelphia is Mayor Nutter’s sustainability plan that hopes to establish 12 commercial agriculture projects in the city by 2015. The Philadelphia Food Charter, also Mayor Nutter’s, is a call for the use of city-owned spaces for commercial agriculture. The proposed project at Manatawna Farm contributes to both of these initiatives and offers the very real chance of expanding sustainable agriculture right in Philadelphia and its surrounding regions.
Manatawna Farm is located at 100 Spring Lane in Upper Roxborough, on the dividing line of the Wissahickon and Schuylkill watersheds.
The Request for Information is available on both the Department of Parks and Recreation’s and Fairmount Park’s websites and is due by April 12.
There is significant opposition from neighbors, community gardners and Saul School to the proposed taking of the productive and well managed Saul School hayfield for small scale commercial farming.
Much of the preliminary work behind this proposal has been behind closed doors and presented to the neighbors and Saul as a done deal.