I remember the days when I would travel through eastern North Philadelphia—on my bike to Temple University or in my mom's car to grade school—and look around, feeling sad for this devastated area of the city. Run down. Decayed. Abandoned buildings and homes. That's why I was so happy to come across this article

Griddle readers. I need your help. Please help me identify my new pet. He lives in my community garden plot, and his name is WTF?-Why-Am-I-So-Big-And-Scary.
Hopefully we have some arachnid experts in our midst. Is this guy dangerous or just intimidating?
Picture, after the jump. (Sorry the angle isn't better; I was scared.)

My alma mater made the list; cue prideThe Princeton Review recently published its 2011 Green Rating Honor Roll for universities. Only 18 schools made the cut—and none from the Philadelphia area. (The closest, geographically, is University of Maryland.) The criteria for inclusion was somewhat complicated, as Ariel Schwartz explains at Fast Company: What makes a college sustainable?

I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m corn obsessed. I love the fresh stuff in all manner of preparation. I could happily wax for hours about a pasta dish (from Marche in Nashville) with corn, bacon and white wine that changed my life or spend precious minutes diagramming my recipe for killer Southwest corn salad in

Hop onto the website This We Know, type in “Philadelphia,” and you’ll be treated to some straightforward facts about the city. As the site puts it: Our mission is to present the information the U.S. government collects about every community. By publishing this data in an easy to understand and consistent manner, we seek to empower citizens to

Ryan Collerd for The New York TimesA few weeks ago, I had a little dish of heaven from Capogiro—goats’ milk gelato with rosemary and local honey. It was funky and creamy, a true conundrum on the tongue. I paid handsomely for it. Artisan ice cream is no cheap treat. Today, the New York Times tackles

Walking through a mall last week, I was surprised too see the volume of “Back to School!” signs posted everywhere I looked. I can’t believe it’s that time of the year already. I’m sure that a lot of parents feel the same way, and are suddenly under pressure to stock up for the coming school

Scum is being given a chance to do some good for Philadelphia. This article on Philly.com talks about how grease, fat and oils—and all the other things that make the germ-a-phobe in me shudder—end up at wastewater treatment plants. They are usually skimmed off of the water and taken to landfills, but now the Philadelphia

Quick reminder: The CHGA application is due this week. If you have any interest in becoming an urban farmer, even on a small scale, enrolling in the City Harvest Growers Alliance could be the way to go. As Grid has mentioned before, this is a great program aimed at upstart urban gardeners. A recent Philly.com article talks

As the Grid team prepares to start a busy week, sending our next issue off to press, I’ll remind you that the August issue is all online. Check out the cover story on the expiration of the PECO rate caps, read about the HBO documentary Gasland and get inspired by Marisa McClellan’s no-cook recipes, perfect