Camden’s Community Gardens at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Right across the Delaware River in Camden, NJ, exciting things are happening in the world of community gardening.  At the Camden Children’s Garden, staff (including me) and volunteers have worked to build over thirty community gardens in Camden, NJ in 2009 alone! 

At the 2010 Philadelphia International Flower Show, we’ve put together an exhibit to show off our work.  Soup and Salad: From Camden to the World is an exhibit that’s all about vegetable gardens and healthy eating.  Check out the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer!  Among other things, the exhibit features a gigantic Campbell’s Soup bowl filled with vegetables that are commonly found in soup, including escarole, kale, cabbage, basil, and tomatoes (of course!). 

There is also a huge salad plate that’s planted with lettuce, spinach, and carrot seedlings.  Other features of the exhibit include an orchard filled with citrus and fig trees, and a vegetable and herb garden planted in neat rows and tended by a child-like topiary made out of ivy.  If you’re going to the show, be sure to check out the Camden Children’s Garden’s exhibit and learn all about the Community Garden Program that brings healthy food to one of the poorest cities in the country.