Philadelphia Orchard Project

Description

POP works with community-based groups and volunteers to plant and maintain orchards filled with useful and edible plants at a total of 64 community orchards throughout the city. POP provides orchard design assistance, plant materials, and training in orchard care. Community organizations own, maintain, and harvest the orchards, expanding community-based food production. Orchards are planted in formerly vacant lots, community gardens, schoolyards, and other urban spaces, almost exclusively in low-wealth neighborhoods where people experience limited access to fresh fruit.

POP orchards include diverse fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, fruiting vines, perennial vegetables, herbs, and groundcovers that build healthy soil and attract beneficial insects. The products of these orchards have been used by afterschool programs; sold at neighborhood farm stands; and donated to food pantries; while the orchards themselves create sites for community gatherings, micro-enterprise, and educational opportunities.