Market Growth

by Juliet Fletcher

Funny thing about living in a city. First, you find there really aren't enough good synonyms for your kind of city—Big Smoke recalls only our industrial past; Metropolis sounds silly if everything in your immediate surroundings is not completely silver. And second, you might find that two mutual city forces threaten to clash: the premium placed on real estate, and the desperate need for green space.

Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden wouldn't exist either in a Big Smoke or a Metropolis, but there it sits, at 20th and Fitzwater. And nowhere are the two forces clashing more vigorously than in its protected square block. When the garden was founded in 1995, it was through the efforts of street residents who wished to turn blighted properties into a community space. Now, the street is back from blight's brink—but could topple in another direction, say the gardeners. Buoyed by the congeniality of the area, buyers are looking to develop the land. That would mean the end of the garden.

With the assistance of the Neighborhood Gardens Association, Fitzwater 2000 has a pledge of Neighborhood Transformation Initiative funds that would protect the garden. But—in a further chapter of challenge—the garden's custodians must match the funds. That's $50,000.

Thus, this Saturday, a Harvest Celebration—with tours, a market and plant sale—will draw in the crowds and hopefully a good chunk of these funds. If you appreciate the garden the rest of the year, now might be the time to show it.

Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden Harvest Celebration and Fundraiser, Sat., Oct. 2, (rain date Sun., Oct. 3), 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Fitzwater 2000 Community Garden, 2040-2044 Fitzwater St., www.southphillyblocks.org/fitzwater2000/ for information and to make a donation.