I started my day by waking up at 9:00 a.m. and going over to historic Strawberry Mansion, a neighborhood in Philadelphia named after the Georgian mansion in nearby Fairmount Park. After parking my car on Ridge Avenue, I was met by a wire fence surrounding an enormous industrial Greenhouse with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) logo; upon seeing this, I knew I was in the right place.
As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a woman who introduced herself as Emma, who runs this volunteering event. She then introduced me to two other PHS workers, Callie and Sabrina, and one independent volunteer, Darien. After exchanging pleasantries, she led me to a picnic table filled with eight separate trays of soil and seedlings.
Next, she informed me of what task I was responsible for completing. She explained that the trays of seedlings were hot peppers that had been incubated in the greenhouse and now needed to be repotted into larger containers. Admittedly, I was slightly nervous about messing up, since I haven’t gardened in years. However, Emma said as long as I didn’t break the stems, the peppers would regrow just fine. Once she finished explaining, I was off on my own.
At first, it was slow going, but after a few minutes, I was in a groove and replanting at lightning speed. Before I knew it, I finished my first tray and felt immensely satisfied.
After an hour, the other program runner, Adam, joined the group and introduced himself. He also told me some fascinating facts about the impact of PHS. The organization supports over 190 community gardens throughout the greater Philadelphia region with free supplies, grants, and education. Remarkably, the program produces over 27,000 seedlings that get distributed to gardens.
The other independent volunteer, Darien, told me he decided to volunteer at Strawbeery Mansion after helping out at the Philadelphia Flower Show. He said the experience of working with plants and seeing the community come together around nature made him want to stay involved in local green spaces. When he heard about the opportunity at Strawberry Mansion, he felt it was the perfect way to keep making a positive impact while learning more about urban gardening.
Finally, after toiling for a couple of hours, all my seedlings were transferred to the new containers and look great! The last thing I needed to do was move the trays into the greenhouse so they could grow bigger before being planted.
My Takeaways
My experience volunteering with PHS only made me more passionate about making gardening and food sovereignty a bigger part of my life. It was great to know that a few hours of work would positively impact my community. It was also super relaxing just being in the moment and focusing on a simple task. I realized that small efforts—like repotting seedlings—can grow into something much bigger when they’re part of a larger community effort.
If you’re looking for ways to help out, volunteering with PHS is a great idea. Check out their volunteering hub for a myriad of different opportunities to support food sovereignty movements throughout Philadelphia.
Edible Autonomy 
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