An apple cider press, a corn shucker, a chainsaw.

Philadelphians tending community gardens can soon borrow all of these tools from the new Agriculture Resource Center in West Fairmount Park.

“We want to make sure that folks who can’t afford to purchase these items are able to borrow them and participate in the sharing economy,” said Ash Richards, Philadelphia’s farm czar, or urban agriculture director in the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The center, set to open this summer, is the first capital project in the city’s 10-year plan to support community gardens, farms and food justice in the city. 

Equipment and seeds for borrow

Members of the new Agriculture Resource Center will get access to roughly $200,000 worth of tools and equipment in the library, as well as free seeds and books.

Those items include large pieces of equipment and power tools, such as electric tillers, power augers to dig fence post holes, and circular saws. They also include small hand tools, such as pruners and trowels. Members will also be able to borrow equipment for public meetings and events, such as public-address sound systems, tables and projectors.

“All the things that you need to run a community meeting, or all the things that you need to do advocacy for your garden,” Richards said.

Richards said they are particularly excited about a nut wheel that allows users to easily pick up nuts from the ground without bending down.

“We’ve got Asian communities collecting ginkgo nuts. We have folks who are collecting black walnuts. There’s a big chestnut community that’s trying to re-establish chestnuts in the city,” Richards said. “We’re trying to hit a lot of different kinds of growing and stewardship communities.”

To be eligible for membership, an individual or group must be working on a public project, such as a community garden, public orchard, farm, mutual aid effort focused on food distribution or community land stewardship initiative, Richards said. City officials will vet projects to ensure they are publicly accessible and ask members for references, they said.

Richards said the center and its tool library are designed to be accessible to land stewards of all ages and abilities. The building, made from two old shipping containers, has ADA-compliant ramps and benches, and some of the tools are designed to be ergonomic or gripped easily.

Richards said they frequently attend events at community gardens and see “gaps” in gardeners’ access to equipment and ability to maintain land easily.

“Our land stewards are all volunteers,” Richards said. “This is really an equity issue.”

Sumi Narra, a core member of the Fernhill Food Forest in Germantown’s Fernhill Park, said the group struggles with storage space and has had tools stolen from the park. She said the group is excited to use the new tool library to supplement its own collection and access large pieces of equipment such as a brush hog mower attachment, which can quickly clear dense, invasive brush.

“As we’re doing more restoration work … it’s really helpful to have a tool such as that, as opposed to having it be hours and hours of teams working on it,” Narra said.

Carolina Torres, a land care organizer with Iglesias Gardens in Kensington, said they hope to borrow a wood chipper to create a mulch-like ground cover, and a sound system for block parties. They’re also interested in getting beans and flower bulbs from the center’s seed library.

“I’m curious if they’re going to have any bulbs or things that can make spaces look more beautiful,” Torres said.

Free workshops coming to the Agriculture Resource Center

The center, funded through the Department of Parks and Recreation, federal grant support and private money from the William Penn Foundation, the Claneil Foundation and the Green Family Foundation, will also offer free skills workshops to anyone, whether or not they are members. Members of community gardens or farms in the city will be paid to teach classes, Richards said.

The initial calendar of events is still being finalized, Richards said, but they hope to bring in partners to host workshops on making natural dye from plants, saving seeds and testing soil.

“When you get the results back, don’t freak out,” Richards said about the soil testing. “Like, this is how you can read the results and these are the people you can rely on to support you.”

Torres said workshops on building tree canopy, controlling invasive trees and testing soil would be especially useful for North Philadelphia, where Iglesias Gardens is located.

“There’s often this, maybe, misinformation or lack of education or just lack of resources around urban soils,” they said. “In North Philly or places that are historically near a railroad or factory, … I think there is a lot of apprehension from people to plant or to start a garden because they’re nervous about the soil quality.”

Torres said they’re worried the new Agriculture Resource Center may be inaccessible for people without cars, but they’re “curious” to see how it develops.

Richards said that while tools and training are important, the center will not solve the biggest issue facing many gardens and farms in Philadelphia: secure, permanent access to the land they steward.

“Gardens and farms in our city need to be preserved,” they said. “Otherwise, this entire project is moot.”

Editor’s Note: The William Penn Foundation is a WHYY supporter. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey. PlanPhilly is a WHYY News brand.