The Hansberry Garden and Nature Center is holding its annual plant fair this Saturday. And this year, the Hansberry Garden & Nature Center will allow external vendors to participate.
Hansberry Garden & Nature Center grows community while providing a space where members can raise their own plants and food and strengthen their gardening skills. According to their website, it’s a “unique place where strangers grow into friends, seeds grow into flowers and food, and random individuals grow into a dedicated community.”
Aside from garden space, the center also serves as a community gathering place for plant sales, potlucks, workshops, and other events. They also partner with local elementary school John B. Kelly to run a farm stand that offers fresh produce to community members at low or no cost during growing seasons.
The annual plant fair has been running for more than a decade and extends the center’s mission to grow plants and community. Hansberry Garden and Nature Center President Claudia Ginanni says, “It’s a fundraiser for the garden, but it’s also a neighborhood event where people can meet each other and learn about plants and gardening.”
Ginanni says the expansion is a way to “provide a wider variety of plants and involve community partners.” There are six vendors expected for this year’s new addition of the plant sale:
- Plant and People: a West Philly Black women’s owned boutique offering house plants, supplies, and more
- Land Health Institute: a nonprofit working to restore connections between nature and people and revitalize urban land by making native plant species available
- Megan’s Bouquet Bar: offering bouquets
- Basement Growing: offering tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, and herbs
- Algorithm Vegan Grill: which will provide food–all plant-based–for fairgoers
- Weavers Way Food Coop: selling herbs, veggies, and flowers and offering information about their new Germantown location.
Of course, Hansberry Garden & Nature Center will still be selling its own items, including edible and ornamental plants donated by members and friends of the center as well as baked goods from their members.
This event is also suitable for folks looking for tips. Ginanni says, “There will be a number of experienced gardeners who can offer advice about gardening and revitalizing the urban landscape with plants.” Among these experienced gardeners includes a farmer from the Mort Brooks Memorial Farm farmer at Awbury Arboretum, who will help operate the Weavers Way stand.
Ginanni encourages neighbors to come out, saying, “The plant fair and bake sale is a great way to get to know your neighbors and find some new green friends to take home with you!”
The fair will happen on Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hansberry Garden & Nature Center at 5150 Wayne Avenue.
You May Also Like
