Grid Magazine August 2011 [#029]

↘ t o wa r d a

Sustainable Philadelphia

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take one!

The inside story of how Greensaw took the plunge and became an employee-owned co-op

august 2011 / issue 29 gridphilly.com

Love lightly

Shoots & Ladders

DIY organic bug spray Madame Fromage

One very sexy cheese Introducing

Tyler Talks Trash!

g rid ph illy.c o m august 2011 / i ssue 29

6 Green Living | Backyard help for black thumbs | Recycling Challenge: Printer Cartridges

34 Urban Naturalist Heinz Wildlife Refuge wages war on invasive Phragmites reeds

8 Energy | Get strategic to stay cool sans money-sucking AC

35 Shoots & Ladders Squashing bug problems in the veggie garden

10 Agriculture | Farming as therapy at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills 12 Food | Alexis Siemons turns farmers market finds into refreshing infusions | Cheese of the Month: Old Man Highlander 14 Community | Philly Stake Dinner feeds community engagement

38 Tyler Talks Trash Java jackets are no green sleeves 40 One on One Why kids need nature more than ever, and more, with the Schuylkill Center’s new Executive Director Mike Weilbacher 42 Events Film screenings, discount dining, food fundraisers and gardening workshops 46 Dispatch Bride-to-be Samantha Wittchen says no to the Wedding-Industrial Complex

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Banding Together

Greensaw takes the plunge into employeeowned co-op

23 Love, Lightly

Sustainable weddings from rings to honeymoons

cover p hoto by e m i ly w r en , w r e n a n d fie l d . c o m f lowers by lov e ‘n f r e s h flow er s , lov e n fr e s h flow e rs.c om

The Long and Winding Road

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an we get married again? That’s what I asked Ellen, my wife of not-quite two years, after reading our wedding package. Seeing the process outlined in these pages makes me wish I could take another crack at it, though I remember the hassle it was trying to organize such an epic undertaking. Bride-to-be Samantha Wittchen’s back page essay—equal parts cheerful and defiant—awakened those not-too-distant memories. Weddings can be a consumerist frenzy, and keeping the stuff (and other people’s expectations) from eclipsing what is really at the center of the day is no small task.

If sustainability is a consideration for you— and of course it is!—your wedding will be a balancing act. Can ideals and a budget both be maintained? The good news is that thriftiness and sustainability often go hand in hand. Identifying what you need, and what you can live without, will lead to fewer purchases and/or using what you already have. That’s a win for the environment and your bottom line.

But as you navigate the system with sustainability in mind, you realize that sometimes the better choice costs more. For example, Ellen and I wanted to limit the amount of waste our reception generated, but every caterer’s quote charged more for dishes and silverware than for disposable dishware. How can cleaning your dishes cost more than manufacturing something (probably overseas), shipping it, using it, throwing it away, hauling it to a landfill, and then burying or incinerating it? It assaults the sensibilities, but that’s the reality.

Then there are the delightful surprises. We actually saved money by choosing local flowers and doing some of the arranging ourselves. As you can see from the cover shot, flowers from Philadelphia and the Southeast, PA are as beautiful as those from anywhere in the world.

So, in the give and take world of sustainability and wedding planning, you need to prioritize. The big question is: who is going to get your money?

From there, the details follow. Is sacrificing the honeymoon flight worth it if you can support local farmers, have an organic cake, and buy a fancy bow tie made right here in Philadelphia?

publisher

Alex Mulcahy 215.625.9850 ext. 102 alex@gridphilly.com editor-in-chief

Brian Howard brian.howard@gridphilly.com interim managing editor

Felicia D’Ambrosio associate editor

Ariela Rose art director

Jamie Leary jamie@gridphilly.com designer

Melissa McFeeters distribution

Claire Connelly 215.625.9850 ext. 107 claire@gridphilly.com copy editor

Andrew Bonazelli production artist

Lucas Hardison writers

Bernard Brown Tenaya Darlington Claire McEachern Janina A. Larenas Alexis Siemons Yowei Shaw Char Vandermeer Tyler Weaver Samantha Wittchen interns

Kelly Clayton Liz Pacheco photographers

Lucas Hardison Dan Murphy Gene Smirnov Emily Wren illustrator

Good luck to you and your beloved as you make your choices, and here’s hoping these pages make your Big Day just a little easier.

Melissa McFeeters ad sales

Alex Mulcahy 215.625.9850 ext. 102 alex@gridphilly.com published by

Alex Mulcahy, Publisher alex@gridphilly.com

Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850 g r i d p h i l ly . c o m

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ph oto by ne l l hoving

“I never had any idea when we began this project that I would be looking at something so beautiful right now.”

820 North 4th Street

215.389.0786

Philadelphia, PA 19123

www.greensawdesign.com

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photography  Alison Conklin Photography  www.alisonconklin.com

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Green living

The Lawn

Goodbye

S

by samantha wittchen

Two options for turning your yard into a vegetable patch with minimal effort by felicia d’ambrosio

ucking water, sprouting dandelions and gleaming green as money in the summer sun, the archetypal suburban lawn is an all-around loser by sustainability standards. Replacing turf with an edible garden turns a liability into an asset, but it does require education, sweat and, most of all, time.

If converting a lawn yourself seems too daunting, horticulturalist Al Benner is keen to help. His company, Backyard Farmers, installs “turnkey, low-maintenance gardens of the highest quality,” complete with red cedar raised bed frames, stainless steel connectors and automatic drip irrigation systems on timers.

His crew evaluates a potential client’s site—you need at least six hours of sunshine a day to grow vegetables—be it a suburban lawn or flat urban roof.

“Raised beds have so many advantages to just digging up the grass and trying to plant a garden,” says Benner. “The soil warms faster in the spring; you have easier access to the plants—not bending so far; since the weed load is very light and you have drip irrigation, the labor is next to nothing.”

Backyard Farmers also sells DIY raised bed kits, and even systems to connect two 4’ x 8’ raised beds into a modular greenhouse that can keep you growing greens and coldweather crops through the winter.

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Still sound too labor-intensive? How about welcoming a land-less gardener into your backyard, and splitting the tasty returns?

Launched in April 2011, the Philadelphia iteration of sharingbackyards.com aims to connect green thumbs with green spaces.

Volunteer organizer Blake Cote, a young accountant from Vermont who lives in Wayne, stumbled upon the main site after reading a November 2010 Wall Street Journal article about yard-sharing.

“I live in an apartment and was looking for somewhere to garden,” says Cote.

“There wasn’t a page for Philly on the website, so I emailed the guy in the article and asked what I could do to get one set up in Philly… Sharing Backyards is not so much a middleman, but a way to facilitate connection.” And dinner.

For more on Backyard Farmers, visit backyardfarmers.com or call 888-544GROW. For more on Sharing Backyards, visit philly.sharingbackyards.com.

Printer Ink Cartridges The majority of an ink cartridge is recyclable. A full 80 percent is composed of plastic and metal. The rest is made up of other materials, such as rubber, paper, foam and toner. Roughly 97 percent of ink cartridges is reusable or recyclable. Additionally, the average ink cartridge requires almost a gallon of oil to produce, which adds to the overall environmental footprint of each cartridge.

facts

An estimated 375 million ink cartridges are disposed of each year in the U.S. That’s a lot of reusable material ending up in the landfill.

problem

There are a bunch of options out there for recycling inkjet and laser toner cartridges. Many office supply stores, like Staples, Office Depot and Office Max, offer recycling programs, and if you sign up for their rewards programs, you can get two to three bucks back for each cartridge you recycle. If you can’t make it to a store, type “printer ink cartridge recycling” into Google; you’ll get an avalanche of online outlets that’ll send you a check in exchange for your used cartridges. However, the price varies from place to place, and the most common cartridges may only snag you a few cents.

If you don’t care about getting rewarded for your good recycling deeds, you can drop off cartridges at the recycling station at any Target, or you can make use of a manufacturer take-back program. Many manufacturers, like Brother, Dell, HP, Konica, Lexmark and Xerox, take back cartridges, and the packaging of your replacement cartridge should tell you where to send the used one for recycling. And of course, you can maximize your green cred by thinking twice before you print something. Not only will you be extending the life of your print cartridge, but you’ll save a few trees, too.

solution

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Energy

Chill Out S

There are better ways to stay cool than running the AC all day by samantha wittchen

ummer in the city is tough, and those drippy boxes protruding from windows all over Philly are the most ubiquitous solution to beat the heat. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), air conditioners use about 5 percent of the total electricity produced in the United States, and cost homeowners and renters a cool $11 billion per year. While it’s true that the most stifling summer days might still require a boost of cold salvation from the ol’ window rattler, there are ways to keep cool for a good portion of the summer that require far less energy, and cost a lot less, too.

To help you understand how to cool more effectively, here’s a quick primer on how heat enters your house in the first place.

Heat is transferred to your home through three processes: 1. conduction (i.e., transferred through solid matter like walls, roofs and floors) 2. radiation (i.e., transferred via light, as through windows) 3. convection (i.e., via fluid matter like air)

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The amount of heat your house takes on through conduction varies with the amount of insulation you have, the reflectivity of your roof, and how energy-efficient your windows are.

Heating due to radiation is mostly influenced by your windows’ ability to block infrared radiation from the sun.

Convection heating has to do with how air moves through your house, carrying heat with it.

Combining methods to avoid heat build-up in your home with smart ventilation techniques is the cheapest and most energy-efficient way to cool it down.

Let’s start with avoiding heat gain. If you’re not a homeowner (and sometimes even if you are), you may have no control over the insulation in your walls and attic, or the construction of your roof, but you can still control the heat gain through your windows.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, on days when the outside temperature is going to exceed the temperature inside your house, close all windows and exterior doors to keep the cooler air in and the hotter air out. Adding window shades helps block the radiation heating from the sun, and if you go with insulated window shades, you can even reduce some of the conduction heat gain. Additionally, avoiding daytime household activities that generate heat, such as using your oven or running your dishwasher, can help reduce heat build-up.

The next piece of the puzzle is ventilation.

The goal is to control the way that hot air moves through, and ultimately leaves, your house. Window fans are an extremely effective and inexpensive way to do this. Once outside temperatures drop, place a fan in a window so that it exhausts trapped hot air to the outside, and tightly close all

windows near the fan. Open windows in rooms far from the exhaust fan (preferably on a shaded or north side of the house), and place another fan in one of the windows to draw in cooler air. If you live in a multi-story house or apartment, the exhaust fan should be on the upper level, and the intake fan should be on the lower level to compound the natural process of hot air rising, and creating a chimney effect in your home.

Now that you’re a natural cooling expert, it’s time for some bad news. Ventilation isn’t nearly as effective when the temperature swing between the day and night is small, like those 95-degree days when the thermometer never falls below 85 at night. For those days when you do need the AC, taking the time to right-size your window unit, performing routine maintenance on it—like cleaning the filter and coils—and forking over a little extra dough for an energy-efficient model can net you savings between 20 and 50 percent, according to the DOE. Purchasing an oversized air conditioner will not only cost you more upfront and in ongoing electric usage, but may not cool the space effectively. An air conditioner that’s too large for a space will cool the room quickly while only removing some of the humidity, leaving you with a clammy feeling.

Consumer Reports has an excellent online tool (consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heatingcooling-and-air/air-conditioners/sizing-worksheet/) to help you determine the proper window unit size based on a number of factors—the size of the room, the amount of insulation in your home, the number of interior and exterior walls, the cardinal direction the room faces, and the number and size of windows it has. You can then plug in your electric rate and see how the annual operating cost will vary based on the efficiency of the unit you purchase.

So, forget the shore—summer in the city just got a little cooler. samantha wittchen is partner and cofounder of iSpring (ispringassociates.com), a sustainability consulting firm serving companies and organizations in the Delaware and Lehigh valleys. i llust rat i on by meli ssa mcfe e te rs

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Agriculture

All Together Now

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Camphill Village Kimberton Hills promotes social renewal through biodynamic farming by ariela rose

an farming serve as therapy for those afflicted with cognitive disabilities? The answer’s not as far out there as you might think. In fact, it’s just an hour from the bustling streets of Philadelphia on the serene farmland of Chester County’s Camphill Village Kimberton Hills. The planned community is home to over 100 individuals, 40 of whom are diagnosed with a variety of cognitive disabilities—including autism, Down Syndrome and brain trauma. Rather than isolating those with special needs, the community’s success depends upon the interactions of all community members through biodynamic agriculture. In work teams, the residents of Kimberton Hills educate one another in daily give-and-take through which the term “disabled” becomes a misnomer.

Austrian pediatrician Karl Koenig established the first Camphill Village in Scotland during the 1940s as a social community where the abilities— and not the handicaps—of those diagnosed with special needs would be the focus. The movement has since spread to 100 villages in 20 countries on four continents, each one using agriculture as one form of therapy. At Kimberton Hills, the farm work has aided in easing the often-debilitating mental and physical ailments of residents, who are referred to as villagers.

Kimberton Hills’ combined 432 acres are divided between a 250-acre raw milk dairy, a 10to 15-acre CSA garden, a one-third-acre herb garden, a craft house, a wood shop, a cafe and 10

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shared group homes. Serene, blue mountains serve as backdrop to rolling hills and soil kept fertile through holistic land husbandry. It exudes a calm that explains why many of the villagers have stayed for more than two decades.

The land was a gift to the Camphill organization by Alaric and Mabel Pew Myrin, a couple passionate about biodynamics, a method ofsustainable farming that values land as a living organism. In that spirit, each of Camphill’s villagers are given a job on the farm that connects them with the land. Work teams of villagers are guided by long- and short-term volunteers with whom they also share group homes. Rather than a formal work-training program, villagers gain

skills through daily repetition.

“The simplest way to put it,” says Bernadette Kovaleski, Kimberton Hills’ development and PR director, “is that a healthy environment includes the people, the land, the animals, the food that you’re growing, the air that you breathe, the complete circle around you.”

Residents may plant in the 150-member CSA garden, care for golden brown cows at the dairy, bake breads in the cafe’s wood-fired oven and more. The rhythm of daily activities is guided by the biodynamic principle of a self-regulating ecosystem that supports the farm and its local community. Kimberton Hills relies heavily on the fruits of its residents’ labor to not only support village life, but also to supply raw milk to neighboring businesses Kimberton Whole Foods and Seven Stars Farm.

“What we especially like is that for the people with disabilities who are living here, it’s not that we’re providing a service or program for them,” says Kovaleski. “They’re making just as much of a difference in the world as anyone else. It’s a great model to show what is possible.”

To learn how to volunteer or to join the community, visit camphillkimberton.org.

Riding SEPTA lowers pollution.

Go ahead, get moving.

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food

Steeped Summer Sips

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or locavores, the morning moments spent at Philadelphia farmers Revive with cool fruity markets can be defined as delicious bliss. When the temperatures hit their infusions, fresh from harshest levels this summer, chill out by turning the local bounty found the farmers market at the market into refreshing summer sips that don’t rely on tea or citrus shipped by alexis siemons from miles and continents away.

With an open mind and an empty basket, let the market inspire an aromatic blend of juicy fruit and vibrant herbs. All it takes is a wooden spoon, a handful of herbs, and a pitcher of sliced fruit and water to craft a signature, seasonal infusion.

Start with 4 cups of ruby red watermelon, 2 cups of fresh mint and 1 cup of savory basil. If you’re seeking a more sophisticated drink, combine 1 cup of woodsy rosemary, 1 cup lavender blossoms and 4 delicate peaches. Simply add the herbs to a large pitcher (66 oz.) and muddle with a wooden spoon; add your sliced fruit and fill with water. Shake well and store in the refrigerator for at least eight hours to infuse. To serve, strain out fruit and herbs, pour over ice and garnish with herb sprigs.

For a sweeter effect, add lavender or mint simple syrup to taste (Learn the method on p.

30). Pair the simple syrups with the farmers market infusions and savor your signature sips all season long. 

cheese of the month

Old Man Highlander

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alkins creamery in honesdale makes a brie-style cheese called Noble Road that has garnered a cult following. But the creamery also produces a Gouda-style heartthrob with a nutty swagger, which is just as fabulous. If Robert Redford were a cheese, he’d be this one. Old Man Highlander even has a leathery exterior. Inside though, it’s all walnuts and sweet cream, thanks to the unpasteurized milk of Delaware River Valley Holsteins.

Husband and wife Jay Montgomery and Emily Bryant make Old Man Highlander on their family farm, which has sustained five generations. This summer, they’re offering half-day farm tours that include lunch and a visit to the underground cave where Old Man Highlander ages for nine months. You can also see some of the creamery’s other styles, like Cowtipper (a Gouda washed in Yuengling Porter) and Misty Morning (a Welsh cheddar).

For summer, Old Man Highlander works a picnic like no other wedge. It loves the heat and grows melty, sensuous.

Pack a loaf of rustic bread and some cold nut brown ales.

Then hit the beach or the Mann Center. If you want a preview nibble, order the cheese plate at Supper, 926 South St. —Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage, madamefromage.blogspot.com

Old Man Highlander is available from the online store at Calkins Creamery or at Di Bruno Bros. (930 S. Ninth St.) Calkins Creamery, 288 Calkins Rd., Honesdale, 570-729-8103; calkinscreamery.com 12

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Beekman’s

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C.O.P.A. Soaps

438 East Girard Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19125

215-426-5594 www.copasoaps.com copasoaps@comcast.net M-F 10-4 (Call to Confirm)

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Beekman’s C.O.P.A. Soaps are handmade in Fishtown.

Our cold-processed soaps are all natural, made from Coconut, Olive, Palm & Almond Oils and pure aromatheraphy-grade Essential Oils.

Order on-line or stop by our shop.

restaurant

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open seven days brunch • lunch • dinner late night • catering private dining

Hours subject to change, so please call ahead.

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All weddings are special – we’ll make it unique!

Make it local.

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Farmstand Hours: Thursday • 2pm–7pm Saturday • 10am–3pm

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Nursery Hours: Wed–Sat • 10am–5pm Sunday • 10am–4pm

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2501 E. Cumberland Street • Philadelphia, PA 19125 www.greensgrow.org

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community

Raising the Stakes

Communal meals fund community-minded projects by liz pacheco

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here are so many creative individuals and groups in Philadelphia,” says Theresa Rose, founder of Philly Stake, “but their grassroots organizations have few ways to get funding, especially on a small level.” Rose credits Philly Stake’s success to its ability to fill this unique niche: boosting community-based projects with recurring fundraising events centered around a locally-sourced meal.

Philly Stake is based on Sunday Soup, a model for funding small to medium-sized projects through a community meal. Interested people come together, a meal is sold at a reasonable price, and the proceeds fund a community project. There are more than 40 groups like this around the world, including Milan, Italy and Kiev, Ukraine.

After attending Sunday Soup dinners in Chicago and similar FEAST (Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics) events in Brooklyn, Rose was inspired to bring the micro-granting model to Philadelphia. And while Philly Stake follows the Sunday Soup and FEAST model, the name change is important.

“There was a sense of wanting to own the project and root it here,” explains Kate Strathmann, one of Philly Stake’s 15 volunteer organizers. “Ours is a little more food-oriented and a little more community engagement-oriented.

We wanted to reflect that in the name.”

stake dinner

(below) The winter dinner menu, artfully inscribed on a paper table cover; (right) grant winners from Refugee Urban Farm pose with event organizers; (far right) organizer team member Cindy Stockton-Moore chops squash in the Stake kitchen.

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With the help of countless volunteers and a grant from the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, part of the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Rose had the manpower and capital to hold the first event in September 2010. One hundred and fifty guests attended and a $900 project grant was awarded to urban farm group Philly Rooted.

The second dinner, held in January, had to turn attendees away at the door. Three grants were awarded: one for $1,000 to Refugee Urban Farm and two for $400 to the Recycled Artist-in-Residency Program and Warrior Writers.

The third Stake, planned for July 17, is expected to be even larger. Historic Bartram’s Garden has donated use of their outdoor space to host a

picnic supper.

In June, a call for creative project proposals was made. At the July dinner, 10 will be presented and attendees will vote on their choices; the winner or winners of the evening will leave that night with their micro-grant. Past proposals have included urban farming, line dancing for breast cancer awareness, beekeeping and creative writing workshops, among others.

“We had never done anything quite like [Philly Stake],” said Fern Gookin, of the Recycled ArtistIn-Residency Program (RAIR), which received a $400 grant at the second dinner. Compared with written grants, Gookin said their Philly Stake proposal really allowed their passion for RAIR to come through.

As Rose, Strathmann and Gookin all explain, the dinner is more than having a winner and awarding money. Creative community projects, which may otherwise be unknown, are given an audience for a night. Connections are made and creative collaborations are inspired. “If you don’t have a platform for people to get together and share things,” said Rose, “they don’t know these things are happening.”

For more information about Philly Stake, past project proposals, and how to volunteer visit phillystake.org. The July 17 dinner will be held at Bartram’s Garden from 5-8 p.m. Tickets available at the door, at Shot Tower Coffee (542 Christian St.) or online at GRID’s store, store.gridphilly.com

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strength in numbers

The Greensaw crew co-operating with the camera. (Top Row) David Wing, Ginni Stiles, Dan Stanislaw, Jon Mosca.

(Second Row) Reed Anderson, Joe Kasztelan, Niko Dyshniku. (Third Row) Caleb Ransom, Samir Patel, Jason Pemberton, Chris Blumberg. (Bottom Row) Max Pollock, Heath Missimer, Marsha Martin, Brendan Jones.

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story by yowei shaw | photos by dan murphy

Cutting-edge architectural salvage company Greensaw has taken the bold step of becoming an employee-owned co-op. Will the risky move pay off?

Banding Together

Can one imagine an economy in which labor hires capital? Where workers have a legal right to the profits and legal responsibility for the liabilities because they are the owners, where workers jointly manage the firm and themselves in a democratic fashion?

—william greider, national correspondent for The Nation, in his introduction to The Real World of Employee Ownership

O

n a b lust e r i n g snowy weekend in late January, a group of men and women gathered in front of a bedsheet and projector in a timber-framed cabin in Eagles Mere, Pa., to discuss how to become a cooperatively owned business. In between breaks for venison stew, toboggan sledding and heating snow for water, those in attendance heard impassioned speeches about governance and power. Debates over fairness, dignity, and responsibility flared

and simmered. A sample policy and procedures manual was presented and picked apart as each person was asked to truly consider Greider’s question.

Over the past several months, the 15 employees of Greensaw Design & Build have decided—for better or worse—to answer yes to Greider’s call to action. The small Northern Liberties architectural salvage construction company has set out to become one of an estimated 300 worker cooperatives in the country and what the

employees call “Philadelphia’s first new-generation co-op.”

“It’s a huge risk,” says Brendan Jones, Greensaw’s former sole owner. “The thing with a co-op is that they’re significantly more profitable than regular businesses. But those are only the ones that work.”

Built from scratch by Jones in 2006, Greensaw is known for transforming salvaged materials into immaculately elegant, handcrafted and sometimes funky coffee tables, kitchens and houses.

But in one of the worst economic

periods for the hard-hit construction industry, the stakes for everyone involved are high—financially and philosophically.

Greensaw—a rapidly expanding company with slim profits and growing pains—is betting on a vision it believes in: that workers should be able to have a say and earn more than just an hourly wage.

But if the company fails in the process, Jones’ “life’s work” may go down the drain, and all of Greensaw’s employees with it.

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a

center city philadelphia native with the build of a lumberjack and a soft, drooping voice, Jones discovered his love for architectural salvage at a family-owned Eagles Mere cabin that used to be a horse carriage. As a kid, he scoured the surrounding woods, collecting bricks, glasses, pots and other remnants of the Raymond hotel that once stood near the site.

His first real construction gig came in the summer after his freshman year of college; Jones fled school and a girlfriend to live in a small fishing town in southeastern Alaska, where he built himself a little lean-to in the woods.

Over the next decade, after eventually finishing school, Jones—a writer and French and English literature graduate of Oxford— continued to build things while writing on the side. He apprenticed at an Alaskan carpenters union, worked on barn-building crews in Kentucky, California and Michigan, and built homes in Nantucket, Vermont and New Hampshire, among other jobs.

In 2006, he returned to Philadelphia and, on Craigslist, offered his carpentry services in exchange for room and board. Jones renovated a woman’s bathroom in Overbrook using old materials at her request.

Then something clicked.

“Salvaged material doesn’t cost anything,” says Jones. There was an awful lot of it in Philadelphia, and the writer in him was deeply attracted to the stories behind the material.

Do You Want to Become a Co-op?

Alex Moss is co-founder of Praxis Consulting Group, which advises companies interested in creating employee-focused work environments. He suggests four important questions to ask when considering this kind of step.

1

What are the business owner’s goals?

Is the owner trying to sell stock and get cash, or does the owner want to provide ownership for employees as part of their payroll?

2

Will the business abide by the seven principles of a co-op—specifically, democratic member control (one member, one vote)?

3

What is the competitive advantage to being a co-op? Will the business run better as a co-op? Is the business more likely to survive and succeed?

is going to run the co-op? Are 4 Who the leaders culturally attuned and

aligned with the spirit of managing a cooperative?

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The greatest secret about Greensaw becoming

a co-op is that nothing’s really going to change.

—brendan jones

He set up shop, originally calling his company Bluesaw. Then, after recognizing the business’ s inherent sustainability, he changed it to Greensaw, with a motto of “Reclaiming Green.”

Though the company’s path to success has been rocky—during the height of the recession in 2008, Jones had to lay off all four of his thenemployees—the small company has tripled its revenue in the last three years and is on track to do more than a million and half dollars in business in 2011.

B

u t Jo n e s—w h o’ d a l r e a dy begun leaving on month-long writing excursions and vacations in Cuba—itched to return to Alaska to finish his second novel and work on a tugboat he’d bought from a friend. He was reluctant to sell the business.

“At best, the culture would have been watered down,” Jones says. “At worst, everybody would just have walked and there wouldn’t be a Geensaw anymore.”

Last fall, Jones read a B-Lab newsletter profiling John Abrams and his South Mountain Company’s experience of becoming a worker-owned cooperative on Martha’s Vineyard. Here was a solution that would allow him to go back to Alaska while continuing Greensaw and giving his employees the chance to reap the benefits of a company they already ran.

“Everyone’s been working cooperatively for so long,” says Jones, who describes his team as “somewhere between a bunch of Navy Seals, traveling dance company and a knitting club.”

He bought Abrams’ book The Company We Keep,, and began discussing employee ownership with local attorney and financial advisor Jim Steiker, Alex Moss from Praxis Consulting, and the owners of Bensonwood, a New Hampshire timber-framing worker cooperative Jones worked for briefly.

It seemed like a natural fit. With a structure that allows five project managers to make executive decisions about everything from design and working on site to speaking with clients and invoicing, Greensaw’s day-to-day decisions are never made unilaterally.

“The greatest secret about Greensaw becoming a co-op,” says Jones, “is that nothing’s really going to change.”

J

ones publicly mentioned the co-op idea for the first time at a company meeting to mainly blank stares.

He assigned The Company We Keep as unofficial homework and formed a Founder’s Committee, charged with the task of investigating further.

For a while, copies of the book floated through the shop and Abrams’ speeches played during lunch on computers or through ear buds while employees sanded wood.

Ginni Stiles, Greensaw’s business manager, was immediately excited by the model. For most employees in most companies, “you don’t have a say. You simply do what you’re told,” says Stiles, who spent her formative years attending Glenmoore’s Upattinas School, where everyone from kindergarteners to the most senior staff make collaborative decisions, such as the cafeteria’s lunch menu. “To have a structure in place where you do vote on the things that affect you, it honors a basic human right.”

Even those who aren’t pursuing ownership in the immediate future are excited for the possibilities. Carpenter and former intern Samir Patel is thinking about going back to architecture school then, returning to Greensaw to become an employee-owner. In the meantime, Patel sees the co-op as an opportunity to move the company in a new direction. Patel is the unofficial head of Greensaw’s community service arm, whose most recent pro bono project involved building a timber frame structure for the Kensington Compost Co-op with other Greensaw volunteers. With the co-op, he says, “people’s personalities and their goals will shine a little bit more.”

Project manager Jason Pemberton believes it is a change that needed to happen. “Through the co-op, there’s a way for us all to shine,” says Pemberton, who cited the company’s current website as an example of insufficient recognition to the group of “diverse, highly educated, overqualified people” making Greensaw successful. “We’re all type-A people. We all could probably own our own company if we wanted to… So why not allow us to run it the way we believe and know we can?”

For others, the co-op model simply made good business sense. “It’s not just this altruistic thing where a bunch of hippies dance around smoking weed and want something good to happen,” says project manager David Wing, who joined Greensaw in 2008 and paints in his art studio above company headquarters. For Wing, in addition

to incentivizing worker productivity and efficiency, worker cooperatives can also encourage employee retention – a lesson he took from Abrams’ book. In the instructive tale, Abrams’ ’s father starts his own hardware store after being refused a raise from his boss. He’s successful, puts his former boss out of business, and then repeats the very same mistake with two young, valuable employees.

E

ven after several founder’s Committee sessions and a co-op retreat, most of the hard work and questions remained: How does one become an employee-owner?

Who’s allowed to become one?

What will the cooperative entity look like?

How will it buy the business from Jones?

How much is the company worth?

How will the cooperative be governed?

Greensaw would have been entirely unable to answer these questions or afford the co-op conversion, says Jones, without the pro bono help of Jim Steiker, the Penn Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, and financial consultant Terrence Buckley.

But it wasn’t just a matter of legalese and accounting—it was also deeply personal.

“The whole process has been like a 360 degree peer review,” says Jones, who still plans to work part-time for Greensaw as an employee-owner in Alaska and Philadelphia, writing promotional materials, finding clients and acting as a salesman. “It puts a lot of people’s dirty laundry out there.”

In a French café near the company’s headquarters one afternoon in March, Jones had delivered a rousing “trust me” speech, defending his integrity and commitment to the company in response to the suggestion that he had a conflict of interest in deciding what to do with annual profits—reinvest in tools versus getting his installment of the company’s buyout.

Eventually, the Founder’s Committee agreed on a $100,000 payment to Jones for Greensaw—tied to the company’s profitability; an employee-owner buyin amount of $3,500 made in annual installments of $500; and a “farmer in the dell” method of choosing new co-op members, where current owners build consensus to invite the next member. A board of directors, elected by the employee-owners, would make business decisions, with employee-owners each having one vote and membership share and the final say altogether.

Still, the most important question remained: Who exactly should become the founding members of Greensaw Co-op?

This would prove to be a complicated question, exemplified by two Greensaw employees under consideration. Project manager Niko Dyshniku was considered a strong candidate. He had contributed significant work to Greensaw, but his plans to attend graduate school and concern over the deep level of

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commitment required gave him pause.

Stiles, who came to Greensaw less than a year ago, was the other most likely potential employee-owner, but her short tenure with the company raised concerns about her suitability as a founding member of the co-op. The café meeting had come to an uncomfortable standstill after Jones said he wouldn’t go forward with the coop transition unless Stiles, Greensaw’s business manager, was one of the founding members.

There was also the basic challenge of carving time out of the day for working on the co-op transition, a task piled on top of everyone’s normal job duties. And with a busy summer of jobs lined up, others were worried that the co-op would affect Greensaw’s actual business.

“I think overall the idea is great, but I’m not 100 percent sure the timing is right,” says Dyshniku. “I’m afraid as soon as everything comes together, something clips it,” snapping his finger. masters of ceremony

(clockwise from top left) Judy Wicks and keynote speaker John Abrams look on; Greensaw's postinauguration festivities; founder Brendan Jones; Greensaw Co-op's mission statement is presented;.

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he day of the inauguration ceremony, Greensaw’s workshop was transformed. After four hours of moving tools and sweeping sawdust, employees had put together a makeshift stage and propped together rows of pews with wooden planks that were waiting to be worked into projects.

“I couldn’t miss today,” said South Mountain Company’s John Abrams, through a mouthful of roasted root salad. The author of what Jones calls Greensaw’s “Bible” had just flown in from Martha’s Vineyard for the night. This was perhaps the sixth co-op kickoff Abrams had ever attended—a process he undertook with his own design-build company 22 years ago. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I thought we were confirming something that already was. And nothing could have been further from the truth.”

An hour before the scheduled ceremony, it had still not been decided who would be the founding members of the co-op.

Abrams delivered his keynote speech under darkening skies, and finally, Brendan Jones and David Wing ascended the stage as the co-op’s

founding members, to sign a mission statement printed in vaguely 18th century font. Then, in cold-call fashion, the other employees were also summoned to the stage to sign the document declaring Greensaw Co-op into being.

The pews, heartfelt declarations, last-minute negotiations and airy, white button-up Jones wore recalled the blushing, anxious formality of a wedding ceremony. But in reality, the co-op kickoff was more like an engagement party— with tentative promises made and nothing yet in legal writing.

“There’s lots and lots of things left to think about and negotiate,” says Wing. “Niko and I have been talking about part of the buy-out of Brendan being the fact that everybody in this company has put in so many amounts of volunteer hours to keep this successful”—something they hadn’t yet mentioned to Jones.

A month later, Dyshniku had backed out to take more time and think and Stiles had not been asked to join—she and Wing had agreed to wait a few more months. But the papers were finally signed. Now on his way to Alaska, Jones had officially transferred ownership of Green-

ph otos by C h ri s Blu mbe rg

saw to another entity, of which he and Wing were employee-owners.

“I was hoping to have another person besides just Brendan right at the beginning,” says Wing, who plans with Jones to invite more employeeowners once Greensaw makes it through the hectic summer. “It seems a bit like shooting from the hip…

Hopefully the strongest person around will want to say yes and jump in full force.”

“Three other folks are in line,” adds Jones, “and we hope to have four or five on by September.”

For Jones—though he will miss having the final word and the liberty of a company truck and phone—the main challenge will be learning to step back and unbraid himself from the company he had built. A few weeks earlier, Jones spent a few hours spray-painting his tools a light blue, to separate them from Greensaw’s.

“It’s going to be a mind-bender for sure, and it already is,” says Jones. “It’s kind of like raising a kid in the woods in a cabin, and then all of a sudden flying to some African village, and then that kid becomes the property of the entire village.”

In the meantime, he’s crossing his fingers that Greensaw gets raised right. 

A Brief History of Cooperative Ownership Greensaw is far from the first company to experiment with employee ownership, with various forms going back to the Industrial Revolution and artisanal cooperatives of 19th century England. wToday, the U.S. is really the only country with significant tax incentives for employee ownership — though those are largely given to employee stock-ownership plans (ESOPs), where employees own stock in the company and generally have less say in governance than in worker cooperatives. Not surprisingly, worker cooperatives have been far outpaced by ESOPs with over 13 million American participants. A small cooperative movement did, however, exist in the country in the 1970s and ’80s.

Philadelphia saw O&O Supermarkets, a series of worker cooperatives organized to resist being shut down by A&P Supermarkets in the ’80s; and Omega Press, a women-owned printing press. The city also had its very own nonprofit, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Enterprise (PACE), that promoted employee ownership as a deliberate strategy before going out of business in the late ’80s. But very few in Philadelphia have survived, such as Childspace Daycare Center in Mt. Airy and Home Care Associates in Center City.

Fact is, cooperatives tend to be small businesses, which tend to be risky — not to mention the obvious difficulty of trying something simply different. “One would like to think,” says Jim Steiker, an attorney and financial advisor specializing in employee ownership, “that the fact that there’s a lot of people who are now invested and care deeply about how [well] this business does makes it a little bit more likely to succeed, but that by itself is not going to do it.” —Y.S.

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You might think the hard work of finding true love would be over once

the knee is bent and that special someone says “yes.” Though agreeing to lifetime commitment is a major accomplishment, planning the wedding that marks it can seem an insurmountable—and hellaciously wasteful— mountain to climb. Despite the wedding-industrial complex’s mission to convince you otherwise, there are myriad ways to maintain environmental values without sacrificing elegance or entering indentured servitude to your credit card balance. In these pages, find nonprofit natural venues, no-waste caterers and local flower farms all ready to help you create a day that’s more about love, and less about stuff. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

Something Gold to Something New Anna Bario and Page Neal are in the business of turning sparkly daydreams

into reality, with lessened impact on people and planet. From their BarioNeal studio/shop in Queen Village, they handcraft fine jewelry from conflictfree gems and reclaimed precious metals, both from their own designs and custom orders. The pair will also melt down and refashion old rings, gold fillings, mateless earrings and broken jewelry into new engagement or wedding rings, often featuring heirloom stones from a couple’s family. “Family members often have things lying around that make great wedding bands, and they love to contribute,” says Bario. “It’s a sort of ‘community mining.’”

Pun intended. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

Bario-Neal, 700 S. Sixth St., 215-454-2164, bario-neal.com

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Please Reply ending unique, functional and eco-friendly

invitations can be surprisingly simple. Look for recycled, handmade or plant-based paper and vegetable- or soy-based ink. Postcards or single sheet (folded and sent) invitations are easy ways to eliminate envelope waste.

For a local invitation source, check out the Papery (57 N. Third St., 215-922-1500) in Old City or Paper on Pine (115 S. 13th St., 215-625-0100). The Papery does in-house printing and stocks both Crane (crane.com) and Smock (smockpaper.com) brands, both of which offer sustainable options.

Crane uses 100 percent cotton paper, and Smock is an all-around eco-friendly Hankerchief vendor and printer—as well as invites by Bird the first and only to sell bamand Banner. boo paper. Paper on Pine also

prints in-house, and offers Crane as well as Waste Not Paper (wastenotpaper.com), made from recycled card stock.

You can eliminate paper entirely by using Evite. com, a free invite service with wedding-themed templates; myinvitationlink.com allows couples to upload photos and music to create a personalized invitation slideshow for a moderate price.

If a web-based invite feels a bit cold for you, check out Philadelphia-based Bird and Banner (birdandbanner.com) for a genuinely custom approach. Founders Nicole and Erin are graphic designers whose invites stay true to the personality

and style of their clients, often becoming keepsakes for guests as well as the affianced. They use only 100 percent cotton paper and corn- and soybased inks. Many of their projects involve recycled or found materials, like flea market handkerchiefs or compostable wood cards. —Liz Pacheco

Each One Cook One They say practice makes perfect, so a quick run-through of the show before the big day is a must. Make sure everyone

knows their lines and places, but don’t spend a fortune on a restaurant dinner. Instead, ask a friend with a sweet place to host your rehearsal dinner as their wedding gift, and ask attendees to bring a dish that is special to them, as well as an index card with the recipe for their dish. It’s low-stress, low-cost, and will fill your first recipe box as a couple with the makings of cherished foods from your favorite people. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

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Sugar Crash With prices for commodities like butter, sugar and flour steadily rising, a picture-perfect castle of wedding cake can carry a steep price tag, especially when made with organic and local ingredients.

If you still lust for a traditional tower, look to a local bakery with lots of experience working with organic flour and sugar, like Lotus Cake Studio (lotuscakestudio. com). Though they don’t make organic cakes, Night Kitchen Bakery (nightkitchenbakery.com) practices sustainability with a comprehensive recycling program, composting of food scraps and rain harvesting. Ask your baker for local fruits, herbs and flowers, and Fair Trade chocolate and nuts for garnishes as nice to eat as to admire; or just chuck it all and order up an array of seasonal fruit pies or a cool ice cream bar from your local favorite. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

Dishing it Out ith so much excellent grub being produced all around our city, building your wedding menu with seasonal foods has never been easier—or more delicious. Jennifer McCafferty holds sustainability as the core value of JPM Catering, based out of a Manayunk kitchen and serving the city and Main Line. Biodegradable or reusable containers and service ware, along with thorough recycling and composting, means McCafferty offers nearly no-waste events featuring seasonal dishes sourced within 100 miles of Philadelphia.

“We get all of our meats from Lancaster Farm Fresh,” she says. “Grass-fed meat and butter is so much more environmentally friendly… clients win with that—and it tastes so much better.”

Other tuned-in caterers include 12th Street Catering, who offer a sustainable fish station that reflects the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Sustainable Business Network members include Cosmic Catering, who source the majority of their ingredients from the Farm Fresh for Chefs cooperative, and Feast Your Eyes Catering. FYE owner Lynn Buono not only keeps it local at the table, but brings cooking classes to Martin Luther King High School students—and students to farms—as a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. South Philly-based

Birch Tree Catering espouses creativity as the antidote to expense; chef Rasa Stirbys Benefico even used a fallen tree in her backyard to make centerpieces for her own wedding. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

JPM Catering: settings, grass-fed lamb and living centerpieces

Check out the Wedding Directory on p. 33 to connect with sustainable caterers.

Snap Decision Lights, camera, “I do.” According to greenerphotography.org, over 16.5 billion pictures were

printed in the U.S. in 2008. That accounts for photography’s largest ecological footprint ever, even when you consider the prevalence of digital photography. Local professionals can reduce their impact by offering online booking and look books, recycling electronic waste and printing on recycled paper. To engage family and friends in memory-making without throwing away all those disposable cameras, the Wedding Lens allows family and friends to upload their photos from the wedding all in one place. No registration is required, and bulk uploading is easy enough even for the tech-challenged: Guests can even choose pictures to print right from the website.

Just give guests the web address, and they become your photographers. —Kelly Clayton

Visit greenerphotography.com to find a wedding photographer; visit theweddinglens.com for more information on setting up your own crowd-sourced photo site ($48).

Dogwood flower cake by Night Kitchen bakery

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Change of Venue hen choosing a wedding venue, consider parks, private gardens, local farms and even friends’ backyards before looking to conventional hotels and ballrooms. Facility rental fees paid to nonprofit organizations can benefit historical or environmental preservation and programming. For a winter wedding, investigate outdoor spaces with indoor counterparts, or seek out venues with environmental building credentials. —Liz Pacheco

Horticulture Center at Fairmount Park Formerly the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition’s Horticultural Hall, the current center and accompanying greenhouse were built in 1976 for the Bicentennial celebration. The site hosts an extensive collection of plants, including a Japanese maple collection, butterfly garden, 20-plus-acre arboretum and tropical plant greenhouse ideal for winter weddings. Couples can also plant a tree in the park honoring their wedding.

Starr Restaurants Catering is the exclusive caterer; rental fees benefit Fairmount Park Conservancy.

North Horticultural Dr. and Montgomery Ave., 267-886-1472, fairmountpark.org/hortcenter.asp

Hotel Palomar This luxury hotel in Rittenhouse Square boasts LEED Gold Certified credentials and green features like water and energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly building materials and furnishing. Couples can opt for sustainable, local centerpieces or nothing at all, and discounts are offered for eco-friendly transportation. Catering is provided by Square 1682, the hotel’s upscale eco-centric eatery. Blocks of rooms can also be arranged for guests.

117 S. 17th St., 888-725-1778, hotelpalomar-philadelphia.com

Bartram’s Garden The oldest living botanic garden in the nation, Bartram’s is minutes from historic Philadelphia. The 45-acre garden has a wildflower meadow, river trail and wetland.

Ceremonies are held in the Common Flower Garden, with indoor receptions in the barn and coach house. Rental fees benefit the nonprofit John Bartram Association.

54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281, ext. 100 (Andrea Taylor), bartramsgarden.org

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Laurita Winery Once a dairy and horse farm, Laurita is now a commerical winery and Healing Spirits spa.

About an hour from Philadelphia, the winery is built from recycled and reclaimed materials, and solar-powered. Irrigation maximizes water retention and conservation. Inside and outside spaces are available for ceremonies and receptions with catering by Conroy Catering.

35 Archertown Rd., New Egypt, N.J., 609.758.8000, lauritawinery.com

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve The setting of our cover shoot is home to the Captain James Moore Pavilion, which accomodates up to 100 people, on its scenic, wildflower-filled grounds. Twelve picnic tables and a wood-burning fireplace add to the rustic charm; rental fees fund environmental education programs for adults and children, as well as native plant conservation.

1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa., 215-862-2924 (Joyce Burian), bhwp.org

Something

Old Whether your inspiration is Gatsby’s Daisy and her flapper frocks, the tightly cinched cotillion dresses of the ’50s or a flowing flower-child number, brides seeking upcycled, eraappropriate wedding attire will find dress destiny among Mill Crest Vintage’s collection of 19th- and 20th-century gowns and party dresses.

Owner Paula Cooperman has been collecting vintage garments for 35 years, and does much of the scouring herself.

Coopeman’s handpicked inventory is housed in the Lambertville boutique’s bridal salon along with a plethora of vintage accessories—shoes, veils, jewelry and tiaras. Every inch of the 300 square foot salon is lined with dresses; an astonishing sea of lace, ruffles and tulle that threatens to burst forth from tightly-squeezed racks. The selection offers conscious brides a unique chance to select a one-of-a-kind dress and honor their environmental commitments .

Repurposing previously worn special-occasion clothes keeps usable apparel out of landfills and has a much smaller impact than ordering a new dress mass-produced in a factory, possibly thousands of miles away. Mill Crest has an on-site vintage costume restoration specialist on hand to make custom alterations, using only vintage fabric, buttons and other materials. The shop also stocks day, evening and prom dresses, as well as suits, outerwear and children’s clothing. Brides interested in perusing the 2,000-piece collection should call ahead to book their private two- to three-hour appointment. Transformation awaits.

—Ariela Rose

Mill Crest Vintage, 72 Bridge St., Lambertville, N.J., 609-397-4700, millcrestvintage.com

LEFT: 1950’s Chiffon

Grace Kelley Inspired Tea Length Wedding Dress from Mill Crest Vintage. BELOW: Amber Gingham bowtie from the FORAGE collection; boutonnière by Love ‘n Fresh Flowers

Tie One On Better known for their whimsical mustache-on-a-stick hand-held disguises, design duo Something’s Hiding in Here are currently spending their time creating funky bow ties using found vintage fabrics in a rainbow of colors and patterns.

Stephen Loidolt and Shauna Alterio create their FORAGE bow ties (named for the process of hunting down perfect material) in the tire factory-turned-loft they call home. Completely involved in every process of manufacturing, Loidolt and Alterio select, cut and sew the selected fabric into a statement accessory for the dapper lad or lady. Once the ties themselves are created, they letterpress each tag and package the ties in handprinted, vintage-style boxes. If you’re keen on smart dressing beyond the big day, pair your limited-edition bow tie with a well-made suit that will come in handy long after the wedding vows are exchanged. If you don’t see a formal occasion in your near, post-wedding future, rent a suit or tuxedo instead. —A.R.

Shop the FORAGE collection at forage.bigcartel.com.

photos by e m i ly wr e n

Our wedding photoshoot was a bit of a dry run for models Rick Banister and Ada Egloff; the pair are taking the plunge in real life this July 30.

Egloff, who owns and operates Oma Vintage on Etsy.com, will be wearing a 1940s eyelet number reworked by her designer sister. Ah, love.

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Bouquets You Won’t Want to Toss hough pretty to look at and nicer to sniff,

Late Spring

Late Summer

stroll through the gardens and select their own blend of flowers and accents. With enough notice, Hicks will even grow special varieties for the celebration. Or cross the river to Alan’s Flower Farm (alansflowerfarm.com, 609-291-8210) in Chesterfield, N.J., which cultivates native and exotic species on 35 acres: elegant bells of Ireland, showy snapdragons and fragrant hesperis are grown and cut from mid-May through October.

Not looking for a hands-on experience? Try an eco-friendly florist like Hana & Posy (hanaposy. com, 215-733-0505) in Old City. Since their carefully selected growers offer Veriflora or USDAcertified organic blooms, brides can expect a wide selection of responsible, Autumn beautiful choices. Florists (Sept. - Dec.) can also help design living -Dahlias centerpieces—a good alternative for a winter wed-Broom Corn ding—that can be kept or -Asters donated after the event.

Winter —Claire McEachern

(mid-May - June)

(July - Sept.)

(Dec. - March)

the iconic rose is, simply put, not a sustainable flower. While some organic options do exist, the species’ vulnerability to insect problems means growers often employ energy-intensive growing conditions and pesticides. Luckily, the fertile Delaware Valley offers many alternatives to keep nuptial blossoms green.

If 100 percent organic, local and seasonal picks are essential, take a trip to Harmony Hill Gardens (harmonyhillgardens.com, 215-997-5005) in Sellersville, Pa. Owner Lyn Hicks invites couples to

Love’s top Seasonal picks Early Spring

Early Summer

(March - early May)

(June - July)

-Ranunculus -Anemone -Tulip

-Peonies -Nigella -Flowering oregano

-Queen Anne’s Lace -Hydrangea -Dianthus

-Lisianthus -Zinnias -Eryingium

Build-ABouquet Local florist Jennie Love of Love ‘N Fresh Flowers teaches you to create a bouquet of bright, homegrown blooms.

Step 1 Prep flowers On a large work surface, lay out all the flowers you want to use, keeping them in single-variety piles. The amount will depend on the size of the flowers you select. Use at least 20, and as many as 50. Strip the leaves off all stems. Have scissors, a rubber band, florist tape, ribbon, and pins or glue at the ready.

-Hellebore -Cotton Bolls -Dried Rose Hips

Visit Love ‘n Fresh Flowers at lovenfreshflowers.com.

More on specialty cut flower growers at ascfg.org

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3 fin Step 2 Begin with a center cluster

Step 4 Trim stems and wrap

Take a stem of foliage (like buplerum), a stem of filler flower (like yarrow), and a big beautiful feature bloom (like zinnia), and form a cluster between the index finger and thumb of your nondominant hand (i.e., right handers hold the flowers in their left hand). Hold the cluster approximately four to six inches below the flowers.

When you’re pleased with the bouquet, use scissors to trim the stems so they are all even, usually about seven to nine inches in length. Use a rubber band to secure the stems at the spot you were holding them while designing the bouquet. Take a long length of florist tape and wrap it tightly around the stems, starting at the top just under the flowers and working down as far as you want ribbon to go. Now wrap ribbon over the florist tape, taking care to overlap it evenly. Use pins or glue to secure the ribbon. Keep the bouquet in water in a cool dark spot until just before you are ready to take pictures or walk down the aisle. Put the bouquet back in water after the ceremony to perk it up and keep it beautiful throughout the reception. 

Step 3 Add angle stems

4

Add one flower at a time around the center cluster.

Put each stem in your dominant hand at varying angles to create a full look. Turn the bouquet a quarter turn at a time to add more stems. Alternate between foliage, filler flowers and big feature blooms to give the bouquet balance and interest.

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Do Me a Favor wedding favor is given to guests as a sweet

reminder of their witness to a very special day. So don’t burden them with useless junk, engraved or otherwise. Making your own simple syrup with seasonal herbs and flowers is quick and inexpensive enough that you can make favors and zip up the wedding-day toast with your own special blend. Locally grown dried and fresh botanicals like lavender and chamomile, sweet basil, honeysuckle, lemon verbena, rosemary and thyme can be sourced from Margerum’s Herbs Etc. at the Clark Park and Headhouse Farmers Markets.

Pair pretty, beribboned bottles from Lancaster’s Fillmore Container Company (fillmorecontainer. com) with your celebratory recipe to send your dear ones home with a memory they can taste.

—Janina A. Larenas

Margerum’s Herbs Etc., Saturday at Clark Park Farmers Market and Sunday at Headhouse Farmers Market, both 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Email noelles@netscape.com to order.

Floral or Savory Simple Syrup (Makes 12 oz.; recipe can be multiplied for bulk production)

Steep cup of dried or cup fresh herbs or flowers in 2 cups hot water.

Strain out flowers and return liquid to the stove with 2 cups sugar.

Heat to a soft boil or until sugar is fully dissolved.

Keep hot as you fill sterilized bottles; seal immediately and refrigerate after opening.

Flavors to try: Lemon verbena-lavender, sweet woodruff, chamomile-rosemary, honeysuckle

Botanical Bubble Cocktail Dry sparkling wine such as cava, prosecco, cremant or Brut Champagne.

Add 1.5 oz. syrup per flute, garnish with fresh flowers or herbs if desired.

Think Global,

Just say no to big box stores. Though it can seem that chain retailers have the wedding registry market locked up, there’s an easy way to get your guests buying in the neighborhood.

With the goal of inspiring local couples to choose at least 10 wedding gifts from small, local sellers—keeping an estimated $1,000 in the local economy per wedding—Jeffery Miller Catering launched Registry10 in February 2010 as an enhancement to their event planning website, partyspace.com. Registry partners spanning the Delaware Valley offer gifts like passes and memberships to cultural institutions (Bryn Mawr Film

Gift Local

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Institute), charitable donations (PhilAbundance), adventures like sport fishing or hot-air balloon rides, and services from spa days to cooking classes. Free for both vendors and registering couples, gift buyers pay the normal sales tax, shipping and handling on their purchase. Everything is done online, says marketing manager Eliza Savage, who encourages users to suggest merchants they’d like to see featured. “We even have a CSA [community supported agriculture] from Farm to Philly,” she says.

“It’s one of our most requested gifts, and really exemplifies what the registry is all about.” —Felicia D’Ambrosio

Visit weddings.partyspace.com/couple_the_ten to sign up for Registry10.

ph oto by luc as ha rdis on

Love Locally he idea of hopping on a plane to a secluded, tropical destination with your newly minted mate is tempting. But there’s nothing romantic about the 4,877 pounds of carbon that a round-trip flight to Bora Bora emits… per person. A kinder option is to turn those dewy newlywed eyes toward destinations within 100 miles of home—all easily accessible by short car ride, public transportation, bike and even on foot.

Glasbern Inn is a storybook romantic destination for the couple whose idea of setting the mood includes rolling hills, grazing herds and farm-to-table cuisine. Set on a 130-acre, 19th-century farm in the Lehigh Valley, Glasbern is just 60 miles from Philadelphia, and touts its membership in eco-minded organizations PASA, Local Abundance and Buy Fresh, Buy Local of the Lehigh Valley.

You can also summon your newlywed creativity and go unconventional with a DIY honeymoon. Take a week or two off to do all the romantic things you’ve been putting off (or that you stopped doing after love’s first blush): Tour local wineries on the Bucks County and Brandywine Valley Wine Trails; hop on the El for a Mural Arts Love Letter tour; take a leisurely bike ride along Kelly Drive capped with a picnic dinner and outdoor movie along the river in Schuylkill Banks park. By keeping it close, you’ll keep your footprint small, save funds for your first set of monogrammed solar panels, and have more time to gaze longingly into each other’s eyes, unclouded by jet-lag haze.

—Ariela Rose

photo by J um p i n g R o c ks P h oto g r a p hy

Breakfast for two at Glasbern Cottage

Honey for Your Honey

Most of us first encountered

mead in the tales of King Arthur and Beowulf. The fermented honey beverage has been an alcoholic favorite for every culture that’s kept bees, at least since the Middle Ages. Though local beer may win the most wedding guests, Stonekeep Meadery in Birdsboro, Pa., makes a range of meads, melomels (with fruit) and metheglyns (with herbs or spices) traditionally associated with a fruitful honeymoon.

“It’s a lovely little fairy tale,” says Sheree Krasley, who co-owns and operates Stonekeep with partner Marc Johnson. “There’s no way to prove it… the newly married couple has a drink of mead every night of the first month of marriage, to help produce a male child.”

This month-long mead ritual may have inspired the very name “honey moon” (honey month). Whether your goal is masculine progeny or simply a special locavore tipple with which to toast, Stonekeep offers a seasonal range of products (based on a 12th century recipe) that span fruity, dessert-wine styles to a black currant melomel “as dry as a Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Krasley. —Felicia D’Ambrosio

Visit stonekeepmeadery.com for more information and to buy, or visit Frecon Farms’ Tasting Room, 501 S. Reading Ave., Boyertown, Pa., 610-367-6200. august 20 11

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MyInvitationLink.com A moderately priced online invite service that allows couples to upload photos and music to create a personalized invitation slideshow. myinvitationlink.com

Directory Bakeries

Horticulture Center at Fairmount Park

Lotus Cake Studio Offers organic ingredients for all cakes and desserts, as well as many vegan options. lotuscakestudio.com

P.O. Box 5643, Philadelphia, 215-967-1107

Papa Ganache Vegan bakery and social service agency invites children with mental and physical disabilities to volunteer and work. Organic and fair trade ingredients, participation in farmers markets, recycled and compostable packaging. papaganache.shutterfly.com

25 Church St., Keyport, N.J., 732-217-1750

The Night Kitchen Night Kitchen sources local ingredients from Lancaster Farm Fresh, grows their own herbs and vegetables for savory items, and composts food scraps using Philly Compost. nightkitchenbakery.com

7725 Germantown Ave., 215-248-9235

Sweet Freedom Bakery Gluten-free, vegan- and allergy-friendly. Sweet Freedom uses only natural sweeteners and unrefined sugars. sweetfreedombakery.com

1424 South St., 215-545-1899

Venues Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve One hundred and thirty-four acres where 800 of Pennsylvania’s 2,000 native plant species are found. One gazebo accommodates ceremonies up to 20 people; the wood-burning fireplace-equipped Captain James Moore Pavilion seats up to 100 on rustic picnic tables. bhwp.org

1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa., 215-862-2924

Bartram’s Garden Oldest living botanic garden in the nation, with a 45-acre garden, wildflower meadow, river trail and wetland. Indoor receptions held in the barn and coach house. bartramsgarden.org

54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281 ext. 100 (Andrea Taylor)

Former site of Philadelphia’s Centennial and Bicentennial celebrations, the center hosts an extensive collection of plants and a greenhouse with year-round tropical plants. fairmountpark.org/hortcenter.asp

N. Horticultural Dr. and Montgomery Ave., 267-886-1472

hotelpalomar-philadelphia.com

117 S. 17th St., 888-725-1778

chickadeecreekfarm.com

Titus Mill Rd., Pennington, N.J., 609-462-3854

Morris Arboretum

Hana & Posy

Features an extensive collection of native and exotic plants and trees, beautiful views and an historic carriage house with space for indoor and outdoor weddings.

Full-service florist offering certified organic and sustainably grown flowers from an Old City storefront.

business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum

100 E. Northwestern Ave., 215-247-5777

Terrain at Styer’s Garden Café A combination café, garden and home store that celebrates seasonal cycles and locally grown foods. Indoor and outdoor spaces available.*Only for rehearsal dinners and private events cafe.shopterrain.com

914 Baltimore Park, Glen Mills, Pa., 610-459-2400

Invitations Bird and Banner Philadelphia-based graphic designers who use recycled or found materials, 100 percent cotton paper, corn- and soy-based inks, and even compostable wood cards for their invites. birdandbanner.com, 215-922-1500

The Papery Local paper source stocking vendors like Crane and Smock, which offer sustainable options: 100 percent cotton paper and bamboo paper. In-house printing. paperyofphilly.com

57 N. Third St., 215-922-1500

paperonpine.com

115 S. 13th St., 215-625-0100

Evite.com A free online invite service with weddingthemed templates. evite.com

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120 Sykesville Rd., Chesterfield, N.J., 609-291-8210

Zinnias, sunflowers, snapdragons and a dozen more field flower varieties from mid-May through October, grown on a three-generation family farm currently transitioning to organic.

Offers in-house printing, 100 percent cotton paper from Crane and recycled card stock paper from Waste Not Paper.

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alansflowerfarm.com

Chickadee Creek Farm

Paper on Pine

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Freshly cut and dried native and exotic species cultivated over 35 acres from mid-May through October.

Luxury hotel in Rittenhouse Square with LEED Gold Certified credentials and green features.

Catering provided by Square 1682, the hotel’s upscale eco-centric eatery. *Honeymoon location as well.

Former dairy and horse farm, this solar-powered winery is built from recycled and reclaimed materials. Inside and outside spaces available. Inn at Laurita Winery and the Healing Spirits Spa also on site.

35 Archertown Rd., New Egypt, N.J., 609-758-8000

Alan’s Flower Farm

Hotel Palomar

Laurita Winery

lauritawinery.com

FLORISTS & FLOWER FARMS

hanaposy.com

35 N. Third St., 215-733-0505

Harmony Hill Gardens One hundred percent organic, local and seasonal blooms by flower farmer Lyn Hicks.

Wholesale flowers, as well as arrangement services, are available. harmonyhillgardens.com

1341 Mill Rd., Sellersville, Pa., 215-997-5005

Lilies and Lavender Small, owner-operated farm using organic fertilizers, member of Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers and Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. Purchase by the stem or bucket; arrangement services available. liliesandlavender.com

729 Limekiln Rd., Doylestown, Pa., 215-345-7282

Love ‘N Fresh Flowers A small urban flower farm and full-service event florist owned by Jennie Love, who works exclusively with locally-grown flowers. lovenfreshflowers.com , 215-479-4585

Red Earth Farm Family-owned, chemical-free farm offering seasonal flowers spring through late summer.

Harvested, conditioned and arranged by the farm; only flowers blooming the day before your wedding are selected. redearthfarm.org/flowers.html

1025 Red Dale Rd., Orwigsburg, Pa. 570-943-3460

Urban Botanicals Florist Helen Pettengill specializes in sustainable event decorating, growing many of her own flowers and displaying arrangements in antique and locally made glass vases. urbanbotanical.com. , 215-438-7533

CATERERS 12th Street Catering Company-wide commitment to waste reduction and recycling; menus can include sustainable fish stations and items from local purveyors and growers.

12thstreetcatering.com, 215-978-0900

Birchtree Catering A member of the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia, Birchtree offers seasonal menus made from local ingredients, as well as event-planning services and decoration. birchtreecatering.com, 215-435-0331

Cosmic Catering Full-service catering company sourcing locally grown and made products, with most ingredients coming from the Farm Fresh for Chefs farmers’ cooperative. Member, Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia. cosmicfoods.com, 215-978-0900

Feast Your Eyes Catering Off and on-premise (at their Front and Palmer space) events feature locally farmed foods by this member of both Fair Food and the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia. feastyoureyescatering.com

1750 N. Front St., 215-634-3002

JPM Catering Composting food waste, biodegradeable containers and ware and all-natural or repurposed decor support JPM’s custom menus of local, seasonal foods. jpmcateringandevents.com, 484-433-6678

Attire Mill Crest Vintage Vintage boutique offering hand-picked, one-ofa-kind wedding wear from the 19th and 20th centuries, plus an on-site seamstress who makes alterations using only vintage materials. millcrestvintage.com

72 Bridge St., Lambertville, N.J., 609-397-4700

Sabrina Anne Affordable, once-worn wedding wear by wellknown designers, as well as consignment service for those looking to recycle gowns.

Sazz Vintage

I Do Foundation

Old City vintage shop specializing in men’s clothing from the 1940s to the ’80s, including a colorful array of suits and tuxedos for the non-traditional groom.

Toss traditional favors and thank your wedding guests by making a donation to your favorite charity in their honor. Choose from a wide array of community, education, social justice and environmental organizations. Can’t agree on a charity? Choose two.

sazzvintage.com

38 N. Third St., 215-923-7299

idofoundation.org

Honeymoon

Registry10

Glasbern Inn

Choose to register for at least 10 gifts with local merchants and keep $1,000 in the local economy. Free for couples and gift-buyers.

Member of PASA, Local Abundance and Buy Fresh, Buy Local of the Lehigh Valley. Set on a 130-acre, 19th century farm, which supplies the inn’s kitchen with freshly-grown ingredients. glasbern.com

2141 Pack House Rd., Fogelsville, Pa. 610-285-4723

Silverstone Bed & Breakfast Housed in an 1877 Victorian Gothic mansion, five minutes from the Chestnut Hill East train station. Owners are Slow Food members, and serve a full breakfast prepared using ingredients from local farms and the home’s tomato and herb garden. silverstonestay.com

8840 Stenton Ave., 215-242-3333

Brandywine Valley Wine Trail Seven wineries located in the hills of Chester County, one hour from downtown Philadelphia.

Includes PASA member Paradocx Vineyard and Penns Woods Winery, which donates one dollar of every bottle sold to furthering wine and grape research in Pennsylvania. bvwinetrail.com

Bucks County Wine Trail Nine wineries located just under an hour from Philadelphia, each of which produces or features wines made exclusively with Pennsylvania-grown grapes, including Peace Valley Winery which also offers seasonal you-pick fruits and vegetables. buckscountywinetrail.com

Love Letter Mural Tour Ride the city’s elevated Market-Frankford train on a tour of 50 rooftop murals professing the love of a guy for a girl, and West Philadelphia residents for their hometown. Ticket proceeds benefit the Mural Arts Program. muralarts.org/tour/love-letter-train-tour

215-685-0754

sabrinaann.com

24 Ardmore Ave., Ardmore, PA 610-642-6228

GIFTS & Favors

New and gently used donated wedding dresses and accessories whose proceeds benefit community nonprofit the Career Wardrobe.

Give the gift of sustainable, locally-grown food by purchasing a CSA subscription for the bride and groom. Be sure to select a farm with a pick-up time and location that is convenient for the newlyweds. See a full list of CSAs in GRID and Fair Food’s 2011-12 Local Food Guide.

Babes in Tieland

Green Bride Guide

Online Etsy shop by Manayunk artist featuring an eclectic wardrobe of vintage neckties and bow ties, collected over the past two years.

Ensure that any gifts guests do give are “green” in nature by selecting from the database’s wide array of home, garden and play options. Shop by eco-certification or strategies, including fair trade and energy-saving.

etsy.com/shop/babesintieland

FORAGE bow ties Vibrant neckwear for guys and gals created by local design team Something’s Hiding in Here, using found vintage material.

Cut down on clutter and wasteful buying by creating a request guide for experiences, rather than products, with monetary values for each one; e.g. “A nice dinner at our favorite local restaurant - $100.” weddinggreen.com

World Wildlife Fund Wedding Registry Rather than material gifts, have guests donate to WWF’s conservation work. Couples create their own special events page, set a fundraising goal, and alert guests to give what they’d like and share messages on the page’s wall. worldwildlife.org

Hair & Makeup Eviama Life Spa Spa treatments including massage, organic facials, wraps, waxing and a range of energy work (reiki, guided meditation, etc.) in a sustainably constructed space powered by renewable energy sources. eviama.com

262 S. 16th St., 215- 545-3344

Juju Salon & Organics Non-toxic and organic professional products and services in an environment with strict recycling practices, powered by PECO wind. jujusalon.com

713 South St., 215-238-6080

Moko Organic Beauty Studio Ayurvedic facials, natural waxing, event hair and makeup using natural products.

55 N. Third St., 215-922-6656

Plume Salon CSA Subscription

1822 Spring Garden St., 2nd Fl., 215-568-2660

WeddingGreen

mokobeauty.com

The Wardrobe Boutique

wardrobeboutique.org

weddings.partyspace.com/couple_the_ten

Organic haircare in a relaxed, male- and female-friendly environment. plumesalon.com

111 E. Girard Ave., 215-327-3730

Tierra Mia Organic Nail Spa Spa manicures and pedicures with 100 percent fume-free, water-based polishes, as well as soy-based wax hair removal and reflexology, in a spa space constructed from VOC-free, recycled and sustainable materials. tierramiaorganicnailspa.com

328 S. 17th St., 215-735-7980

greenbrideguide.com/registry

forage.bigcartel.com

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urban naturalist

by bernard bernardbrown brown

Mighty Phragmites This invasive reed is on the march in Philadelphia and beyond

I

n europe, they simply call it the common reed, but over here we can’t dignify the villain with such an innocuous name, especially when its scientific name, Phragmites, sounds so sinister: “frag-MITE-ees,” pronounced with a grimace.

“Who’s afraid of a big bad reed?” you might ask. They’re not spiny like Devil’s Walking Stick or savagely thorny multiflora rose; they don’t give you a rash like poison ivy (a native). The feathery-topped reeds won’t hurt you, and they make for beautiful landscapes, bending in the breeze in elegant, rippling waves.

Unfortunately, something innocuous at home can become a terribly invasive weed in a new location where it has no pests and unprepared competition. This is what Phragmites has done in wetlands in our region, and through much of the eastern United States.

Think of the view below the Girard Point Bridge. Along the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware, you see some industrial ports and crawling ships, of course, but the banks are carpeted with those acres of uniform, uninterrupted reeds. It looks kind of pretty until you realize there is nothing there BUT reeds… Phragmites.

“It’s a nightmare,” says Gary Stolz, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge manager, the gloriously 34

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enormous freshwater tidal marsh right next to the airport. “It becomes a monoculture that’s sterile for wildlife.” Our native freshwater tidal marsh is much more varied and hospitable: a mix of heart-leaved spatterdock, grassy wild rice, clumps of sedges, cattails, and even our own meek reeds (a native Phragmites species that’s been overwhelmed by the invader). Our native critters generally don’t eat Phragmites (why it’s so successful), and get crowded out along with the plant communities they’ve evolved to inhabit.

Goodbye minks; goodbye beavers.

No one is quite sure how Phragmites got to the United States, but without the native creatures that feed on it (something like 170 species of European fauna have it on their menu), it hooked its tenacious rhizomes into the Atlantic coast of North America and spread west. The pernicious

Reed Warfare

reed generally has not overpowered our native flora all on its own; we have helped it along.

Phragmites does best where we have disturbed wetland soils and removed the competition; for example, by dumping fill or building roads and canals.

Once established, it is nearly impossible to eradicate. Alternatives range from excavating the reed beds (though ripping out the marsh sort of defeats the purpose) to smothering with thick black plastic sheeting for three consecutive years to repeated mowing for two years—often impossible in soggy wetlands. Burning actually encourages growth, and we have yet to confirm European Phragmites pests that will work on our soil, but won’t endanger our own native plants.

The best option for saving our native plants is the seemingly incongruous practice of spraying pesticides. The herbicide glyphosate is specifically approved by the EPA for wetland use in its formulation as Rodeo (as opposed to Roundup), and is the weapon of choice for those who do battle with the Phrag.

Phragmites tend to grow later into the fall than our native wetland plants, so the glyphosate, which breaks down quickly in the environment, can be used late in the season with little risk to our then-dormant natives.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has waged a nearly decade-long battle against Phragmites at Heinz, attacking it “mechanically and chemically, removing it year after year,” mowing it where and when they could. It’s hard enough to spray and pull weeds on solid land; try it in thigh-deep mud. You’d bring in the helicopters, too.

The Refuge has won back almost 100 acres from the Phragmites, Stolz says, replanting them with native wetland flora. Nine years in, “we’re seeing species showing up we haven’t seen in ages.” bernard brown is an amateur field herper, part-time bureaucrat and director of the PB&J Campaign (pbjcampaign.org), a movement focused on the benefits of eating lower on the food chain.

Read about his forays into the natural world at phillyherping.blogspot.com. Pick up next month’s issue to squish into the Delaware river mud with freshwater mussels.

Fight invasive weeds with the Friends of Heinz Refuge’s Weed Warriors. To learn more, visit friendsofheinzrefuge.org then scroll to the bottom of the page for the info.

ph oto by luc as ha rdis on

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shoots

ladders

by char vandermeer

A cabbage looper retreats, having chewed his likeness in a leaf.

Battle of the Bugs It’s critter warfare out there

B

eetles, worms, ants and aphids, oh my! I’m convinced that because my Pennsport deck is home to the only vegetables within, oh, most of the neighborhood, every pest in the ’hood sees my garden as an oasis of tastiness. Last year’s battles included all the garden-variety bugs you’d expect, plus whiteflies, cabbage loopers and brown marmorated stink bugs.

It was an exciting year.

While the chemical-killer nuclear option is tempting, there are plenty of non-toxic natural remedies. For instance, “good” bugs, like adorable ladybugs. One adult ladybug can eat up to 1,000(!) aphids per day, and they’ll even eat the eggs of cucumber beetles. Talk about an oasis of tastiness. Greensgrow Farms sells tiny buckets of squirming ladies, ready for release. (They go for $12 for 1,500, which will cover 700 square feet.)

Because aphids and cucumber beetles transmit diseases like the dreaded mosaic virus and bacterial wilts, it’s best to hedge your bets and 1

Bug Zapper 36

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employ several strategies. Strangely, aluminum foil is a great partner for your tiny red friends.

Rather than pitching that barely used and mostly clean foil, rip it into strips and place it at the base of your plants. This aluminum mulch should cover at least 50 percent of your container’s soil, and can repel up to 95 pecent of your aphids while simultaneously discouraging cucumber beetles.

Moving right along… Whiteflies, which are nearly invisible to the human eye, seem particularly fond of tomatoes, so plant a few marigolds and make some yellow glue traps. Marigolds repel both whiteflies and aphids, but they can be

cup stems, seeds, leaves and flowers of thyme, lavender and yarrow 2 Tbsp. coffee grounds

Water cup milk 1 tbsp. of natural dishwashing soap

toxic to some veggies, like beans, so plant them in their own containers. Making glue traps is a super-satisfying and super-easy solution, too.

Simply buy a sheet of yellow poster board, boil up a quart of water and a quart of corn syrup, allow the solution to cool a bit and then slather it on. The yellow attracts the insects, and the sticky mess traps them.

Glue’s good, but squishing the monsters works pretty well, too. Both tomato hornworms and cabbage loopers are easy to identify by the carnage they leave in their wake: they can demolish a perfect healthy plant in a matter of days.

The former will chomp leaves down to the stalk, and the latter will make Swiss cheese of your plant’s leaves. They’ll both leave piles of green worm poop in their wake. Hornworms are rather terrifying-looking creatures—they can grow up to four inches long and are as thick as an adult’s thumb; then there’s the whole horn thing. While gutsier gardeners than myself (hi, Mom!) have no problem plucking them off and smushing them with their bare hands, garden gloves provide a welcome layer of insulation. Loopers, only about an inch long, propagate quickly, and where there’s one, there’s likely a dozen. Nothing satisfies like squishing green worm goop out of these nasties, except maybe throwing them onto the neighboring roof and watching sparrows devour them alive.

If potions are your thing, Neem oil is a great multi-purpose organic garden aid. It’s readily available at any garden center. You can also, of course, brew your own killing concoction (see below).

Dear gardeners, I’ve saved the worst news for last: brown marmorated stink bugs. These invasive bugs bore straight through your veggies, leaving brown mush in their wake. Alas, they left their waspy predators back in Asia, from whence they came. There ain’t much you can do except identify them, preferably when they’re still eggs or freshly hatched, and smash them into gooey pulp. They typically deposit their pale green eggs on the undersides of leaves in clutches of approximately 28. Newborns look like diamond-shaped beetles, about the size of an adult ladybug, with black heads and yellow bodies with black marking. Kill them dead. Use extreme prejudice. char vandermeer tends a container garden on her South Philly roof deck; she chronicles the triumphs and travails at plantsondeck.com

••Combine herbs and coffee grounds in a pot of water and steep for 24 hours.

••Strain the solution, reserving the liquid and composting or discarding the herbs.

••Add milk and dishwashing soap to the strained solution.

••Pour into a spray bottle, shake, then spray the afflicted plants, making sure to hit the undersides of the leaves.

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Tyler Talks Trash

by tyler weaver

Kill Your Java Jacket

Tyler’s

I

coffee

The insulating coffee sleeve and the damage done

don’t go to coffee shops that often, but I’m obsessed with the waste they generate. (Okay, I’m obsessed with the waste everyone generates). ¶ Coffee shops are big business, and, as such, one with a big footprint. But it’s also an industry with a reasonable shot at attaining nearly zero waste, at least on the retail end—very little that goes into making coffee can’t be easily reduced/reused/recycled.

There are a few shops that make good choices: offering condiments in shakers, providing mugs for on-site consumption, and even extending composting programs to customers. But the majority continues to do unspeakable things: doubling up paper cups, offering only wasteful single-serving sugar packets, using plastic lids and simply throwing out unsold baked goods.

There’s one practice—one patently ridiculous practice when you get right down to it—that nearly all coffee shops engage in: the seemingly innocuous insulating sleeve for to-go coffee. This is a mass-consumed item that didn’t even exist 20 years ago. I collected a whole bunch of these things from coffee shops across town to get an idea of what’s being used, and why.

ideal

shop

1 Offer reusable mugs for sale (with

I had no idea that coffee insulators came discount for use). in so many different sizes and styles (and I 2 Have a compost certainly didn’t know they’d become a space receptacle available for glossy advertising; $2 off my next Visine for customers next to the recycling and purchase? Sweet.). trash cans (which One common trait among cardboard should have next to sleeves (and plenty of other paper prodnothing in it). ucts) is that their manufacturers want their 3 Give away coffee prodcuts to appear green. But keep in mind grinds to anyone inthere’s a difference between a recycling symterested in starting a composting efbol, the level of post-consumer content, and fort at home. Have that its simply “recyclable.” a Composting 101 In the accompanying picture of various fact sheet on hand sleeves I collected, the best is the blandfor the curious. . looking one with 100 percent recycled 4 Create environmenpaper, made of 90 percent post-consumer tally mindful purmaterial. That means the sleeve is made, chasing program to minimize impact for the most part, from paper people put in up front, including their recycling bins. The worst (of the cardno “degradable“ board candidates) is the one that says: “100 coffee sleeves and percent recyclable and post-consumer.” Yes, minimal usage of we know that cardboard is recyclable, but plastics. are you saying it’s also 100 percent post-con5 Eliminate singleuse items. Feature sumer? That’s very unlikely, and probably a sign explaining misleadingly written on purpose. why they’re lame.

To my mind, the worst of the lot is the 6 Compost baked styrofoam “degradable” sleeve (inapprogoods and coffee priately named the “Eco Sleeve”). There is grinds. Both Bennothing eco about “degradable” plastic. Just nett Compost and about anything is degradable (it might take a Philly Compost provide the service, few hundred years), but when it does break but If paying for down, the smaller pieces will choke up our composting is not waterways. in the budget, build Plastic is cheaper and insulates better a simple bin out against heat, but these sleeves aren’t recyback. clable in any way, and, for all intents and purposes, they do not biodegrade. This is where paper cups swoop in for the glory.

Yes, their recyclability is debatable, but their compostability is not.

With millions of cups of coffee consumed per day, it’s a reasonable estimate that millions of sleeves are being disposed of per day. Try telling your barista to hold off on the sleeve and the lid. If your morning coffee experience is that much worse, you should think about bringing your own cup. Heck, just bring your own cup and help make this whole discussion moot. tyler weaver is a garbage and compost expert who’s been obsessed with waste since he climbed into his first Dumpster two decades ago. Read more of his musings at tylertalkstrash.com and crazyaboutcompost.com.

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?

”

on

with

Mike Weilbacher

by ariela rose

position was open. I guess for me… the chance to direct the Schuylkill Center was essentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You’ve been teaching children about the natural world as “Mike the All-Natural Science Guy” on WXPN’s Kids Corner for 23 years. Why is it important to ensure that young people are well-versed in environmental issues?

I come at it from two different places. The first is that my job as an educator is to help children become citizens that are capable of wrestling with the complicated environmental issues they’re going to get as adults. The second is that there’s more and more evidence that kids who grow up connected to nature are smarter, [more]emotionally grounded, calmer, more resilient, less ADD; there’s just unbelievable benefits for children growing up with an immersion in nature.

Have you run into any challenges thus far at the Schuylkill Center, or are there any challenges you foresee encountering as executive director?

Nature Boy

Mike Weilbacher, new head of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, on the importance of educating children and adults on environmental issues

F

or a self-described “ecology geek” like Mike Weilbacher, the chance to direct the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education— Northwest Philly’s 340-acre green treasure—is a dream realized. Formerly executive director of Lower Merion Conservancy and, for the last year, Abington’s Briar Bush Nature Center, the Long Island native is one month into his new post, and busy creating new programming that will attract both children and adults to what he refers to as the “Mother Ship” of local nature centers.

You worked at the Schuylkill Center as a museum educator in 1982 after completing graduate school [at the University of Michigan]. Can you tell me more about your initial experience?

In ’82, I wanted to get back to the East Coast, so I answered an ad to become an environmental educator on the staff at the Schuylkill Center, and stayed about a year and a half. What I did learn coming to the Schuylkill Center was that I wanted to stay in Philadelphia. I loved this city, loved the whole area, so deliberately decided 40

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to do work here. For 15 years, [I] directed the Lower Merion Conservancy, which did some environmental education. I did a lot of environmental work, but mostly on the advocacy and preservation side. But, just after I turned 50, I made this decision mentally that I wanted to go back to “Plan A.” Plan A was directing a nature center; that’s what I always wanted to do. The Briar Bush opportunity arose and I grabbed that.

I was incredibly happy—loved Briar Bush, still do—but it was only a few months into my time at Briar Bush that I heard the Schuylkill Center

We’ve been coming out of a time when all nonprofits are facing budgetary struggles, so one of the issues that we’ve had to wrestle with is fundraising. [Another] is a freshening of our programming. What’s the relevant mix of programming that a nature center in the city should be doing in the 21st century? That’s a big question for us. We’re a wonderful oasis of green space, one of the biggest protected parcels of land in Philadelphia, if not the biggest. As schools lose their budgets, one of the problems is that kids aren’t going to nature centers the way that they used to. So, we have to be incredibly creative in responding to that. Just when kids need to be in nature the most, it’s increasingly hard for them to do so.

What initiatives do you have planned to get more children to the Schuylkill Center?

The staff and I have just begun brainstorming some of the new things.… It’s going to be clear by the fall when we unveil our new school programming. Something else I want to do is—people think of nature centers as places where school kids come, not remembering that a nature center is a place where an adult can explore environmental issues. I want to make the Schuylkill Center more relevant to adults to come without their kids. Here’s a place where you can wrestle with some of these big issues like, Marcellus Shale, like stormwater, like biological diversity.

Weilbacher’s got a lot more to say. Read our full interview, including his explanation of natureinspired vaudevillian theater, at gridphilly. com. For more on the Schuylkill Center, visit schuylkillcenter.org. ph oto by k i mberly ku nda

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jul aug

From Whence We Came Local artist Ryann Casey will curate an art show of over 40 artists advocating the protection and preservation of the world’s oceans. All proceeds will benefit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Oceana, two charities committed to ocean preservation. The opening reception will be held on July 8 from 7 to 9 p.m.

08 10

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Philadelphia Orchard Project Festival 16 Music The POP Music Fest and fundraiser is back for its third year. Five local bands will take to the stage to raise money for planting orchards throughout the city. Between sets, Fish n’ Chips DJs will keep you moving, plus beer from Phildadelphia Brewing Company and some of the city’s top food trucks will make sure your belly’s happy as well.

→→ Through Aug. 10, Benna’s Café, 1236 S.

Eighth St., for more information, visit the event’s page on Facebook; From Whence We Came: An Art Show to Benefit Sea Shepherd & Oceana

jul jul

→→ Sat., July 16, 2 – 8 p.m., Liberty Lands Park,

Third St. between Poplar and Wildey St., to purchase tickets, visit phillyorchards.org

jul

Seventh Annual Good Food, Good and the Rest Is History 16 Beer Join Slow Food Philadelphia and Farm to City for this joint fundraiser under the Headhouse Square shambles. This year’s event will feature a whole pig roast and plenty of bubbly local brews. Pigs are being sourced from Countrytime Farms; vegetarian options will also be available for the meat-free set.

→→ Thu., July 14 – Thu., July 28, various

→→ Sat., July 16, 6 – 9 p.m., Headhouse Sham-

locations, for more information on participating restaurants, prices and menus, visit ucdiningdays.com

Philly Stake Dinner a locally sourced, picnic-style 17 Enjoy dinner outside at Bartram’s Garden in celebration and support of creative community projects. Listen to 10 project proposals, then vote for which organization deserves your cash (the cost of your ticket). At the end of the dinner the winner is announced and awarded the microgrant. The more attendees, the bigger the grant!

Advance tickets are limited to 75 and will be sold online via GRID’s website and at Shot Tower Coffee (542 Christian St.). More tickets will be sold at the door day-of. →→ Sun., July 17, 5 – 8 p.m., $20, Bartram’s

University City Dining Days Partake in the diverse array of culinary offerings in University City during this two-week eating extravaganza.

Participating restaurants will offer a threecourse dinner for $15, $25 or $30, respectively.

Check out menus online; look for spots with locally-sourced menus like Dock Street Brewery, Rx Restaurant or Marigold Kitchen.

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bles, Second and Lombard St., for more information, visit slowfoodphilly.org/events

Garden, 54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., for more information, visit phillystake.org

jul

Healthy Bites Mid-Summer with Local Craft Beers 21 Barbecue Grab your fellow grill-masters and beer connoisseurs for this summer fun event. Healthy Bites has teamed up with event coordinator Rolling Barrel to bring you a satisfying dinner of grill favorites and thirst-quenching brews produced by local farmers and brew masters. Part of the shop’s series of Taste Local Events: locallysourced four-course meals paired with wine or beer, and both food and beverage education.

Limited to 18 guests. →→ Thu., July 21, $55, Healthy Bites

To-Go, 2521 Christian St., for more information and to purchase tickets, visit healthybitesdelivery.com/ events.php

jul

Urban Farm Bike Tour the Road Again!)

23 (On Weavers Way will host their annual bike tour of our region’s producers and growers. This year welcomes new farms, but continues with the two-ride tradition: one for beginners, or those who prefer a shorter ride, and one for more experienced riders.

Either way, cheer your biking success with fun, food and drinks at each ride’s end. Be sure to use the online registration form whether you plan on paying the day-of, or in advance.

jul

Progress Under the Stars Vanishing of the Bees the Kensington South Neighborhood Advisory Council for a 16 Join documentary screening to benefit the group’s art, community and sustainability initiatives. This month’s film is Vanishing of the Bees, a look into why honeybees are dying in great numbers, a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder. The screening will take place in Frank’s Kitchen’s re-purposed vacant lot. Be sure to bring your own mug for $10 all-you-candrink Yards beer!

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→→ Sat., July 16, 6 – 11

p.m., Frank’s Kitchen, 1581 Randolph St., for more information contact Stephanie Marsh at stephrmarsh@ gmail.com, and visit the event’s Facebook page.

→→ Thu., July 23, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.,

$25-30, rides begin and end at Weavers Way Co-op in Mt. Airy, 559 Carpenter Ln., for more information and to register, visit weaversway.coop

ph oto by Eri c Tou rneret

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jul

PASA Local Harvest Dinner by the Northeast Region 23 Presented Chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local, this third annual dining event includes a farm tour, live entertainment, vendors and, of course, plenty of locally-sourced cuisine. →→ Thu., July 23, 6 p.m., $20, Miller’s Orchards

Farm Market, 1421 Fairview Rd., Scott Township, for more information and to purchase tickets, visit pasafarming.org/calendar-ofevents

jul

South Philly Food Co-op Local and Veggie Tasting 28 Fruit Join the South Philly Food Co-op for a free taste of in-season fruits and vegetables provided by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Birchtree Catering. A wonderful opportunity to try something you’ve never tasted, the evening will feature a blind taste test pitting local/organic produce against conventional. Live music from the AMLA Youth Jazz Ensemble will set the laid-back summertime mood. →→ Thu., July 28, 7 p.m., Wharton St. between

Sixth and Seventh St., for more information, visit southphillyfoodcoop.org

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Then we wash it using green, local Sun and Earth detergents and high-efficiency machines that sip water and save energy. You’ll get your clothes back, folded, in 24 hours.

Visit WashCycleLaundry.com to schedule your first pick-up at and find out why more and more of your neighbors trust Wash Cycle Laundry to do their laundry every week.

jul

Pennypack Farms Farm to Belly Veggie Sushi 29 — Bring your brood of environmentaliststo-be for a class on preparing farm fresh food, plus lessons on botany, proportions and measurements. Produce from Pennypack Farm will be plucked for a satisfying summer lunch. Held on Fridays through August, this week’s event will have parents and children rolling up delectable veggie sushi. Don’t miss out on the upcoming Pesto Perfection and Farm Fresh Pizza classes, on August 5th and 9th, respectively. →→ Fri., July 28, 10 – 11:30 a.m., $20 per parent/

child pair, $10 each additional child, Resurrection Lutheran Church, 620 Welsh Rd., Horsham, for more information and to register, visit pennypackfarm.org

aug

Night Market Philly — Mt. Airy!

04 Destination The Food Trust’s Night Market is fleeing central Philadelphia for higher ground when the third installment of the pop-up food court takes over Mt. Airy’s Germantown Ave. Just like the last two events, this one will feature a mouth watering array of restaurants and gourmet food trucks. And, as U City’s Night Market proved, the crowds will come rain or shine.

aug

Gas Station Garden Workday 10 Volunteer Assist the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in planting, pruning, weeding and watering the vacant lot garden across from their Arch Street headquarters. The space is maintained by neighborhood volunteer growers and features ornamental grasses, Russian Sage, and rotating spring bulbs that brighten the concrete environment. →→ Wed., August 10, 6 – 7 p.m., Gas Station Gar-

den, N. 20th and Arch St., for more information, visit pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.

org/calendar

aug

The Rock Garden the Delaware Valley 13 in Growing Alpine plants in the Delaware Valley is challenging. Jane Grushow, a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society, will show amateurs as well as aficionados how to succeed. This program will describe the many ways of providing a suitable place to grow rock garden plants, and show off both easy and difficult garden designs.

Part of the Penn State Extension Philadelphia Master Gardeners’ Second Saturday Series. →→ Sat., Aug. 13, 9 – 11 a.m., $10, Belmont Ave.

→→ Thu., August 4, 6 – 10 p.m., Germantown

Ave. between Sedgewick and Mount Airy Ave., for up to date information, visit nightmarketphilly.org

Sign up at WashCycleLaundry.com

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and Montgomery Dr., for more information, call 215-471-2200, ext. 100

aug

Kimberton Whole Foods Day 13 Community In celebration of locally-owned businesses and those who choose to shop locally, the 25-year old sustainable grocery innovator is throwing a party at its Kimberton, Downingtown, Douglassville and Ottsville locations. Enjoy free ice cream or Italian ice, plus plenty of local-food love.

aug

aug

National Qigong Conference Whether you’ve explored the world of 19 Qigong before or not, here’s your chance 20 to learn more about the Chinese healing 21 exercise. This year’s conference, now in its 16th year, is built around the theme Gateway to Balance & Creativity. The three-day schedule, featuring a plethora of Qigong leaders, is sure to stimulate your mind and clue you in to this ancient practice.

Greensgrow Farm Take the Water Gardening 27 Plunge!

Workshop Looking for a way to add something new and unique to your home’s landscape? Water gardening might be for you! Many water garden plants, including water lilies and water hyacinths, grow well in containers, and are a great way to experience the joys of water gardening before committing to a larger, permanent pond.

→→ Fri., Aug. 19 – Sun., Aug. 21, $395 for three

→→ Sat., Aug. 27, 12 – 2 p.m., Greensgrow Farm,

→→ Sat., Aug. 13, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., all

Kimberton Whole Foods stores, for more information, visit

days, partial attendance prices available, Valley Forge Conference Center, 301 W. Dekalb Pk., King of Prussia, more information and registration at nqa.org

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Project1:Layout 1

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Lean & Green

Waging war against the Wedding-Industrial Complex by samantha wittchen

I

was never one of those girls who sat around fantasizing about every detail of her wedding. From fairytale dress to meticulously designed invitations to personalized wedding favors, it all just seemed so… perverse.

Once I started participating in weddings as a professional harpist, my fears about the excessiveness of weddings were confirmed. (I’m looking at you, stretch Hummer limo.) And even though I’m a categorical type-A planner in almost every other aspect of my life, when it comes to wedding planning, you could safely say I have a phobia.

So last October, when I started down the path to my own wedding, I was totally unprepared for the tidal wave of information that would crash down on me when I first (somewhat naïvely) Googled “wedding planning.” Website after website offered advice about what I should buy, where I should buy it, and how much it should cost. It appeared that a wedding was all about Stuff, and the more I read, the sicker I felt. I mindlessly surfed from one wedding site to the next until, suddenly, I stumbled upon something that stopped me dead in my tracks.

There it was—the Average Cost of a Wedding.

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

When I saw the $20,000 figure, I wanted to curl up in a ball on my living room floor and cry. After allowing myself a few moments to freak out about how getting married was going to require that I sell my house, my car and possibly my dog, 46

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I pulled myself together and decided to accept the Wedding-Industrial Complex’s challenge.

Our wedding wasn’t going to be about Stuff, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to cost $20,000.

The best piece of advice that someone gave me about planning a wedding is that it should be about you and your partner. Okay, yeah. Duh. It seems simple enough, but I think that little bit of truth frequently gets drowned out by the constant drumbeat of the Wedding-Industrial Complex marching couples towards its own vision of a “perfect” wedding. My fiancé and I didn’t set out to plan a “green” wedding; rather, it’s who we are. There simply isn’t another way to do it. Not only is living sustainably part of our DNA, but it also turns out that trying to plan a wedding on the cheap aligns nicely with doing things in a more environmentally-responsible manner.

Having never planned a wedding before, I have nothing to compare it to, but I would venture to guess that planning our wedding has been no harder or easier than planning a traditional wedding. The things we’re concerned about— having a zero-waste reception, encouraging our guests to bike or carpool, finding alternatives to cut flowers for decorations—are probably no more or less complicated than choosing the right dress is for some brides. The only difference is that our complications also have an environmental impact.

I feel lucky to be in Philadelphia planning this wedding. There are so many great resources for the green bride, from sustainable jewelers to vintage clothing shops to caterers who compost and source local foods to wedding venues that are, themselves, recycled buildings. In some ways, it’s almost hard not to plan a sustainable wedding here. (Take that, Wedding-Industrial Complex!) While I can’t yet say exactly how much our wedding will cost, I can tell you it’ll be much less than $20,000. And most importantly, it’ll be about us. samantha wittchen writes about energy, recycling and green living for GRID and is partner and co-founder of sustainability consulting company iSpring (ispringassociates.com). i llust rat i on by meli ssa mcfee ters

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What matters most?

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Environmental education?

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