Garton signed on as a farm manager for Methodist Services near Ford and Monument Roads, where she and a colleague grow produce for the mothers and children that Methodist serves.
Long a city of community gardens, Philadelphia is increasingly shining as a mecca for young people who are passionate about trying new ways to draw sustenance from soil, in the ground, or in raised beds, on vacant lots or rooftops - primarily for the greater good.
It is a movement that flies below any official radar but is bolstered nonetheless by established nonprofits, university research, and to some extent by initiatives from Mayor Michael Nutter, who wants Philadelphia to be the greenest city in the nation by 2015 but still hasn't perfected a plan to deal efficiently with apparently abandoned lots.
"I heard about Philadelphia when I was in Michigan," says Katie Olender, 27, a Michigan State University graduate who came here in 2008 to work for the Food Trust, one of several local agencies that are networking nationally to combat obesity and hunger - and spreading the word about Philadelphia's urban farms.
"At conferences and on listservs," Olender says, "people told me, you have to go to Philadelphia and check out what's happening there. I found it enjoyably overwhelming to consider the opportunities here."
Elissa Ruse, 28, didn't have as far to travel - she grew up in Wayne - when she cofounded the all-volunteer Emerald Street Urban Farm on five vacant lots in East Kensington three years ago, using seeds and supplies from City Harvest and attracting a core of college grads eager to learn on the job.
Some of the farm's weekly harvest is donated to the nearby St. Francis Soup Kitchen, and Emerald Street draws in its neighbors by hosting hoe-downs, free outdoor movie nights, and workshops.
