For over 10 years, Philadelphia’s Greengrow Farms has been considered one of the best urban vegetable farms in the U.S., with a retail farm stand and plant nursery in a former abandoned city block.
In 1998 the abandoned galvanized steel plant in the Kensington neighborhood didn’t seem or look like an appropriate place to start an urban farm but it was the only reasonably priced land available.
Greensgrow started out raising hydroponic lettuce and became an immediate 
success. Since those first crops of lettuce, Greensgrow Farms has transformed itself into not only a one acre urban farm growing heirloom veggies in organic raised beds but also a farm stand, live plant nursery and a perennially sold out “city” supported agriculture subscription program.
They still grow hydroponic lettuce supplying restaurants in the Philadelphia area. The urban farm also has bees which pollinate the crops and produce honey which is sold at the farm stand. Greensgrow Farms collects used fryer oil from the restaurants that buy their lettuce and recycles the used oil into biofuel which they power their delivery trucks on. The retail farm stand also sells other local farmers’ crops.
The farm’s plant nursery grows heirloom vegetables and flowers that many area garden centers do not offer and home gardeners have requested.
Greensgrow is opened from early April until late November.
NPR All Things Considered podcast “This I Believe” of Greensgrow Farms’ founder Mary Seton Corboy…
Self guided PDF tour of Greensgrow Farms
Photos credit: Greensgrow Farms photo gallery
Hydroponics Dictionary
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Greensgrow! We love you!!
I wasn’t sure who to address this to; however, my partner and I are in the midst of planning a large central city event in which organic, local farms, local foods, true green products, concepts and education on all the fore-mentioned will be the main theme…
We are still currently working out the exact date, name of the event, and place to be held; however we’ve already got the ball rolling with contacts at some great places, i.e. ‘Farm Fresh Express’, ‘Otoalith’, et al…
Anyway, to keep it brief and to the point we would be absolutely delighted to have Greensgrow Farms featured, involved and highlighted in whatever way we can all work out together.
If someone from there could just let me know who I should be in contact with from Greensgrow, that would be a great start!
Looking forward to the possibilities!
Thanks & Cheers,
Dave Dougherty
“We” (actually since I laid off all of my employees it is just “Me”) are not Greensgrow Farm but The Growing Edge, a news aggreagator/news portal for all things gardening and farming. Contact Greensgrow Farm at:
2501 E. Cumberland Street
Philadelphia, PA 19125
Tel: 215. 427. 2702
Fax: 215. 475. 4670