It’s Earth Friendly April! Earth Day is on April 22nd this year. There are so many businesses in our area that focus on sustainability, zero waste, and earth friendly practices that we wanted to spend the month spotlighting them. We are featuring professional gardeners, sustainable stores, compost companies, and builders of raised beds, as well as a community spotlight to discuss CSAs.
Seemingly small environmental changes each day can have a huge compounding effect across the community and make a HUGE difference! I hope that by connecting you to these earth friendly businesses in our community, it helps you to make a small change.
Garden State Composting
New Jersey natives, Catie Doherty and Ian Urquhart met in college 6 years ago. Catie transferred to the University of New Hampshire to study Environmental Conservation and Sustainability and Ian moved with her. During the height of the COVID pandemic, Catie and Ian moved back to New Jersey. They searched the area to find a composting service for their home, but couldn’t find one. They decided to fill a need in the community and created Garden State Composting.
Garden State Composting serves as a link between the community and the compost pile. Many of their customers don’t want to have a compost pile in their backyard, or do not have the space or time for one. Clients get a 5-gallon bin that they fill with food scraps. The bins are collected weekly or biweekly – depending on the plan they choose. Once the food scraps have been collected they are taken to a partnering farm that turns the scraps into compost. The compost created is used at the farm and also sold to Garden State Composting customers.
Catie says that by joining a grassroots community effort to compost, you not only help the earth and soil, but work together with other people to help the earth. Composting is a small way that we can be more earth conscious, but also something that is easy to improve on.
Garden State Composting currently serves Haddon Heights, Haddonfield, Haddon Township, Collingswood, Audubon, Oaklyn, Cherry Hill, Barrington, Mt. Ephram, Marlton, Mount Laurel, Voorhees, Merchantville, and Moorestown.
The Refill Market
Life long environmentalist, Tina Solak started The Refill Market after noting the large quantity of plastic she tossed into her recycling bin each week. After spending a year researching products, which involved buying and testing products in her home, she opened The Refill Market, a place where people can buy household basics like dish soap and laundry detergent in bulk and refill the containers when they are empty.
Customers can also find everyday, non refill products that are environmentally friendly; toothpaste, shampoo bars, reusable paper towels, sandwich bags, makeup pads, etc. Tina strives to have her products meet most of the following criteria; plastic free, minimal or no packaging, small business and/or locally made.
The Refill Market offers the ability for people to recycle things like crayons, toothbrushes, writing utensils, razors, brita products, plastic bags and packing bubbles. Check out their website for a complete list.
Tina believes that, “Making small environmental changes to your daily routine or your purchasing habits may not seem like a big deal, but taken in aggregate across a community, they can make a huge impact.” Her hope is that by bringing this store to Haddon Township, that she will help others make small changes in their routine too.
Toni Farmer’s Garden
Toni Farmer is a professor at Rowan University in the school of Earth and Environmental Science where she teaches The Future of Food. She holds a Masters of Environmental Sustainability from the University of Pennsylvania and is almost finished with her Master Gardener certification. She has been a passionate backyard gardener for almost 30 years and if you can grow it in South Jersey soil, she has grown it! She runsToni Farmer’s Garden, a website and social media based business that teaches citizens to grow their own food organically, sustainably, and abundantly.
Toni is also a supporter and educator for school gardens. In 2012 she built a city-wide public school garden program in Moorestown, NJ and also helps run or consults with school gardens around the country. Toni speaks frequently to garden and horticulture clubs and in the summer she provides the garden video content for SJ Magazine, winning “best of” for 2021. From 2012 – 2016 she was the Garden Coordinator for Live Civilly, a South Jersey non-profit. She has also served as a council member of the Sustainable Moorestown Committee.
Her hope is to teach as many people as possible how to grow their own food: in community gardens, school yards, and backyards. Climate change is an increasing threat to agriculture and our food supply. Learning to grow food is a critical tool for healthy food access.
Backyard Gardens
Childhood best friends, Brian Pearsall and Alex Seidel, are the brains behind Backyard Gardens LLC. The idea for their business formed after noticing that people with various health issues were unable to garden. They saw an easier solution with raised beds.
Gardening is a hobby that provides movement, as well as providing a healthier diet with organically grown fruits and vegetables. Gardening is also a gateway to embracing connection, to food, the earth, and each other. These are the driving principles for the company.
Backyard Gardens is experienced in sustainable and organic farming practices and also in Inclusive garden design. They create custom raised beds all over South Jersey; parts of central Jersey; Philadelphia, and some surrounding suburbs in Pennsylvania. All of their raised beds are constructed on site with untreated lumber.
Backyard Gardens hopes that people get their hands in the dirt and care for their plants as plants communicate with us and let us know how they’re doing. They believe, “Home gardening in its essence is an active counter to the current highly unsustainable global food distribution system. So gardening as a whole is a conscious act towards a more sustainable future.”
Community Spotlight: CSA’s
Haddonfield resident, Stephanie Smith, provides a local pick up location for the Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op. The CSA (community supported agriculture) is based out of Lancaster, PA and is an organic farmer’s co-op with over 100 farms. Participants can get things like fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, flowers, and even meats.
CSA’s directly connect consumers to farms, giving them seasonally fresh food with very little transit time between harvesting and arriving at your door.
We are so fortunate to live in a community with so many CSA options. Check out these other farms to help you figure out which is the best fit for you: Johnsons Farm, Free Haven Farms, Cecil Creek Farm, Savoie Organic Farm.
If you are unable to join a CSA, make sure to check out your local farmer’s market!
April is National Gardening Month
Did you know that New Jersey was coined The Garden State in the 1800’s, by Camden resident Abraham Browning? He was Attorney General for NJ and felt that the state’s lush farmland fed people in NJ as well as the surrounding states.
Philadelphia is also associated with gardens – it is the Garden Capital of the World. There are more than 30 public gardens, arboretums, and historic landscapes within 30 miles of the city.
This month we are explored some of the beautiful gardens in our area like the Camden Children’s Garden, Grounds for Sculpture, Shofuso Japanese Garden, Medford Leas, and Bartram’s Garden.
Camden Children’s Garden
The Camden Children’s Garden is located along the Delaware River with the scenic Philadelphia skyline as its backdrop. It was designed for children to play among beautiful flowers and plants while learning about horticulture.
Kids favorites: the butterfly house, train rides, water play, carousel and underground maze.
Shofuso Japanese Garden
Shofuso Japanese Garden in Philadelphia is magical and it’s easy to see why it has been repeatedly ranked as one of the top 3 Japanese gardens in North America. Shofuso means “Pine Breeze Villa” and was named by architect Junzo Yoshimura. In 1953, Yoshimura designed and built the house that the garden surrounds as part of an exhibit of the Museum of Modern Art. The house was built in Japan to make sure it was built using Japanese building techniques and materials. After the exhibition, the house was moved to Philadelphia in 1958. The surrounding gardens were designed to be a traditional 17th century Japanese viewing garden.
Internally acclaimed artist, Hiroshi Senju created 20 traditional murals for the garden. “He carefully planned his creation of the murals, spending hours observing Shofuso at different times to select pigments that reflect the colors and atmosphere of the building and garden.”
Did you know that it cost $1.2 million to replace the hinoki bark roof which is the only one of its kind outside of Japan?
Grounds for Sculpture
Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ is truly unique. Over 300 sculptures dot the 42 acre landscape. It is relatively new – opening in 1992 on land that was once the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. The idea to merge nature and art was Seward Johnson’s, a local artist and philanthropist.
Visitors are able to walk the expansive grounds and look at the beautiful natural backdrop that surrounds unique statues. 2,000 trees have been planted and many plants were collected from estates and abandoned nurseries. As you wander through the garden, you walk within different gardens with different themes and plants.
Did you know that Seward Johnson is grandson to Robert Wood Johnson – co-founder of Johnson & Johnson?
Barton Arboretum at Medford Leas
Founded in 1971, The Barton Arboretum and Nature Preserve in Medford Leas is unique in that it is a public garden within a residential area. Set among a 55+ retirement community, the public gardens and surrounding preserved natural areas feature the largest collection of plants in Southern NJ. The non-profit that created the space wanted to create a community in harmony with nature.
Landscape architects from Morris Arboretum designed thirty-two unique courtyard gardens that surround private homes. There is a large community garden that Burlington County Master Gardeners use called, The Farm, as well as a paved walkway that takes people through a grove of trees. With all these different spaces, people are able to see many kinds of birds and butterflies.
Did you know that you can visit the Barton Arboretum for free? And, it’s open 7 days a week from dawn to dusk.
Bartram’s Garden
Located along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Bartram’s Garden is considered to be America’s First Garden. John Bartram, known as “the greatest natural botanist in the world,” purchased 102 acres in 1728 and turned it into a garden while collecting and studying North American plants. John and his son William are credited with identifying and cultivating over 200 plants!
Besides the beautiful plants, the 45 acre garden boasts a boat dock, playground and ball fields. People can walk, run or bike from the garden to Grey’s Ferry Bridge.
Did you know that Bartram’s Garden has the oldest ginkgo tree in the United States! It is also home to the Franklin Tree, which he named for Benjamin Franklin and saved from extinction!
Tips for Being More Earth Friendly
1. Re-use Old Towels and Sheets: Cutting up old towels to use as cleaning rags seems like an easy thing to do and with 3 boys, I have a lot to clean. Cutting up old sheets and turning them into reusable napkins or handkerchiefs would also help use less paper goods!
2.Use a Rain Barrel: Rain barrels can be both pretty & functional and connect right to your downspout. Using collected rainwater is especially earth friendly during the summer when our plants need extra water due to the heat.
3. BYO Tupperware: Many restaurants pack leftovers into non-recyclable containers. Bringing your own tupperware cuts down on landfill waste.
4.Take the Train: One of the best things about living in this area is our access to public transportation. It’s easy to take the train into Philly or even hop on an Amtrak headed towards DC or NYC. Besides being easy, it also helps the earth. Less cars are on the road, using less fuel, and decreasing greenhouse gasses.
5.Buy Second Hand: Who knew that buying second hand is earth friendly?! Thrift stores, yard sales, and resale stores are helping us re-use others’ discards.
6. Use the Library: I recently bought a copy of an amazing book, Between the Mountain and the Sky, by Maggie Doyne. I love books, but I don’t always like to buy them brand new; making a book uses lots of resources; paper, ink, fuel to transport them from the printer to the stores they will be sold in. Libraries are a great way for people to “share” a book, making them earth friendly. Also, make sure to ask if your library has a seed library too! Many offer a seed exchanges for people to find new plants for their gardens!
7. Use LED bulbs: Incandescent bulbs last about 1,000 hours. LED bulbs last for 100,000 hours! You won’t need to change them for approximately 20 years! (Can the LED technology be applied to my smoke detector? It only chirps at night).
8. Shop your Farmer’s Markets: Farmer’s Markets are one of the best things about summer. Walking around the stalls and seeing all the local vendors and finding amazing food, flowers and gifts. Everything comes from nearby farms and is fresh-picked.
9. Compost: Compost is a vital way to provide nourishment to our soil and it’s pretty easy to create! Food scraps like banana peels, coffee grounds, and eggs shells combine with dried leaves, grass, and shredded newspaper and over time, break down to become nutritious dirt! That dirt can be used on your plants. You can start your own compost pile in your yard, or subscribe to a service like Garden State Composting.
10. Buy a Pollinator Plants: Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are vital pollinators of our plants – which means our plants grow and produce flowers, fruit, and vegetables because of the pollen they distribute. Before buying a new plant for your garden, check to see if it’s a pollinator! Adding them to your garden will help your garden flourish, as well as providing food for the pollinators.
11. Use your Dishwasher: My dishwasher broke this year and I realized how much I dislike doing dishes! I am so glad to know that I am unconsciously being earth friendly by using my dishwasher. Dishwashers use less water than when people hand wash dishes – just make sure you run your washer when it’s fully loaded.
12. Line Dry Your Clothes: Skipping the dryer and line drying your laundry saves energy. It leaves clothes crisp and smelling fresh. Line drying is gentler on clothes, making them last longer. If you line dry inside your house, it also adds moisture to the air, which is important in the winter when the air is so dry.