Two vacant lots behind Stefan Erwin’s North Second Street apartment used to be littered with trash. With the help of various volunteer groups, the trash has been removed, the soil nurtured, and the waste replaced with a small farm and community garden co-op.
“It was the continual assistance provided by the various community groups already in existence that made this project possible,” says Erwin, who was raised in Maplewood.
Organizations like the Camden Children’s Garden, Concerned Citizens of North Camden, and the New Jersey Tree Foundation have been working to make community farming and gardening a significant part of Camden. Erwin says he hopes to continue these efforts on a smaller scale.
In doing so, Erwin formed the Camden Agricultural Coalition, whose mission is to promote community development through agricultural sustainability.
“The idea is to form a low-cost model for individuals in the community to grow their own food in a sustainable and aesthetically pleasing manner,” Erwin explains. “Not everyone has the time to adopt a lot and build a farm.”
Erwin created a small farm and 12 eight-by-eight-foot plots that individual families or city residents could cultivate on their own and for free. Free plants
Now, potatoes, peas, spinach, broccoli, onions, and cabbage grow where trash once littered the lots.
“I was tired of hearing people complain about the filth that resides on the abandoned lots,” says Erwin. “Many abandoned lots are not maintained, are overgrown, and have become an eyesore. These eyesores act as a disincentive for individuals to clean and maintain the area. By replacing these lots with aesthetically pleasing public spaces that involve the community, we have now done the opposite.”
A second-year student at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden, Erwin attained his undergraduate degree in criminal justice and political science from Rutgers–New Brunswick.
Those interested in the community garden can contact Erwin at camdenagriculturalcoalition@gmail.com.
More information can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/camdenagriculturalcoalition.
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Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
(856) 225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu