The Community Garden Project (CGP) is an initiative of Palms Solutions and the Monumental Baptist Church in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, teaching children about growing food with a focus nutritional health, science, and environmental importance. Since its inception in 2012, CGP has taught more than 100 children and adults the nutritional value of growing fruits and vegetables, preparing healthy meals, recycling and reusing water and natural fertilizers. We also use our program to teach service-learning skills, develop youth leaders, and foster accountability and teamwork.
The Community Garden Project aims to help strengthen the prevention of childhood obesity, diabetes, and hunger by instilling the love for gardening in the hearts of children and youth especially in neighborhoods where problems such as drugs, crime, poor health, and financial hardship are part of everyday life. The first phase of our project was a complete success, on four beds, we were able to plant and harvest more than 200 pounds of tomatoes, eggplants, cabbages, collard greens, carrots, kales, beets, lettuces, potatoes, onions and peppers as well as herbs including basils dills parsley, thyme, oregano.
Our children are learning many lessons through gardening and other educational aspects of gardening including: Science. Talking about the life cycle of a plant. Which seeds grow faster? Math. Counting seeds, spacing them and comparing their sizes. Art. Drawing pictures of pictures of the vegetable on their pots. Moreover the kids were also taught about the garden’ structure, and some of the economic factors that govern gardening.. View more pictures
Harvest from this 2015 year’s gardening season was the largest yet Over 450 pounds of vegetables 
were donated to
the community. This has been the best harvest so far, and a memorable time for the children who were involved right at the beginning with the planting of the seeds, to then follow and measure the growth of each vegetable, and at the end, they were able to share the result of their research through a powerpoint presentations, enjoy the pictures. Moreover, with such accomplishments, we are definitely motivated to increase our harvest in the year 2016, and we will appreciate any donations to help us contribute to the wellbeing of our community, and the education of our children, about good and healthy diets. To donate please click here.
Below is our Global Enrichment Leadership Academy student”Dr” Fodé, sharing why him and his team, chose carrot as a vegetable to study. We call of our students Dr. as a motivational incentive to push them the furthest in their academic achievements.