The Neighborhood Gardens Association / A Philadelphia Land Trust (NGA) is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is the long term preservation of existing community-managed gardens and open spaces in Philadelphia. Incorporated in 1986, NGA resulted from the efforts of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), the Penn State Urban Gardening Program (PSUGP) and local business representatives and community gardeners. They saw a need to create a mechanism for preserving community gardens threatened by development. Often these gardens were former vacant, trash-filled lots that had been transformed into gardens through the efforts of the neighbors in low and moderate-income neighborhoods. In most cases, the land was not owned by the gardeners but by the city or private (often tax-delinquent) owners. After years of caring for the land, some gardeners lost their gardens to development projects. It was this possibility of losing more gardens that lead to the creation of NGA.
Over the last twenty years, numerous challenges have faced the gardeners and NGA as they attempted to preserve gardens. Each garden site had unique characteristics and required individualized attention. NGA worked through each situation with the gardeners and now holds title to twenty-four gardens on behalf of the community. These parcels range from 3.7 acres to single house lots. The gardens are a variety of vegetable and flower gardens as well as sitting parks, and are maintained by the local community residents. NGA handles the insurance and taxes so gardeners can do what they do best — garden. These land-trusted gardens represent only a small percentage of the successful gardening projects in the city. The significant inventory of community gardens and vacant land in Philadelphia provides a challenge for NGA in the future.
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