Milestone Years for Awbury Farm, Saul CSA

by Alessandro Ascherio, Weavers Way Farm Manager

March 5, 2026

Weavers Way has also been farming at Mort Brooks Memorial Farm in Awbury Arboretum for 25 years. Also this year, our Henry Got Crops CSA is entering its 18th season. It might be time for a party — or at least a ceremony and celebration — as the farms enter their adulthoods.

Thousands of people and dedicated organizations have contributed to making our farms and farm market possible. They include the founding farm committee formed over two decades ago, Co-op leadership and staff over the years, legions of working members, the general Co-op membership, those who work as part of their CSA share,  Saul students, staff, and administration; Awbury Arboretum, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Bennett Compost, Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Food Moxie, current and past CSA members, and, of course, the constantly shifting mosaic of farm managers and crew. 

Beyond the groups we can easily name, there are the generations of growers, seed keepers, land stewards and food workers — many unseen or uncredited — whose shared knowledge and labor shape how all of us farm today. It truly takes a city!

As a Weavers Way farmer, I feel the momentum of all these people and efforts converging to make our farms and our many beautiful, health-giving projects in Philadelphia and beyond a reality. Having this kind of operation in the city is special. The amount of food waste we create is a fraction of what I’ve seen at more rural farms, many of which don’t have immediate access to communities, markets or processing options to move extra produce quickly enough. 

With the support of the Co-op and the surrounding community, our farms can lean on the knowledge that the markets are there, the stores are down the block and the people we serve live near our farms and visit every week.

This closeness allows us to dig into questions and initiatives that make our farming livelihoods and food systems more sustainable and resilient. How can we grow better — and more — in the space we have? How can we give back to the land we steward? What does it take to make farmers want to stay and grow with our farms? How can we continue leaning into care of land and people, and away from control?

As many of you may know, both farm sites now supply the Henry Got Crops CSA, which is enrolling a record 300 members this year. I think that is a carrying capacity for the land and facilities we steward. We also offer a robust Fall CSA program and, for the first time, a flower bouquet subscription. And did I mention the Horseshoe Ranch egg share?

Please find more information about our CSA programs in this edition of the Shuttle or on our website. The farm also continues to grow many thousands of pounds of produce for the Co-op’s stores and our on-site farm market at Henry Got Crops.

I’m so proud of our team this year, and we can use all the support we can get to keep our mighty farms running through thick and thin. That will help us continue to ask big questions and carefully try to answer them. Like I said before, it takes a city!