Soil Kitchen combines art, environmentalism and food

A crowd huddled around artist-engineer Sam Newman as he fastened sheet-metal blades into nine-spoke bicycle wheels, explaining the steps as he went along so that by the end of the workshop, observers would know how to make their own wind turbines.

Another group was clustered around the counter with free Mediterranean vegetable and cream of broccoli soups.

And then there were the people who had come in to drop off dirt.

"The exciting thing about this is that you don't know what will become of it and you don't know who's going to walk in the door," said Amy Franceschini, founder of Futurefarmers, an organizer of the event at Second Street and Girard Avenue in Northern Liberties.

Friday was the beginning of Soil Kitchen, a six-day installation organized by the city's Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy.

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Wednesday, anyone can grab a bowl of soup made with local ingredients, have their soil's health tested, and learn about sustainability through workshops on topics such as alternative energy, composting, and farming. All of it is free.

Upon entering, people dropped off soil samples and stuck pushpins into a colorful wall map to indicate which neighborhoods they and their soils were from. Representatives from the federal Environmental Protection Agency will examine the soil samples for metals and nutrient content and offer residents advice about healthy soil.

From the neighborhood, David Gleeson, a partner in Crane Arts, checked out the space with his wife, Cynthia Porter, an artist and sculptor. Gleeson, once a regular patron of the space's previous incarnation, an Italian restaurant, was enthusiastic to see the venue alive again. Porter's interest was piqued by the mechanical and artistic aspects of the project.

Local environmentalists also supported the installation. Josh Marowitz, a graphic designer and photographer who tends a plot in a community garden, is passionate about sustainability.

"The more I'm in the city," he said, "the more I'm working on my computer, and the more I want to be working with my hands and doing gardening."