Showing posts with label community gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community gardens. Show all posts

Friday, June 4, 2021

Details on Open Garden Day NYC and Art Around the Hood tomorrow

Some local community gardens will be taking part tomorrow (Saturday!) in the fourth annual Open Garden Day via GreenThumb... activities include garden tours, arts and music, yoga, gardening workshops, etc. 

You can visit the NYC Parks website here for details. In addition, 20 local community gardens are participating in Art around the Hood. Details at the LUNGS website

Highlighting one event over at the First Street Garden between First Avenue and Second Avenue... where there'll be a zine and plant swap ...
Top photo from the 6th & B Garden

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Saturday's parting shot

A moment from the LUNGS parade today on Avenue B in celebration of the neighborhood's community gardens... photo by Derek Berg...

Friday, April 30, 2021

A celebration of community gardens on Saturday

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is hosting its annual Spring Awakening in honor of the neighborhood's community gardens tomorrow (Saturday).

Per the LUNGS website:
The parade will begin at noon at El Sol Brillante, 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, meander down Avenue C ... cross 6th Street and end up on Avenue B. 
Spring Awakening will feature a photo scavenger-treasure hunt, prizes, music, puppets, workshops, comedy and art.
Some of the individual community gardens will be hosting events throughout the afternoon. Check this link for details. 

There will also be events in the afternoon on Avenue B between Eighth Street and Ninth Street in conjunction with Loisaida Open Streets. (Yesterday, City Council made the Open Streets program permanent. More on this later.)

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

The artist who captured the sounds of East Village community gardens during the pandemic

Interview by Stacie Joy

Over the past year, Japanese artist Aki Onda has been visiting East Village community gardens and making field recordings for his project "Silence Prevails: East Village Community Gardens During the Pandemic." (Find the video here.)

Although now back in Japan, his project has recently gone live, and I was able to talk with him about his work, the inspiration behind the project and what’s next for him.
How did this project come about? Can you speak about its history? What made you choose the East Village for your project and what drew you to its community gardens?

I had an idea to do a project about the East Village community gardens for many years, although it took a long time, nearly two decades until I could work on it.

I started visiting NYC around the end of the 1990s and often stayed in the East Village. Back then, the area was home to artists and musicians. I had many friends and it was easy to hang out with them as well as sublet their apartment. I also loved watching avant-garde cinema at Anthology Film Archives, spent hundreds of hours there and met Jonas Mekas

His film "Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania," which I watched in Tokyo in 1996, had a tremendous impact on my life and art practice. So, it was a big deal for me to meet him. I would visit him at his office, and he would offer a drink to toast even if it was morning. Then, we would go to lunch at his usual Italian restaurant nearby, or Mars Bar.

Mekas organized two exhibitions of my photographs at the Courthouse Gallery in the basement. I donated a couple of large-size prints, and in return, he gave me a small print of his still image, which I still have. I met so many filmmakers while I spent my time at the AFA, and that helped me to absorb the Downtown culture. 

I found community gardens such as Albert’s Garden, Liz Christy Community Garden and 6 & B Garden around that time. Each had a very distinctive character and I sensed there was something to look into. My favorite was La Plaza Cultural, although the garden itself was rough around the edges and unpretentious, I found it a cheerful and festive space. 

Much later, I learned that the garden was founded by Carlos "Chino" Garcia and fellow local activists. Their associations with Buckminster Fuller and Gordon Matta-Clark, and the intersection between art and activism, was also inspiring.

My work, both sound- and visual-based, are often catalyzed by and structured around memories —personal, collective, historical. So, the community garden was the perfect subject, and slowly over the years, I kept visiting those gardens and learning historical backgrounds.  

Finally, I decided to embark on the project in 2019 and there was a strong twist. The original idea was to document the gardens by making field recordings, taking photos, and writing texts through the four seasons from spring 2020 to winter 2021. 

However, the pandemic swept the globe, and as of March 2020, New York was its epicenter and under full lockdown. GreenThumb made a decision to close all community gardens until further notice. Only members were allowed to enter, and my project ground to a halt. 

Nonetheless, I thought it could be interesting to document the gardens in these unprecedented times and began contacting individual gardens directly. In the end, I visited around 25 gardens in spring and summer 2020. Spending time in the gardens was somehow comforting. Those are sparsely populated outdoor spaces and there is low risk of catching the virus. 

And, if I look back to the past, those gardens started as "green oases" by local residents when the city was going through a severe financial crisis in the 1970s. This was the hardest hit area with many low-income residents, and buildings descended into ruin. In that traumatized neighborhood, there was a strong need to improve lives and find sources of hope. 

Somehow, in the midst of COVID-19 crisis, though it’s a different type of crisis, I saw a sort of cycle and thought it’s worth researching and how those garden spaces changed over the last half-century.

What was the most surprising thing that happened while you were recording?

When I was recording in Campos Community Garden, suddenly the wind blew, and the wind chimes hung from a tree, started making beautiful sounds and vibrations. It lasted until I pressed the stop button.

What were the reactions of others as you set up your equipment and recorded sound and images?

I use a handheld cassette recorder, only with a cheap attached microphone. It’s low-key and not like a high-end digital recorder with a fluffy expensive shotgun microphone attached to a long boom. The presence of my equipment is unobtrusive and people feel less uncomfortable. Taking photos is a bit different, and I usually ask them to get permission first as I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable.  

What’s next for you as an artist?

I'm preparing my solo exhibition titled "Letters from Dead Souls" at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) in summer 2021, and as well as a few other upcoming exhibitions.  

As for the community garden project, luckily, I developed good relationships with core members of the community garden movement during my research. It's a deep subject and there is a lot more to dig into. I'm planning to continue the research for the next several years and expand the project for another opportunity. Let's see what comes with it...    
Image of the artist by Makiko Onda, all other images courtesy Aki Onda. You can keep up with the artist here.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

That Ginko tree in the Secret Garden on 4th Street and Avenue C

If you're interested in a last blast of fall foliage, then consider a walk by the Secret Garden on Fourth Street at Avenue C... where the Ginko there is looking specactular...
And if you are interested in seeing this... you may want to do it sooner rather than later: There's a gale warning for the area tomorrow.

Monday, November 23, 2020

Groups petition city officials to protect NYC's community gardens

On Nov. 18, the New York City Community Garden Coalition, environmental law organization Earthjustice, and 52 allied groups submitted "From the Ground Up: A Petition to Protect New York City’s Community Gardens," which urges New York City government agencies to provide greater legal protections to community gardens, including the several dozen in the East Village.  

Here's more about the campaign via the EVG inbox...

To preserve and protect community gardens, Petitioners are requesting that New York City agencies designate City-owned community gardens as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Currently, there is only one CEA in New York City: Jamaica Bay in Queens.

CEA designation will help to ensure that projects and activities likely to affect community gardens are subject to consistent and rigorous environmental review that accounts for their exceptional characteristics and provides ample opportunities for public participation. CEA designation of community gardens represents a significant step toward recognizing and preserving community gardens as critical parts of the City's landscape.  
Equally important, by designating gardens as CEAs, the City would acknowledge community gardeners as stewards of sustainability and resilience and ensure that they have a meaningful — and necessary — voice in any future decision-making processes that could affect community gardens. 

The Petition makes the following three legal requests:
  • First, City agencies with jurisdiction over 40 community gardens identified in the Petition designate those City-owned gardens as CEAs under SEQRA within six months following the submission of the Petition, or by May 18, 2021;
  • Second, Within 12 months following the submission of the Petition, or by Nov. 18, 2021, the Department of Parks and Recreation's GreenThumb Program conduct an assessment of all remaining community gardens on City-owned land and confirm, in consultation with community gardeners, that these gardens meet the regulatory criteria for CEA designation; and
  • Third, Within 12 months following the submission of the Petition, or by Nov. 18, 2021, City agencies designate as CEAs all gardens within their respective jurisdictions that meet the regulatory criteria for CEA designation, based on GreenThumb's assessment, in consultation and coordination with community gardeners.

Last year, community gardens on city-owned land were in danger of closing or relocating due to the ongoing dispute over the licensing agreement from the department's GreenThumb program.

Photo from the Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

At the 9th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival


This last weekend saw two days of arts and events in participating East Village community gardens... as always, the annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival — an abbreviated and socially distant version compared to previous years — brought out the best in the neighborhood (art, music, creativity, community, etc.) 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these images from the weekend.

"Sounds of our Ancestors" HOWL Arts at La Plaza Cultural on Ninth Street and Avenue C ...
"The Contemplative Garden: Nature is Healing" at Le Petit Versailles on Second Street...
Penny Arcade reading from "Front Row Seat At The Apocalypse" at La Plaza Cultural ...Michelle Shocked at De Colores Community Yard & Cultural Center on Eighth Street...
Dance to the People in Tompkins Square Park...
   
 Kuki Gomez at El Sol Brillante on 12th Street ... Elizabeth Detjens Maucher in "From Microbes to Metropolis" outside Grace Exhibition Space on Avenue C...  Nora Balaban and some mbira music plus her drawings at La Plaza Cultural...
Samone Leona showcasing her art at La Plaza Cultural ...
Ian Dave Knife at Tompkins Square Park...

 
Live Music from VC, featuring musician/gardeners Victor Weiss and Carmine D’Intino at 6 & B Community Garden ...


Saturday, October 3, 2020

Reminders: The 9th annual Lungs Harvest Arts Festival is this weekend

An abbreviated version of the annual Lungs Harvest Arts Festival is taking place this weekend in participating community gardens around the East Village.

Check out this link for the full list of performances, which includes a reading by Penny Arcade at La Plaza Cultural and music by Michelle Shocked at De Colores Community Yard & Cultural Garden.

And an overview via the EVG inbox...
It's 2020 and we are all stuck inside somewhere ...  This year's festival is dedicated expressing our situation through art ...  sharing the reality of what is going on in our lives

All the exhibits will take place behind the garden fences with the audiences on the sidewalks.

The audience will be moving, fluid. The art stationary. We want to foster our wild variety of sentiments through our art. We are all politically bent, given the times and election. Vote with your ART too. Let people know how you feel.

This as an Art exhibit and the gardens are the Green Museum.

It's perfect for touring audiences to visit and enjoy our community gardens.

Friday, September 25, 2020

Save the date: The 9th annual Lungs Harvest Arts Festival is Oct. 3-4

An abbreviated version of the annual Lungs Harvest Arts Festival is taking place on Oct. 3-4 in participating community gardens around the East Village.

Here are a few details via the EVG inbox...
It's 2020 and we are all stuck inside somewhere ...  This year's festival is dedicated expressing our situation through art ...  sharing the reality of what is going on in our lives

All the exhibits will take place behind the garden fences with the audiences on the sidewalks.

The audience will be moving, fluid. The art stationary. We want to foster our wild variety of sentiments through our art. We are all politically bent, given the times and election. Vote with your ART too. Let people know how you feel.

This as an Art exhibit and the gardens are the Green Museum.

It's perfect for touring audiences to visit and enjoy our community gardens.
More details will be on the Lungs website closer to the festival.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Local community gardens are now closed to the public


[View of the 6BC Botanical Garden]

In response to Gov. Cuomo's PAUSE executive order, community gardens in the East Village and elsewhere in NYC are now only open to volunteers for "absolutely necessary maintenance."

Here's part of an email to gardeners from Bill LoSasso, director of the GreenThumb program:

I hope that you're all healthy and staying safe ... Effective immediately, and until further notice, all gardens on NYC Parks property are open to gardeners only, and only for absolutely necessary maintenance. They must remain closed to the public. While this will be disappointing to many, this is a necessary decision in order to help protect public health.

You can find the full policy and updates at this link.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Pols call on Parks Department to save local community gardens at risk over new licensing agreement



Local elected officials, led by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, are calling on the Parks Department to resolve outstanding issues in the latest proposed GreenThumb licensing agreements.

By one estimate, nearly 100 community gardens on city-owned land are in danger of closing or relocating due to the ongoing dispute over the licensing agreement from the department's GreenThumb program.

In April, community gardeners received a new four-year license agreement that they say substantially changes the relationship they've enjoyed with the city since 1978.

According to the New York City Community Garden Coalition, the 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contain additional requirements that are burdensome for both parties, and "which will hinder the community outreach and engagement that are hallmarks of community gardens in New York City."

There hasn't been any progress made with negotiations, and the Parks Department has told groups that they won't be permitted to continue operating without signing the new licensing agreement.

In the letter to Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver dated Oct. 10 and made public yesterday, elected officials encouraged the Parks Department to return to the negotiating table with community garden leaders and reach a fair deal for gardeners that allows them to continue operating with a neighborhood-led approach.

Per the letter:

"Under the proposed license ... GreenThumb becomes an agent of enforcement rather than a garden-friendly working partner. The 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contains new burdensome requirements that could hinder the community outreach and engagement that is a hallmark of community gardens in New York City."

"City Hall’s attempt to change GreenThumb licensing agreements ... threatens the ongoing operation of our community gardens," Hoylman said in a statement released yesterday. "Commissioner Silver and the Parks Department must revise this licensing agreement so we can preserve these vital community spaces for years to come."

Said Rivera: "It is critical, that as we begin to recognize and address the decades of environmental injustice and racism, our city does not turn its back on the one area of environmental independence our minority communities have grown and fostered — our community gardens."

Aside from Hoylman and Rivera, the elected officials who joined the letter were: U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, U.S. Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, State Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick, State Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, State Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, State Assembly Member Dan Quart, State Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, City Council Member Margaret Chin, and City Council Member Helen Rosenthal.

Find a copy of the letter at this link.

Officials for the Parks Department have downplayed any garden drama.

"These renewals happen every four years and always have small changes based on experiences from the previous four year cycle — this cycle is no different," Crystal Howard, assistant commissioner for communications at the Parks Department, previously told amNY.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Community gardeners to rally at city hall over remaining issues with new license agreement

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Last weekend for the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival



The 8th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival concludes tomorrow in the neighbor's 50-plus gardens, which are hosting a variety of performances, concerts, workshops and other related events. Today's highlights include a Secret Garden Treasure Hunt that spans 10 gardens.

Check the LUNGS website here for the garden-by-garden schedule after the rally for East River Park.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Community gardeners to rally at city hall tomorrow over remaining issues with new license agreement



Community gardeners across NYC will rally at City Hall tomorrow (Thursday) morning as they continue to be at odds with the Parks Department over a new license agreement to operate their volunteer-run green spaces.

The gardeners had a similar action planned last month,
but called it off after city officials extended the deadline for submitting relicensing documents to Sept. 20. The city also said they would adopt several of the gardeners' recommendations.

Despite the extension and updates, Charles Krezell, head of Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS), said that two sides are still at odds over several key points that he says are crucial to protecting community gardens and their stewards.

"The license negotiations are not going anywhere right now," Krenzell said in an email. "We met with Parks [officials] on Sept. 5 and they were not willing to concede anything new. We continue to ask gardens to not sign the license."

In April, community gardeners received a new four-year license agreement that they say substantially changes the relationship they've enjoyed with the city since 1978.

According to the New York City Community Garden Coalition, the 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contain additional requirements that are burdensome for both parties, and "which will hinder the community outreach and engagement that are hallmarks of community gardens in New York City."

Krenzell yesterday outlined what he and other gardeners consider the main sticking points:

• The liability issue:

"Gardeners and other volunteers have to assume working at their own risk in the gardens, releasing the city from any possible liability issues. The public is supposedly covered by the city but none of this is spelled out. The license imposes requirements on gardens to clear city-owned sidewalks, which could be construed to leave gardens liable for any injury resulting from sidewalks obstructed by snow, ice, garbage and the like. Gardeners tend to voluntarily keep sidewalks clear out of consideration for their members and visitors, but should not be bound to perform garbage and snow removal. There are three set of rules and regulations that gardens are now required to follow. They are confusing and, in some cases, contradictory. The regulations are not enforceable with the current staff at GreenThumb, leading to arbitrary and selective enforcement."

The permissions:

"Each garden is required to hold two public events a year. The new rules now stipulate that the events must be approved in writing by the Parks Department — even though Parks has nothing to do with the events themselves. This takes away the spontaneous spirit of the gardens and requires more paperwork. We are also afraid it will lead to fees for permits down the line, as per the Parks Department regulations."

The records:

"Garden records can be can be audited at any time. There is very little money in most garden accounts and some are just kept in personal accounts. This is looked upon as a push toward making each garden group become a nonprofit, having to file tax forms and more paperwork."

Officials for the Parks Department have downplayed any garden drama.

"These renewals happen every four years and always have small changes based on experiences from the previous four year cycle — this cycle is no different," Crystal Howard, assistant commissioner for communications at the Parks Department, previously told amNY.

The Parks Department has told groups that they won't be permitted to continue operating without signing the new licensing agreement.

The rally starts tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood's community gardens are currently hosting evenings during the eighth annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City extends deadline for community garden licensing; Monday's City Hall rally cancelled

Community gardeners to rally at City Hall Monday over new license agreement

Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Reminders: There is a lot going on in community gardens for the next week



The eighth annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival is underway... with a variety of performances, concerts, workshops and other related events happening in the neighborhood's 50-plus community gardens.

Check the LUNGS website at this link for the garden-by-garden schedule.

You can also keep an eye out for this LUNGS newspaper with a rundown of activities ... picked this one up at my laundromat...





The festival continues through next Sunday, Sept. 22.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

8th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival begins on Saturday



More than 100 events are scheduled in the neighborhood's community gardens starting Saturday (Sept. 14!) as part of the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival.

This year's Festival now spans nine days in 50-plus gardens, each featuring a variety of performances, concerts, workshops and other related events.

Check the LUNGS website here for the garden-by-garden schedule.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

City extends deadline for community garden licensing; Monday's City Hall rally cancelled



The city has extended an olive branch of sorts to community gardeners.

As reported yesterday, community gardeners across NYC planned to a rally on the steps of City Hall on Monday against what they're calling a new one-sided license agreement to operate their volunteer-run green spaces.

This morning, Bill LoSasso, director of the NYC Parks GreenThumb, sent the following letter to the GreenThumb gardeners:

As you know, we are in the process of relicensing GreenThumb community gardens operating on NYC Parks property. As we near completion of that process, we are extending the deadline for submission of the relicensing documents until Friday, September 20, 2019, and also making several updates to the Gardener's Handbook to better support our network of gardens and gardeners.

Please review the details in the attached letter. Your GreenThumb Outreach Coordinator will be happy to speak with you about any questions that you might have.

I hope that your gardens are doing well and in full bloom, and I look forward to seeing many of you again soon. Enjoy your weekend!

As a result of the extension and updates, Monday's rally has been cancelled. Here's a statement to us via Charles Krezell, head of Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS):

We are very happy that GreenThumb has extended the license agreement deadline to Sept. 20.

We hope to continue negotiating in good faith. We all love our gardens and want to continue to have a
good relationship with GreenThumb and the Parks Department.

In light of the new deadline we are canceling the Rally scheduled for Monday at City Hall.

We are very grateful for the vigorous support of our community gardeners. We continue to recognize that our strength is in unity; and our goal is to continue to help New York grow.

H/T Stacie Joy!

Friday, August 16, 2019

[UPDATED] Community gardeners to rally at City Hall Monday over new license agreement


[Dias y Flores Community Garden on 13th Street]

---

Updated 8/17: The city has extended a deadline for the licensing agreements, and made several changes to the Gardener's Handbook. As a result, the rally has been cancelled. Scoop here.

---

Community gardeners across NYC are taking to City Hall on Monday morning to rally against what they're calling a new one-sided license agreement to operate their volunteer-run green spaces.

In April, community gardeners received a new four-year license agreement that they say substantially changes the relationship they've enjoyed with the city since 1978.

According to the New York City Community Garden Coalition, the 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contain additional requirements that are burdensome for both parties, and "which will hinder the community outreach and engagement that are hallmarks of community gardens in New York City."

Here's part of a media advisory via Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS):

Under the new license, GreenThumb becomes an enforcement agency rather than a garden-friendly helpmate. This new license imposes new regulations, restrictions and obligations on garden groups.

It was written by lawyers with no sense of the historical and cultural significance of the gardens and their communities. Now we are being told that we are being allowed to garden on city property and if we don’t like the new license we don’t have to garden.

Gardeners have voiced great concerns. At a Town Hall in May, gardeners voted unanimously to not sign the license. In the past 40 years there has never been widespread opposition to garden licenses.

We have tried to negotiate changes to the license; we want to continue to work toward a better license. But the City is threatening garden groups with a lockout. We have grave concerns about these items in the new license:

• There are three sets of regulations that gardens are required to follow, these regulations are inconsistent, contradictory and confusing.
• Liability issues remain unresolved. The term “Licensee” in the agreement is not defined, what does it mean for the person signing the license on behalf of their community garden?
• Gardens are required to hold two free public events a year but must obtain written permission far in advance from GreenThumb to hold these events.
• Many of the new rules will be impossible to effectively enforce given the size of GreenThumb’s staff. This can only lead to arbitrary, discriminatory enforcement. Gardens will be lost because of developers’ greed not garden infractions.

A recent meeting between the Community Garden Coalition and city officials did net some progress, such as gardeners will once again have the option of allowing dogs into their spaces.

Officials for the Parks Department downplayed any garden drama.

"These renewals happen every four years and always have small changes based on experiences from the previous four year cycle — this cycle is no different," Crystal Howard, assistant commissioner for communications at the Parks Department, recently told amNY.

And:

She said changes include "making the gardens more accessible by keeping them open to the public during the weekend; allowing gardens to host more fundraising events so they can sustain themselves; and increasing safety by asking gardens to coordinate with Green Thumb ahead of planned events."

Monday is the deadline for signing the new license. Patch reported that the Parks Department has told groups that they won't be permitted to continue operating without one. (Patch also noted that nearly 180 gardens have already signed the agreements "out of 353 gardens expected to sign.")

The City Hall rally on Monday starts at 10 a.m.


[Spreading the word one van at a time]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Open Garden Day NYC is today


[6th & B Garden via Instagram]

More than a dozen neighborhood community gardens are participating today in Open Garden Day NYC.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. you'll be able to take part in activities such as plant tours, composting and cooking demonstrations.

You can visit the NYC Parks website here for details on participating gardens... or look at this map thing...

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

These 2 adjacent community gardens have merged on Avenue B



You may have noticed that Vamos a Sembrar, the small community garden on the west side of Avenue B near 12th Street, has been emptied out... ditto for the Avenue B Community Garden on the north side of the plot...



EVG regular Gojira, who shared these photos, was alarmed by the site of the empty lot. "As you can see, it has been leveled — all the greenery has been ripped out, the casita torn down."





I asked Bill LoSasso, director of the NYC Parks GreenThumb, who oversees the city's community gardens, for an explanation.

"The two groups that have stewarded the adjacent community gardens at this site are working together to merge and become one group stewarding one larger community garden. This is an exciting project," he said in an email. "GreenThumb worked with the group over the winter to complete a participatory visioning and design process, and we are beginning the physical implementation of their design. We’ll be supporting them with site improvements and plantings."

The garden will debut a little later this year.

"The community gardeners are excited to see their design realized," said LoSasso, who noted that anyone who's interested in getting involved with the group here can reach out to GreenThumb at this email.

Friday, June 7, 2019

From noon to moon: El Sol Brillante's Garden Party benefit is tomorrow



The folks at El Sol Brillante are holding their Spring/Summer fundraiser on tomorrow (Saturday, June 8) at the community garden on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Here's what to expect via the invite:

Come join us for live music, food, refreshments, tie dye or just to enjoy and support the garden. All proceeds go directly to the garden for our composting and horticulture projects and general maintenance. Admission is free and all are welcome. Noon to Moon, June 8.

We will be celebrating the debut of our new mural at this Spring's party and toasting the artist, Jeramy Turner, who has helped to bring it to life. Please join us as we celebrate her!