Posts (page 2)
On a beautiful saturday in April New York Cares volunteers came to the UCC youth Farm to help us prepare for this season. A group of 25 people helped by weeding, creating a raised bed, working on our compost pile, laying black plastic, double digging, and cleaning our pond. It was a lot of hard work and we are vey thankful that our volunteers could help us out.
Pictures taken by our volunteers can be found by clicking the following link:
On April 19th, the Mayor’s Street Activity permit office approved our request to close off a one-block area for our farmers market. Having the market on the street will not only create an even more festive atmosphere (like a street fair every Saturday!) but will also allow us to open the UCC Youth Farm for tours every Saturday. Market customers can come at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm to join a tour of garden led by East New York Farms! youth interns.
Come visit us at our new location! Opening Day will be Saturday June 30th, 9 am – 3 pm, featuring The Soul Shakers singing doo-wop and R&B at 11 am, at our NEW home, Schenck Avenue between New Lots Avenue and Barbey Street (#3 train to Van Siclen).
As you pass by the corner of New Lots and Alabama Avenues you may notice something unusual happening on this land that has been abandoned for over a decade. On Monday April 16th, the jurisdiction of this lot was transferred from HPD (The Department of Housing Preservation and Development) to GreenThumb (the part of the Parks Department that deals with community gardens) so that East New York Farms! can begin farming there!
For the past four months East NY Farms! has been involving community residences in a participatory planning process in making decisions on how the project will proceed. As a group we have had four meetings where we developed by-laws and a landscape design.
As the spring has arrived we have gotten permission to use this plot of land to build an urban farm and a community gathering space. During the week of April 16th 14 truckloads of soil, compost, and woodchips, has been delivered in preparation for the growing season.
On April 21st, we hosted a workday where community residents, as well as over 50 volunteers from NY Cares cleaned up the site, and began to build raised beds and paths.
On Wednesday May 9th,we will be having a planning meeting where we will be reviewing our farm plan, and dividing the land. We encourage you to attend the meeting and provide any insights you may have concerning this site. The meeting will be located at the United Community Center, 613 New Lots Avenue, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
This is a community-based project and if you are interested in garden space, and growing food for market, feel free to contact Jonah Braverman at
(718) 649-7979 Ext. 14 for additional information or check out our website at www.eastnewyorkfarms.org
East New York Farms! has been evolving every year. With this new season we will be working at an additional site, developing a NEW urban farm. Check out this mention of us the New York Times!
We would love for you to come and help us out.
We will be hosting a volunteer day on Saturday May 5th from 9:30 - 12:30. We hope that you will be able to attend. For directions and information, call Nicole at 718-649-7979 ext. 28 and leave a message for Tamara and Nicole, or send an email to info@eastnewyorkfarms.org
Hope to see you then!
East New York Farms will be hosting two workshop series for new gardeners.
March 21st from 5:30pm-7:30pm
First Workshop: Garden Planning-Creating a garden, spacing, timing, harvesting, and seasonality
April 4th from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Second Workshop: Planting Techniques and Growing for Market, Starting Seeds, irrigation, weeding, pest control, and market development
Location: Brooklyn Public Library, New Lots Branch 665 New Lots Avenue
Contact Jonah at 718-649-7979 x. 28 for more info
We are recruiting vendors for the 2007 season!
EAST NEW YORK FARMESR MARKET AWARDED GRANT TO DEVELOP NEW URBAN FARM SITE AND CONDUCT COOKING PROGRAM WITH LOCAL HEALTH CENTERS
As part of a national initiative, Project for Public Spaces has awarded a grant to the East New York Farmers Market. The grant will allow the market to develop a new urban farm site (recruiting immigrant growers and longtime residents) and to conduct a targeted nutrition and cooking education series at WIC (Women Infants and Children) centers throughout East New York. :
The grant is one of ten projects supported by Project for Public Spaces’ highly competitive initiative to diversify farmers markets nationwide. Undertaken in partnership with the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) the grants are part of a three-year, $3 million grant-making program, which began in 2005 and is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The number of farmers markets across the United States has doubled in the last decade to an estimated 4,300, selling products ranging from local produce to meat and dairy to crafts.
“Throughout the years, Project for Public Spaces has deepened its understanding of the complex relationships between a market and the community it serves,” says Steve Davies, Project for Public Spaces Senior Vice President and Director of the Public Markets Program. “These grants provide much-needed financial support for farmers markets to reach their potential as central places in communities as well as significantly contribute to their communities’ overall well-being. We hope these markets will inspire national adoption of innovative farmers market and community development programs.”
Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1975 dedicated to creating and sustaining places that build community. We provide technical assistance, education, and research through programs in parks, plazas and central squares; buildings and civic architecture; transportation; and public markets. PPS has worked with communities in 48 states and in 20 countries around the world. Please visit www.pps.org for more information.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.” Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.
The East New York Farms! Project relies on the amazing supports and talents of our many partners including:
The East New York Food Policy Council and Food Coop, enyfpc@yahoo.com
The East New York Gardeners’ Association [www.enyga.org]
The East New York Planning Group
Greenthumb and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation [www.greenthumbnyc.org]
Just Food [www.justfood.org]
The “Brooklyn’s Bounty Network” of Brooklyn markets that include urban-grown produce! Contact Just Food for more information.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets [www.agmkt.state.ny.us]
The Brooklyn District Public Health Office & the Brooklyn Task Force on Food and Fitness
The Farmers’ Market Federation of New York [www.nyfarmersmarket.com]
The Food Project BLAST Network [www.thefoodproject.org/blast/index.asp]
We also would like to acknowledge the generous support of our funders:
Deutsche Bank
Heifer International
Independence Community Foundation
National Institutes of Environmental Health
New York City Department of Youth and Community Development
New York Community Trust
Patagonia, Inc
Private donors
The Food Project BLAST Youth Council
The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
The Lily Auchincloss Foundation
United Neighborhood Houses
William T. Grant
Check out Rachel Wharton's Daily News article about East New York Farms!, titled A Growing Interest: Brooklyn gardeners reap benefits of selling in local market. Here's the intro...
Like a handful of other sellers at East New York Farms!, a community-run market in Brooklyn, Wilks lives in the neighborhood. Her farm is her backyard, a stretch of driveway and a plot at the New Vision community garden flourishing across the street. "It's the love of my life, aside from teaching," says Wilks, who spends weekdays as a city school superintendent, nights and weekends in the soil.
