Movie Night @ Hollenback Community Garden

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This just in from the Hollenback Community Garden: What could bring together such a wonderful group of people such as yourselves, from across the spectrum of politicians, reporters, activists, green-minded organizers, designers, scientists, local community members, educators, photographers, local gardeners, parents, volunteers, musicians and more?

Why, the Hollenback Community Garden, that's what!

You are all friends of the garden, and as such I wanted to extend an invitation to you all for our upcoming,

third annual...

Triple Threat Yardsale/Free BBQ/movienight!

The event is to take place in the garden on Saturday, September 23rd (with a raindate of Sunday, September 24th). The yardsale is a fundraiser and will begin around 1pm The BBQ is free (though feel free to bring items to grill) and will begin around 4pm The movie will begin once it starts getting dark, around 8pm

Please save the date and invite your families and friends.

We look forward to seeing you there and being able to thank you for your past, present and future support and kindness.

in growth and sunshine, Mark

The Hollenback Community Garden is located at 460 Washington Avenue, between Gates and Greene in Brooklyn. It can most easily be reached by taking either the C-train or G-train to the Clinton-Washington stop.

Cara Perkins (917) 701-2875 Mark Trushkowsky (917) 804 -0414 Contact Coordinators Hollenback Community Garden Brooklyn, NY

Some Posts from Curbed

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Community Gardens Updates

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I've received a few Community Garden updates since I posted the comprehensive list. First, here's a blog covering all three of the Brooklyn Bears gardens.

Next, the Hollenback Garden into posted on the NYC Green Thumb site is apparently outdated. The garden coordinators have sent me the latest information:

The Hollenback Community Garden Located at 460 Washington Avenue Between Gates and Greene Avenues Brooklyn, NY

Planting the Seeds of Hollenback The Hollenback Community Garden began in 1980, through the hard work and dedication of community members who saw possibility in a lot rendered empty by the fire that destroyed the Hollenback Mansion.

Brick by brick, and wheel barrow by wheel barrow they cleaned up the site and then seed by seed, they created beauty from destruction.

To learn more garden history, come in and ask to speak to Gertrude. She is one of the concerned citizens who started the garden, and she has been gardening at Hollenback ever since.

Who are we? We are currently about 40 gardeners, each working in individual plots as well as sharing responsibility for communal areas used by the garden membership and the larger community. Our garden is part of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, a coalition of 34 community gardens.

What do we do? ☼ We create a place for garden members from the community to produce locally grown food.

☼ We preserve a flourishing green oasis for the community to visit and enjoy, contributing to overall neighborhood beautification.

☼ We make all garden decisions democratically at monthly meetings.

☼ We offer several community events every season, including live music, movies, BBQs, garden workshops, tours

☼ We share our gardening knowledge and experience with the community

☼ Environmentally speaking, we harvest rainwater from a neighboring rooftop, and store it in a 700 gallon tank, reducing both our use of potable water and the amount of rainwater that goes into the city’s overworked sewer system. You can find more information on rainwater harvesting in the city at waterresourcegroup.org

☼ We are very proud of our compost system. We not only compost garden compostable materials, but we also process the food waste of over 50 community members, as well as for the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market. Compost collection lessens the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, and converts that waste into a valuable fertilizing material. The compost we produce is used in our garden and neighborhood tree pits, as well as by community members. Our compost piles have been used as a learning tool by New York City’s Master Composting Class from the Queens Botanical Garden, as well as by the Lower East Side Ecology Center and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It has even been featured on Japanese television. To learn more about our compost, come in and ask for Charlie Bayrer, our head composter.

Where are we going? ☼ We are currently involved in a project to install a composting toilet in our garden. This will allow us to provide restroom facilities for visitors and gardeners, without having to depend on the non-sustainable, chemical, and costly involvement of a rented port-o-potty. We feel that a composting toilet is safer and more environmentally friendly. We also hope that the presence of the composting toilet will serve as a further platform for our garden, and our community, to learn more ways to harness every resource we can when it comes to supporting our planet from the strain we place upon it.

What can you do? ☼ Any time the front gate is open, please come in for a visit. Stop in, smell and admire the flowers, talk to gardeners, sit and read or just relax in the shade. Bring your family and your sketchbook. Share your knowledge and your questions.

☼ Respect the hard work of all the gardeners by not picking any fruits, vegetables or flowers. Also make sure to let them know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated.

☼ To help you plan a visit, we have regular Garden Open Hours, which are: Wednesdays: 6pm to 8pm Saturdays: 3pm to 7pm Sundays: 10am to 12pm and 3pm to 7pm

☼ To get more information, inquire about membership, join our mailing list, find out how you can help, learn about community events, ask a question, or make a request, you can reach the garden coordinators at hollenbackcommunitygarden@yahoo.com Cara Perkins at 917-701-2875 Mark Trushkowsky at 917-804-0414

green

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tonight was the first meeting of the new "green fort greene and clinton hill" initiative. it's being spearheaded by jed marcus, a local attorney, longtime fort greene resident, and board member of the fort greene association, which, along with the socity for clinton hill, is lending its support. so what exactly is this initiative, you say? basically, it's aim is to make our neighborhood—our homes, our streets, our local businesses—as environmentally friendly and forward-thinking as possible. which will be good for us, of course, and also serve as a model to other neighborhoods/towns.

the initial goals are:

"1) encouraging the purchase of electricity from renewable sources that do not contribute to global warming; 2) adding many trees and other greenery to our streets; 3) flooding our neighborhood with energy efficient light bulbs; 4) increasing recycling and reducing refuse; and 5) assembling a green map, showing the area's environmental strengths and challenges, for publication this fall in the hill" (which, if you haven't seen it around, is our free local quarterly, available at many local businesses).

the meeting tonigh was attended by about thirty people, including representatives from marp and st. joseph's. a general introduction to the project and it's goals was given and a few committees were put together.

one group will begin work on the tree project—the first step will be walking the local streets, locating spots on the sidewalks where more trees could be planted. this survey will then be submitted to the city, and hopefully they will begin planting next spring. the tree progam is going to be carried out in partnership with the local elementary schools, so that part of the planning—coordinating efforts with the teachers, providing materials to the schools—was also discussed.

another group is going to be talking to con ed about helping to get the word out in the neighborhood about switching to green power, and making it easy for people to do so, possibly by hosting a sign-up event in the neighborhood. they'll also be pushing con ed to offer incentives (e.g. a discount on your bill) if a large enough percentage of people and/or businesses in the neighborhood change over to the green power.

if you're interested in taking part or hearing more, you can email jed marcus, at marcus@marcusattorneys.com. the next meeting will take place sometime in july.

p.s. a call was specifically put out for some volunteers from wallabout, as there wasn't anybody from that part of the hood at the meeting....

Composting Toilet at Hollenback Garden

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Received this info from Hollenback Community Garden on Washington: Next Saturday, June 9th, we will be digging a hole 10 feet by 6 feet, 4 feet deep to install our new, and to my knowledge the neighborhood's only, composting toilet unit.

I thought it'd be nice to let you know, so if you wanted to come by and see the incredible group effort that makes Hollenback the beautiful place that it is, you could. Maybe you could also put a post up on your blog and see if anyone in the neighborhood would like to stop by and help us dig. We should be starting at around 11am, with a raindate on Sunday the 10th.

Even if you can't make it, after the digging, the installing, and building of a structure to house the unit, we will have an unveiling ceremony, where community members will be able to contribute in other ways.

I'm not sure if that last part was meant to be tongue-in-cheek (ie, contributing to the toilet). Either way, if you go, send photos.

Community Gardens

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Summer's more or less upon us, and many of us do not have our own yards or gardens. What to do? Find a community garden! Before I lived in CH, I spent two years in Hell's Kitchen. One of my favorite things in the neighborhood was the Clinton Community Garden. Residents just needed to show up on the appointed day with a utility bill and a small deposit and would get a key to the garden to enter at any time. Individual plots were also available for those looking to grow veggies or flowers.

It's taken me awhile to seek out the community gardens in our area, mainly because there are so many and because a lot of the info I found online is incorrect. I recently spent a sweaty Sunday hoofing around the hood to see what was available. I checked much of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill to just past Classon. I've coordinated with BedStuy Blog, who will be posting the Bed-Stuy gardens today as well.

(Most of my specific info on garden offerings was culled from OasisNYC.) Name: Brooklyn Bears Carlton Ave. Garden Address: 397-401 Carlton Avenue Cross Streets: Btwn. Greene and Fulton

dsc_0065.jpg Garden Description: Part of this garden is a productive farm, with giant boxes divided for multiple members and a huge planting oval for community vegetables. There's also beautifully landscaped flower beds all watched over by a colorful mural featuring a winged mantis. (The group gets its name from an abandoned teddy bear found on the site at an early clean-up day.)

Name: Greene Garden Address: 2 S. Portland Ave. Cross Streets: De Kalb Ave. and S. Elliot Hours: Tuesdays and Saturday greene garden

Waiting List: No Dues: no Host Volunteers: yes Membership Procedure: work a certain amount of hours Year Founded: 12/1/1985

dsc_0059.jpg Types of Events: music, bbqs Structures: tool shed, gazebo, picnic tables, seats Herbs: mint Donate Produce: no Ornamental Plantings: flowers

dsc_0058.jpg Garden Description: Mrs. Murry’s 2nd grade class from P.S. 287 has been working very hard to save their garden. Their efforts have not gone unrecognized- the class was featured in a Daily News article in March. The children have learned about community gardening through a cross- disciplinary approach. They have used math skills to measure and record the temperature in the garden, they have learned about city government through their campaign to save the garden, they have used their writing skills to write letters to their elected officials, and they have planned many science experiments to start this growing season. The garden was started in 1992. string of lights in greene garden Name: Hollenback Garden Address: 460 Washington Ave. Cross Streets: Gates & Greene Hours: T,Th, Sat, Sun 4:00-7:00pm welcome

Waiting List: yes Dues: yes Host Volunteers: yes Membership Procedure: Call Contact, Come to workday, Meet Contact at Garden, Year Founded: 4/1/1980 Types of Events: arts, culture, education and recreation Garden Description: Situated in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, Hollenback is the only public green space in the neighborhood. The majority of the gardeners at this garden are senior citizens, three of which were involved with starting the garden 19 years ago. The garden is also used by children from P.S. 11 and P.S. 287. After the news about the May auction, the children from both schools wrote letters to City Council member Mary Pinkett and the mayor on behalf of their garden, attended the public hearings, and decorated the garden’s fence with ribbons and signs. Three classes from P.S. 11 are planning and designing their garden plot for this season. A second grade class from P.S. 287 have planned an experiment to study the effects of the sun on plant growth. For their experiment the class plans to grow the same plants at two different community gardens one with full sun and one with shade. The gardens they plan to use for the experiment are the Hollenback garden and the Children’s Garden (2099/43). The garden was started in 1980. individual plots

Name: Classon/Fulgate Block Association Address: 474 Classon Avenue Cross Streets: Putnam & Gates Ave. Hours: Thurs & Sat: 12-5PM classon ful-gate garden

Waiting List: no Dues: yes Host Volunteers: yes Membership Procedure: attend a meeting and speak to contact person Year Founded: 7/1/1983 Types of Events: barbeques,Art/Music Activities, Community Activities, Block Parties, Religious Activities Structures: brick bbq pit, mural wall, archway, brick walkway/path classon ful-gate garden

Amenities: mural, meeting area, artwork (paintings) Vegetables Grown: squash, tomatoes, red peppers, collards, string beans, watermelon, potato Donate Produce: yes Ornamental Plantings: yes Shade Trees: yes Composting: container Garden Description: Brick walkways divides garden into 2 parcels that yield numerous vegetation. Large wall mural across back wall depicts block resident history. Recreation area through archway with tables, benches, BBQ pit, tool shed and shelter.

Name: Greene Ave Cedar Tree Address: Classon and Greene Virtually no info on this garden online, but it looks both large and nice!

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Name: Pratt Garden Address: DeKalb at Hall dsc_0046.jpg This garden was open on the CH house tour, but I've never seen it open or occupied otherwise, except for a few black cats. A shame, since there are some gorgeous flowers inside! outside pratt garden Name: Clifton Place Block Association Address: 289 Grand Avenue

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Cross Streets: Clifton Place & Greene Hours: Sat: 9-1PM Organization Member: TPL Waiting List: no Dues: yes Host Volunteers: yes Membership Procedure: Ask at Garden, Volunteer, Other Languages: Spanish, Chinese Year Founded: 8/1/1991 Types of Events: Youth Activities, Art/Music Activities, Community Activities Structures: seating area, tool shed Vegetables Grown: tomatoes, lettuce, peas, turnips, eggplant Herbs: basil, chives, parsley, sage, thyme Donate Produce: no Ornamental Plantings: violets, roses, lilies, peonies Shade Trees: apple, Southern Magnolia, evergreens, dogwood Composting: general yard waste, household waste Garden Description: A small garden behind the school boasts a mural and hopes the garden becomes a means for the community to work with the school.

dscf1048.jpg Greene Room Lefferts bt St. James and Grand (I had a difficult time finding this one, so not sure if the photos are correct. They might be the wrong garden, further down Lefferts. Also, the web did not have info!)

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For garden contact info, call the city at 212-788-8070. The people at Green Thumb are extremely friendly, and can look up the info right away!