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News
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: Parks Equity Initiative
We are pleased to inform you that the New York City Council has made additional funds available in every council district to support the Parks Equity Initiative (PEI) in Fiscal Year 2018. The PEI is a City Council-funded effort to help build a more equitable park system, providing Council Members with discretionary funding that they can allocate to enhance the maintenance and beautification of parks and gardens in their districts, to activate green spaces with vibrant programming or to support increased community engagement through volunteer projects and community-led activities.
GreenThumb has created a menu of options that are eligible for funding through PEI. Council Members have the option of funding gardens through the provision of various materials and equipment, including soil, lumber, plants, tools, picnic tables, rainwater harvesting systems, picnic tables, sheds, and greenhouses. If you would like to seek funding for your garden through this initiative, we recommend reaching out to your local Council Member today to request support. Council Members are expected to begin making allocation decisions in August, so call now!
Membership Updates are Due!
All registered GreenThumb community gardens should send an updated complete list of all their members to the respective Outreach Coordinator via email or US Mail. Download the submission template. Membership lists allow GreenThumb to identify gardens that can accommodate new members. This list is a requirement for receiving material support from GreenThumb.
GreenThumb Harvest Fair and Garden Recognition Awards
GreenThumb’s annual Harvest Fair will be held on Saturday, September 16th at Brooklyn Bears Pacific Garden in Brooklyn, located at 590 Pacific Street, where we’ll be awarding ribbons to the winners of the annual Harvest Competition and also celebrating the 2nd annual GreenThumb Garden Recognition Awards.
Nominate a garden or gardener for a Garden Recognition Award
GreenThumb in the news!
In case you missed it, GreenThumb and our partners at GrowNYC were featured in a recent New York Times article on food production in community gardens.
Save the Dates!
Bronx Green-Up Harvest Festival
Saturday, Sept. 9
Join Bronx Green-Up for a celebration of the efforts of community gardeners that will include food, music, activities for kids, and much more. Learn more about the Bronx Green-Up Harvest Festival
GreenThumb Harvest Fair 2017
Saturday, Sept. 16
Bring your best harvest from your GreenThumb community garden to win prizes! Join us as we celebrate the close of the growing season. Learn more about the GreenThumb Harvest Fair 2017
Harlem Green Community Garden EXPO
Saturday, Aug. 12 – Saturday, Aug. 19
The Harlem Green Community Garden EXPO will be a week-long event advancing the cause of community gardens and displaying their outstanding resources. Learn more about the Harlem Green Community Garden EXPO
Sixth Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival
Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24
The Sixth Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival will feature music, dance, theater, spoken word, performance art, workshops and more in 50 community gardens on the Lower East Side. It’s free and open to all. Check their website for more details: Learn more about the Sixth Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival
Grants and Opportunities
STEW-MAP is Live!
The STEW-MAP 2017 survey is now live! STEW-MAP is a map and searchable database of stewardship groups designed to help understand and strengthen our civic capacity to take care of New York’s neighborhoods. Your response and input helps support a vibrant, connected, and green NYC. Learn more about STEW-MAP, and contact stewmap.ufs@gmail.com with any questions.
Home Depot Community Impact Grant
The Home Depot Foundation offers grants up to $5,000 to 501(c)(3) organizations that are using the power of volunteers to improve the physical health of their community.
Deadline: Rolling basis until Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017
Learn more about the Home Depot Community Impact Grant
Partnerships for Parks Capacity Grants
Partnerships for Parks makes small grants of up to $5,000 to strengthen the outreach, membership, and program-planning capacity of community groups who care for their neighborhood parks in all five boroughs of New York City.
Deadline: Oct. 1, 2017
Learn more about the Partnerships for Parks Capacity Grants
Captain Planet Foundation: Environmental Education Grants
The mission of the Captain Planet Foundation is to give the next generation of environmental stewards an active understanding and love for the natural world in which they live. The Captain Planet Foundation primarily makes grants to U.S.-based schools and organizations with an annual operating budget of less than $3 million. Funding range: $500 to $2,500.
Deadline: Sept. 30, 2017
Learn more about the Captain Planet Foundation: Environmental Education Grants
Citizens Committee for New York City: Reuse and Repair Grant
Citizens Committee for New York City is partnering with the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to launch our newest grant initiative: NYC Reuse and Repair. The goal of the grant is to support New York City in reusing, repairing, and refurbishing 100% of all discarded products that can be reused in some capacity, with the balance being recycled.
Deadline: Sept. 12, 2017
Learn more about the Citizens Committee for New York City: Reuse and Repair Grant
Building Healthy Communities: Healthy Communities Grant
Citizens Committee for New York City is partnering with the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to launch our newest grant initiative: NYC Reuse and Repair. The goal of the grant is to support New York City in reusing, repairing, and refurbishing 100% of all discarded products that can be reused in some capacity, with the balance being recycled.
Deadline: Aug. 5, 2017
Learn more about the Building Healthy Communities: Healthy Communities Grant
Safe in the City Grant
The Safe in the City Grant offers funding opportunities designed to support community based actions and activities that will make neighborhoods safer. In addition to funding, applicants will also receive best practices and strategies from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice’s Public Safety Tool Kit, further empowering them to employ prevention, intervention and trauma response methods while amplifying the voice of community to stand against violence and promote healthy, vibrant neighborhoods.
Deadline: Rolling
Learn more about the Safe in the City Grant
City Parks Foundation
View a listing of grant opportunities and other resources on the City Parks Foundation website.
Workshops
Did you know that ALL our workshops are free and open to the public? You can find soil and lumber request forms at ALL GreenThumb-led workshops.
GreenThumb Workshop Survey
Do you have ideas for GreenThumb workshops? Would you like to host a workshop in your garden, share your skills by teaching other gardeners, or simply let us know which workshops you’d like us to offer? Let us know in the GreenThumb Workshop Survey!
Tuesday, Aug. 1
Signage for Inside the Garden
5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
GreenThumb
Come paint educational, informational, and decorative signs to hang inside your garden. Bring your creative ideas. This is the perfect intergenerational workshop for the whole family.
Location: Evergreen Community Garden 47-32 Colden St., Queens
Saturday, Aug. 5
Sharing our Food Traditions: Canning
11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Brenda Thompson-Duchene, GreenThumb community gardener at Powell Street Garden and GreenThumb
Preserve the harvest! Learn how to safely can summer bounty to enjoy through the winter.
Location: Powell Street Garden 434 Livonia Ave., Brooklyn
Thursday, Aug. 10
Seed Keeping: Storytelling, Liberation, and How to Save Seeds
5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Owen Taylor, Seed Keeping and Philadelphia Seed Exchange; Abu Talib, GreenThumb community gardener at Taqwa Community Farm; Bronx Green-Up/The New York Botanical Garden and GreenThumb
Keeping seeds connects us to our past and to our collective future. Come explore the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of saving seeds and the stories they hold through discussion and hands-on practice.
Location: Taqwa Community Farm 90 W. 164th St. Bronx
Saturday, Aug. 12
Living Soil: Supporting Diverse Soil Ecology
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
NYC Compost Project hosted by Snug Harbor
We’ll go on a soil organism safari to understand how soil biodiversity sustains ecosystems and human health. Learn how to support soil life in the garden. RSVP for Living Soil: Supporting Diverse Soil Ecology.
Location: Snug Harbor Compost Demonstration Site, Staten Island.
Get Directions
The Compost Demonstration Site is #23 on the map
Wednesday, Aug. 16
Toys from Twigs
6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
GreenThumb
A hands-on workshop for teachers, parents, and care-givers of elementary school children. Learn how to safely build an array of toys that can be made from twigs the kids have gathered. Share your own ideas. You will build a toy in this workshop. Handouts will be provided with twig toy plans and a suggested tool list.
Location: The Arsenal, 3rd floor gallery 830 5th Ave., Manhattan
Saturday, Aug. 19
Sharing our Farm Traditions: Willie Morgan
11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Willie Morgan, GreenThumb community gardener at Our Little Green Acre, and GreenThumb
Harlem Farmer Willie Morgan will share crop stories, histories, and growing tips with us at Our Little Green Acre in Harlem. Mr. Morgan is well known for planting and tending to cotton and peanuts at the Harriet Tubman Memorial statue around the corner from his garden, where he teaches visitors about the legacies of slavery. He also farms dozens of varieties of heirloom vegetables and herbs.
Location: Our Little Green Acre 277 W. 122nd St., Manhattan
Tuesday, Aug. 22
Grant-Writing 101
5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Partnerships for Parks, Citizens Committee for NYC, and GreenThumb
During this workshop and info-session, we will demystify the grant-writing process by discussing tips for applying for community-oriented grants. We will also share detailed information about Citizens Committee for NYC’s Love Your Block and Neighborhood Grants, Partnerships for Parks’ Capacity Fund Grant, and other resources offered to community gardens with upcoming deadlines.
Location: GreenThumb Office (Please bring photo ID) 100 Gold St., Third Floor Grand Conference Room
Thursday, Aug. 24
Sowing Late Summer and Fall Crops
6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Bronx Green-Up/The New York Botanical Garden and GreenThumb
Join us as we plant vegetables for the fall harvest at this urban farm. Learn which plants are best for the cooler weather.
Location: La Finca del Sur 175 E. 138th St., Bronx
Grow to Learn Fall 2017 Workshop Registration
Grow to Learn, the citywide school garden initiative, of which GreenThumb is a principal partner, provides workshops and programming for school and community gardeners as well as the general public. GTL has a wide variety of topics for you to select, including learning about soils, carpentry or about how your fellow school gardeners are raising chickens in their gardens. You must register to attend any Grow to Learn workshop- fill out the information below to sign up for one or more workshops of your choice. View the Grow to Learn Workshop Calendar. The sign-up information is there as well. We hope you will come and join us this fall to learn and share skills with us.
Access all workshop info and more in GreenThumb’s Summer Program Guide
