January News and Events
GreenThumb’s monthly newsletter of workshops and events not to miss in January!
Access all workshop info and more in: GreenThumb’s Winter Program Guide
GreenThumb staff at Harding Park Garden in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx assessing the site’s potential for community garden improvements and expansion. Photo by Ariana Arancibia, GreenThumb
Happy New Year Gardeners!
On behalf of the entire GreenThumb team, I want to thank and congratulate everyone on an amazing 2018. Your volunteer efforts continued to beautify and strengthen communities across New York City as you stewarded over 100 acres of public open space, grew over 500,000 pounds of food, and hosted thousands of free community events. GreenThumb gardens thrive because of your hard work, and it is a privilege to support you in your efforts.
2019 promises to be another exciting year for GreenThumb. Planning is already underway for our 35th annual GreenThumb GrowTogether on March 30, 2019 at the CUNY Graduate Center, but you don’t have to wait until the spring to get involved with GreenThumb. Check out our 2018-9 Winter Program Guide for ways to stay active with workshops and events throughout the winter. And, please continue to let us know about your events and share your great ideas for 2019. We look forward to partnering with you in the new year as we work together to bring the benefits of community gardening to more New Yorkers.
My best for a happy and healthy 2019,
Bill LoSasso
Director of GreenThumb
Top Stories
Mulchfest
After the holidays, send your tree off in style at Mulchfest! Bring your evergreen to the nearest drop off location and we’ll convert it into mulch to make NYC even greener. Drop your tree off any day between Jan. 4 to Jan. 13.Join us at these GreenThumb gardens on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 12 and 13 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., to take home a bag of mulch.
Bronx
Jardin de la Roca – 422 East 160th St.Brooklyn
Amazing Garden – 261-265 Columbia St.
East NY Farms – 622 Schenk Ave.
Green Space at President Street – 222 5th Ave.
Manhattan
West 111th Street People’s Garden – 1039 Amsterdam Ave.
Queens
Two Coves Community Garden – 11-01 30th Ave.
Register for GrowTogether 2019
Our 35th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether conference will be Saturday, March 30, 2019, at the CUNY Graduate Center – 365 5th Ave. in Manhattan. We’re looking forward to putting together another powerful and invigorating conference with you to kick off the 2019 growing season!
How to register:
ONLINE: http://bit.ly/GrowTogether2019
IN PERSON:
GreenThumb
100 Gold St., Suite 3100
New York, NY 10038
Monday through Wednesday, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Please bring your ID to get through security.Register by March 28, or until capacity is reached. Space is limited, please register early!
The deadline has been extended to propose a workshop for the 2019 GrowTogether Conference!
If you’re interested in facilitating a workshop for this year’s GrowTogether Conference on March 30th, please fill out the Workshop Proposal Form by Sunday, January 13. We’re looking for a wide variety of workshops on topics related to gardening, composting, design, food and racial justice, medicinal plants, group development, community organizing, and more.
Community Board Applications are now available for the 2019-2021 Term
As hand-on volunteers with deep community ties, GreenThumb gardeners are great candidates to serve on boards, which play an important advisory role on neighborhood issues including land use, city budgets, local service provision, and other community issues. Community boards are consulted when new gardens are begun, and they identify funding priorities in neighborhoods every year during the City budget process.
For Community Board Membership Applications and Deadlines, please visit links below:
Brooklyn / Bronx / Manhattan / Queens / Staten Island
Snow and Ice Removal Responsibilities
As the weather becomes colder and the winter season approaches, a friendly reminder that the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks following a winter weather event is the responsibility of GreenThumb gardeners. Garden groups must have a group plan for keeping sidewalks safe after a snowfall.
Please visit our website for tips and to download the Snow Removal Guide from the New York City Department of Sanitation.
More News & Stories
• 2018-2019 Youth Leadership Council Application is Now Open!
The GreenThumb Youth Leadership Council (YLC) is an opportunity for high school youth 12-21 years old and college students to volunteer at a community garden in New York City. Participants will learn firsthand from community gardeners how to maintain and grow a healthy garden. To apply, please fill out the 2018-2019 YLC Youth Application.
• Volunteer to Help a Garden Grow with the GreenThumb Group Volunteer Program! It is a great way to involve yourself and your colleagues in community service and gardening, while learning new skills and improving your community’s green spaces. To sign up to volunteer, visit: GT Volunteers.
• 2019 Bylaw Re-licensing Requirements Due
Grants & Opportunities
• If you work for or know a community based organization in New York City, consider applying to host a Weekend Walk event in 2019! Weekend Walks are multi-block, multi-day events on commercial corridors that promote the use of streets as public space. NYCDOT provides funding to community based organizations to close commercial streets and program them to highlight NYC’s unique neighborhoods and local businesses. If you are interested in hosting a Weekend Walks event, please review the guidelines and eligibility requirements, and fill out the Weekend Walks 2019 application by January 11, by 5:00 p.m.. For any questions, please email: kgorman@dot.nyc.gov.
• Through Neighborhood Grants, Citizens Committee awards micro-grants of up to $3,000 to resident-led groups to work on community and school projects throughout the city. For more information and to apply, visit their website.
Application Deadline is January 21, at 11:59 p.m..
• Have an idea for your local park, playground or community garden? Then apply for Partnerships for Parks Capacity Fund Grant, small grants of up to $3,000 for community groups to use for projects for their local green space. To learn more and schedule an individual consultation, please visit here. Application deadline is February 1, at midnight.
• Borough President Capital Grants provide support for various important capital projects throughout the city, including capital projects at community gardens such as water installation, new fencing, and more. If you are interested in advocating for a grant for your garden, please visit the links below and contact the office of your Borough President for more details on the application process. Brooklyn / Bronx / Manhattan / Queens / Staten Island
• New York City Council Members can also offer capital grants for capital projects in community gardens. Contact your local Council Member to ask about the process to apply for capital project support in FY 2020.
• Gardens that are part of Brooklyn Queens Land Trust or would like to register with the Cooperative Economic Alliance of New York City (CEANYC), Mini-Grant Opportunities are available for various capacity-building projects. Visit their website for more information.
• NYC Service Neighborhood Volunteer Collaborative – Learn about the free tools and resources that are available to support volunteer engagement while connecting with other community groups. Contact Marcus Johnson (mjohnson1@cityhall.nyc.gov) if you have any questions and to see how you can become involved.
• New Yorkers have an opportunity to propose projects for inclusion in the participatory budgeting process by visiting the New York City Council Participatory Budgeting website. Add an idea about how things could work better for your community to the map and after your idea is submitted, it will be given to community volunteers, called Budget Delegates. These proposals will be up for community-wide vote in the spring
Workshops & Events
ALL of our workshops are free and open to the public.
Highlight of the Month:
Tuesday, January 22, Manhattan: Find your Green Thumb: Starting a Community Garden
6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Project FarmhouseDo you have big dreams for that lot you walk past every day? Come hear from a panel of community gardeners who started community gardens at different points in the last 40 years.Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about some of the challenges and rewards of starting a new GreenThumb garden and strategies for organizing community members. GreenThumb will present the steps to forming a new community garden with today’s rules and regulations. This workshop will point new gardeners towards resources and tools for finding information and garnering community support to form new gardening groups.
Visit our event listing on Eventbrite and to RSVP.
• January 10, Manhattan: Youth-Led Culinary Education
• January 12, Brooklyn: Events on a Shoestring (Part 1 of 2)
• January 16, Queens: Make it Rain: Grants for your Green Space
• January 17, Manhattan: Organizing for Garden Success: Bylaws (Part 2 of 2)
• January 24, Manhattan: Dig up your Lot: Research Community Garden History
Soil and lumber request forms are available at ALL GreenThumb-led workshops for GreenThumb Community Gardeners.
Grow to Learn NYC
Grow to Learn is the citywide school gardens initiative and managed through a partnership between GrowNYC, NYC Parks GreenThumb, and the Department of Education’s Office of School Food. Grow to Learn provides ongoing resources, technical assistance, and training to support gardens in NYC schools.
Join the Grow to Learn Network and become eligible to apply for a Grow to Learn Mini-Grant, request soil and lumber deliveries to your school, and more, by registering your school garden!
• January 8, Brooklyn: Fun with Fungi – Growing Mushrooms in the Classroom
• January 10, Manhattan: For Students! Culinary Education for Youth
• January 12, Brooklyn: Events on a Shoestring (Part 1 of 2)
• January 17, Bronx: Trellis Building
• January 29, Manhattan: Restorative Garden Design
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