Some useful and/or interesting links concerning community gardens, mostly in New York City. The links are to websites of organizations and groups that work with community gardens, individual garden websites and blogs, documents and informative websites I came across when doing research for the book, and community gardens on YouTube. This is a work in progress. I will be adding websites of gardens in other parts of New York City and additional documents about community gardens that can be downloaded.
ORGANIZATIONS:
GreenThumb: go to website
GreenThumb is a program of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation that administers community gardens in New York City. It provides materials, plants, and offers workshops throughout the growing season at community gardens around the city. Anyone can attend their workshops and any community garden in New York City can participate in GreenThumb programs. Every spring GreenThumb hosts it's GrowTogether conference where gardeners gather to exchange information and take workshops of topical interest.
The Green Guerillas is a not-for-profit organization that began with a group of environmental activists filling tree pits with plants and tossing balloons and Christmas ornaments filled with seeds, water and fertilizer, into empty lots. From their home base at the Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden, now the Liz Christy Bowery Houston Community Garden, they grew into a city-wide organization that helps community gardens with plant giveaways, community organizing, and administrative advice. They also advocate for gardens when they are threatened, help gardeners plant and harvest food for distribution to the needy, and run programs that involve young people in community gardens.
The Council on the Environment of New York
City is a privately funded, not-for-profit citizens' organization
within the New York City Mayor's office. It developed out of the first
Earth Day 1970 and it's mission is to promote environmental awareness
and develop solutions to environmental problems through various
programs. It's Greenmarket program operates successful green markets
throughout the city and it supports community gardening through it's
Open Space Greening program and it's Rainwater Harvesting project that helps
community gardeners build and maintain rainwater harvesting systems in
their gardens.
NYC Parks Department: go to website
The majority of community gardens in New York City are part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, a few are mapped as parkland, most are classified as open space.
The Trust for Public Land is a national, not-for-profit organization that works to preserve open space for public use. They have worked to preserve and support community gardens since 1978 when they opened their first New York office. The Trust for Public Land purchased 62 of the 115 community gardens when New York City put up for auction in May 1999. Since that time it has worked with the gardeners to set up the Manhattan Land Trust, the Bronx Land Trust, and the Brooklyn/Queens Land Trust to manage their gardens. The plan is to transfer ownership of the gardens to the local land trusts
The Manhattan Land Trust is one of the gardener run land trusts organized by the Trust for Public to own and administer the gardens it purchased from New York City to preserve them as community gardens.
The Bronx Land Trust is one of the gardener
run land trusts organized by the Trust for Public to own and administer
the gardens it purchased from New York City to preserve them as
community gardens.
The Brooklyn/Queens Land Trust is one of the gardener
run land trusts organized by the Trust for Public to own and administer
the gardens it purchased from New York City to preserve them as
community gardens.
The New York Restoration Project was founded by Bette Midler to restore and create parks in the poorer areas of New York City. They purchased 52 of the community gardens the City had planned to auction in May of 1999. Their goal is to create endowments for each of their gardens and to encourage neighborhood groups to use and program events in the gardens. A number of their gardens have been renovated and designed by professional landscape architects and garden designers.
Just Food is a not-for-profit organization working with regional family farms and community gardens to develop new marketing opportunities to foster just and sustainable food sources for New York communities.
Treebranch Network: go to website
Treebranch is the Neighborhood Open Space
Coalition (NOSC) website. The Neighborhood Open Space Coalition is
dedicated
to improving New York life by expanding and enhancing its
infrastructure for public health: parks, waterfronts, community gardens
and open spaces, through advocacy, research, education, and planning.
The Neighborhood Open Space Coalition is long-time supporter of
community gardens. They created a low-cost liability program that
gardeners could buy. Their community garden page has a good history of community gardens in New York.
The East Village Parks Conservancy (EVPC) is a not-for-profit, community-based organization committed to the maintenance, restoration, enhancement and expansion of public park lands and community gardens in the East Village. The website has maps and photographs of the community gardens in the East Village.
GreenBridge is the community horticulture program of the Brooklyn
Botanic Garden. go to BBG website. Working with block associations, community
gardens, community centers, and other groups, GreenBridge promotes
conservation and community through gardening activities.
Bronx Green-Up is the community outreach program of The New York
Botanical Garden go to NYBG website. It provides horticultural advice, technical assistance,
and training to community gardens, school groups, and other
organizations interested in improving urban neighborhoods in the Bronx
through greening projects.
The Horticultural Society of New York offers workshops and has a help line to answer horticultural questions. It's library contains thousands of books on gardens and gardening.
The American Community Gardening Association is a nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities. There is an extensive links page to sites of interest to community gardeners and gardeners in general.
City Farmer: go to City Farmer website and it's old site go to old City Farmer website
This is an urban gardening site from Vancouver, Canada. It has articles about urban gardening around the world. There is an extensive archive on the community garden preservation struggle from 1998-2002 at this website. A 1998 report to the NY State Senate on community gardens in New York City by Carole Nemore can be read at this website.
More Gardens: go to website
The More Gardens! Coalition is a group of community people, gardeners,
and environmental and social justice activists who promote the
development and preservation of community gardens as well as the
cultivation of fallow land in New York City.
New York Community Garden Coalition: go to website
A Coalition of community garden members who
work to resolve issues concerning community gardens and who work with
government officials to make New York community gardens permanent.
La Familia Verde: go to website
La Familia Verde is a coalition of community gardens in the Crotona,
East Tremont, and West Farms neighborhoods in the Bronx. Formed in
1998, their mission is to sustain the environment and culture of our
neighborhood through education, community service, and horticulture.
Earth Celebrations is a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to fostering ecological awareness through the
arts by producing arts and ecology events, pageants, and workshops. For
many years Earth Celebrations produced a Rites of Spring pageant on the
Lower East Side to focus attention on the plight of community gardens
when they were in danger of being sold by New York City.
New York Cares was founded by a group of friends who wanted to take
action against the serious social issues that faced our city in the
late 1980s. New York Cares organizes volunteers for thousands of nonprofit agencies,
public schools, and other deserving organizations, among them parks and community gardens.
MAPS AND TOURS
OASIS is a cooperative effort of non-profit open space and environmental
organizations, city, state and federal agencies, and private companies.
The website includes open space and environmental
information displayed on computer generated
maps of New York City. One can search for community gardens by name, borough, address, etc. The site also has a harbor estuary search section.
The East Village Parks Conservancy website has an interactive map
of the community gardens in the East Village.
Green Maps are locally-created printed or digital
maps of the natural/ cultural/ sustainable environment.
The Flowering of Resistance: go to website
Walking tours of community gardens designed by Elissa Sampson include information about the history of the gardens of the Lower East Side. The associated Green Maps allow you to see the gardens in the context of the neighborhood green spaces. Sponsored by the Sixth Street Community Center, http://www.sixthstreetcenter.org, which housed the Rites of Spring pageant for many years.
The Lower East Side History Project is a non-profit organization
dedicated to researching, documenting and preserving the history of the
greater Lower East Side of New York City. They do walking tours of the Lower East Side and the East Village. Their website has articles on the history of the neighborhood.
New York Songlines was created by Jim Naureckas. It is a virtual walking tour where one can follow the avenues and streets of Manhattan below 59th Street and learn interesting facts about the places one passes.
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum Encyclopedia: download pdf
This is a pdf document created by The Tenement Museum that has a wealth of information about the immigrant experience on the Lower East Side. go to Tenement Museum Website
COMMUNITY GARDEN WEB SITES AND BLOGS
EAST VILLAGE
Green Oasis Community Garden and Gilbert's Sculpture Garden: go to website
COMMUNITY GARDENS ON YOUTUBE
NYC COMMUNITY GARDENS ON YOUTUBE
The story the Franklin Memorial Garden in the Bronx, how it was started and it's renovation with the help of Bronx Green-Up.
Learn it, Grow it, East it: Promo: go to video
A group of Students learn about nutrition, gardening and growing food in a program of the Council on the Environment.
Bronx Teens Improving Their Community & Health: go to video
CBS news story about the council on the Environment's Learn it, Grow it, Eat it program.
New York City Community Gardens - An EcoTipping Point Story: go to video
A 10 minute documentary about New York community gardens, particularly the Liz Christy Garden.
More Gardens 2009 Tenth Year Anniversary Edition: go to video
A 10 minute documentary about community gardens in NYC. It includes
interviews with people from Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden
and 6BC Botanical Garden. Shot in 1999.
Our City, Our Gardens
Part 1: go to video
Part 2: go to video
An interview with Aresh Javadi of More Gardens about community gardens.
More Gardens! Summer Camp '08: go to video
An 8 minute documentary about the effect of a summer camp program run by More Gardens at Padre Plaza Garden, on young people in the South Bronx.
Friends of Brook Park Green Team Mentoring Program: go to video
A 7 minute documentary about a youth program at Brook Park Park and Garden
Friends of Brook Park Overview: go to video
A 7 minute documentary about Brook Park in the South Bronx.
Bushwick Pumpkin Smash 2009: go to video
2 minutes of composting pumpkins in Linden Bushwick Community Garden in Brooklyn, NY
Urban Composting NYC: go to video
Composting at Garden of Union in Brooklyn.
5 Star Community Garden, NY: go to video
A visit to 5 Star Community Garden in Harlem.
Video of people working in the Bissel Gardens in the Bronx.
9th Street Community Garden Park in the East Village, NYC: go to video
A camera pans around the 9th Street Community Garden.
Urban Farming NYC: go to video
An 8 minute documentary about a group of students learning about growing food in the South Bronx.
Green and the City: go to video
A 2 minute Reuters news report about green living that features the Lower East Side Ecology Center.
Tulip Festival, West Side Community Garden. April 26, 2009: go to video
Video shots of the West Side Community Garden in Manhattan, New York, 90th St between Amsterdam and Columbus Aves.
Sunshine and clouds: go to video
Stills and video of La Plaza Cultural.
The Garden of Eddie: go to video
A two part 11 minute drama about developers trying to take over a community garden. It was filmed in La Plaza Cultural.
New York Urban Agriculture: America's Heartland Series: go to video
A 6 minute video about East New York Farms farmers market for produce grown in community gardens.
Smart Girls At The Party: The Gardener - Valentine: go to video
A 6 minute episode about a young gardener who gardens at Open Road.
Lorna Sass: Kale in the Pressure Cooker:
Part 1 go to video
Part 2 go to video
Conclusion: go to video
Demonstration of cooking Kale at the Slow Food Eat-in at Campos community garden.
COMMUNITY GARDENS, GENERAL ON YOUTUBE:
Community Gardens Blossom: go to video
A 2 minute Reuters video about community gardens.
COMMUNITY GARDENS IN OTHER PART OF THE COUNTRY ON YOUTUBE:
Community Gardens Grow Community: go to video
A 28 minute interview with the garden manager of a community garden in Ashland, Oregon. He covers a lot of the general issues around community gardens.especially developing community garden policy within the Ashland, OR Parks Department.
NBC news - Urban Farming: go to video
NBC news report on an urban farm in Washington, DC.
Infuse Detroit - Urban Farming: go to video
This is about an urban farm in Detroit.
Community Garden Feeding Hungry: go to video
A local news report about community gardens in Winston Salem, NC
Sustainable Food From a City Garden: go to video
Video about the 7th Street Garden in Washington DC
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