GrowNYC is excited to announce the opening of a brand new urban farm on Governors Island! Governors Island Teaching Garden, which was created as a result of the combined efforts of GrowNYC and the Trust for Governors Island, is an 8,000 square foot urban farm that will feature over 20 vegetable beds made from recycled plastic lumber, a gourd tunnel, fruit trees, a bean teepee, an outdoor kitchen, and so much more!

The garden will host free field trips for New York City public school and summer camp groups April-November. If you would like to schedule a field trip for the Summer 2014 season, please fill out the Field Trip Request Form. Due to the high demand of field trips, a spot is not guaranteed.

In addition to scheduled school visits, the garden will host gardening workshops and will be open to the public during weekends from July 12 through September 28, 12pm-4pm. GrowNYC will provide tours, volunteer opportunities, and activities for children and families. Please check our website for scheduled events.

If you are interested in receiving information about upcoming field trip, workshop, or volunteer opportunities, please fill out the Governors Island Teaching Garden Survey.

A statement by Marcel Van Ooyen Executive Director, GrowNYC

I want to personally congratulate Carson Daly of the Today Show for supporting our efforts to build a garden in every New York City School.  Since its launch in February 2011, Grow to Learn NYC has been working to connect NYC public and charter schools with the funding, training and materials needed for their students to dig in, connect to nature and build more positive attitudes towards healthy foods.

As a result of our partnerships with city agencies, funders and fellow non-profits, 436 schools have registered garden projects with Grow to Learn, giving them access to the garden mini-grants, training, material giveaways as well as opportunities and resources offered by greening and wellness partner organizations--with a focus on supporting schools in underserved communities like the South Bronx, Central and East Harlem and Central Brooklyn.

To date, Grow to Learn has distributed $517,000 in 331 garden mini-grants to schools. And one hundred percent of funds raised for mini-grants go directly to the schools to allow them to purchase what they need from local retailers so their learning garden programs can bloom.  

We are deeply grateful to Mr. Daly and the Today Show for highlighting the need to expand gardens to all schools and look forward to seeing more school gardens bloom around the city. 

GrowNYC is proud to announce the release of the Resilient NYC Community Garden Guide, a practical guide on making your garden more resilient, including step-by-step guidelines to minimizing storm damage.

Superstorm Sandy came as a surprise to so many New Yorkers and lack of proper prevention exacerbated its impact. As weather incidents are more frequent, it is important that we take simple steps to minimize damage and have access to information that will help our green spaces get back online, serving New Yorkers.

GrowNYC is committed to creating a healthier, more resilient city for all of us by providing free tools and resources any New Yorker can take advantage of to improve their community. We hope this toolkit helps you to steward your green space responsibly and to ensure enjoyment for years to come thanks to sound design and preparedness.

We’ve outlined what to do before and after a major storm or other weather event so that you will be better prepared. From preventive pruning techniques to ways to secure garden features, we hope this guide will serve as a practical resource for you and your green space.

Get the Guide!

Thanks to a grant from the New York State Office of the Attorney General, GrowNYC has just finished installing 5 rainwater harvesting systems in the Bronx River Watershed. We partnered with Green Apple Corps and Sustainable South Bronx to make the project a success and to teach others how to build and install systems so that we can divert even more water. In total, we trained 30 residents to build and install RWH systems.

Five students from the Teen Action Program of The Point Community Development Corporation in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx monitored the 5 rainwater harvesting systems. They participated in a half-day workshop led by GrowNYC staff on water quality monitoring, where they learned how to use dissolved oxygen and pH testing equipment and the NYC water supply and the route it takes, including CSO. The monitoring strategy was to test oxygen and pH on a bi-weekly basis and compare and learn from results.

Based on our metrics, the following five systems are diverting approximately 64,430 gallons annually during growing season from storm sewers and the Bronx River.

River Garden (1086 East 180 Street): This garden is used by residents of the surrounding community and has approximately 30 members. Gardeners grow vegetables, flowers, herbs; tend to common plantings, compost, hold barbecues. We Installed a wing-type rainwater harvesting structure with integrated tool shed and a 300 gallon tank. The structure was built by Sustainable South Bronx under GrowNYC staff supervision.

Belmont Little Farmers (2485 Belmont Avenue): Installed a 500 gallon tank to divert rainwater from the adjacent building. The structure was built by Green Apple Corps under GrowNYC staff supervision.

Hispanos Unidos (2061 Honeywell Avenue): The roof of the garden casita was repaired to serve as the collection area associated with a 200 gallon rainwater collection tank. A downspout from an adjacent private home was also diverted into a 1,100 gallon rainwater collection tank.

Krystal Garden (2089 Vyse Avenue): A downspout was diverted from the adjacent multistory building into the garden and rain is collected in a 1,000 gallon rainwater collection tank. The project was installed by GrowNYC staff and community gardeners

Volky Flower Garden (859 Hornaday Avenue): The project involved re-framing, re-decking and re-shingling a casita/ shade structure roof, providing the collection area for 300 gallon and 250 gallon rain water collection tanks.

The Museum of the City of New York's current exhibition, entitled Growing and Greening New York, features several contributions from GrowNYC of New York (GrowNYC) staff, including a rainwater harvesting display.

The Growing and Greening New York exhibit takes visitors through an average New York City day, highlighting both the environmental impact of everyday activities, and alternatives that can make those activities less harmful and more sustainable.

GrowNYC's Open Space Greening staffers Lenny Librizzi and Lars Chellberg built a model rainwater harvesting system that includes a 50-gallon collection barrel, connecting pipes, and a spigot for easy reuse. Most rainwater harvesting systems collect water from nearby roofs, diverting it from frequently overloaded storm drains and making their users less dependent on the public water supply.

More information about rainwater harvesting systems, including pictures, a map of systems in the city, and a how-to manual for building a system of your own is available at GrowNYC's rainwater harvesting page.

Also featured in the exhibit, as part of a display about regional agriculture and local farmers markets, is a map showing the schedule of all 46 Greenmarkets throughout the city. The map is available as a PDF here.

Rainwater Harvesting System at MCNY
 

On Sunday, November 9th, GrowNYC hosted its first Lower East Side Family Portrait Day event at three community gardens. 

Professional photographers set up in each garden to take free family portraits of more than 300 local families.  The event also featured face painting, a winter coat drive, sampling from the nearby Tompkins Square Greenmarket, and CFL lightbulb giveaways by Go Green Lower East Side.  The Sierra Club and Grand Street Settlement co-sponsored the event and provided additional programming.

The organizer of the event, GrowNYC's Mike Rezny, said that the event was a huge success and that GrowNYC looks forward to doing similar events in the future.  

GrowNYC Open Space Greening Program Assistant Mike Rezny teamed up with WFMU and DJ Trent to host Safe and Sound in Miracle Garden in the East Village.  

The event featured great performances by Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Choir and the viBe SongMakers, as well as seasonal tastings from the local Greenmarket.  The event is the 2nd in a series of WFMU live sets in community gardens.  

More info on the show at https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/29180