BQLT’s 2024 Urban Ag Grant Endeavors
A wonderful new garden pathway, new metal raised garden beds, a plant giveaway, several workshops, and a tool library were all made possible by an Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grant ($22,000) from the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets to BQLT. This grant ultimately supported all BQLT gardens to increase food production during the 2024 Season!
Growing food crops is often the primary reason that people join our gardens which in turn leads to other positive health and social benefits.
Euclid/Pine Street Block Association Garden (see photos below) and Sheffield Garden (see photo above) were selected as the two pilot gardens in East New York for this grant due to a lack of healthy, affordable food options in their neighborhoods, to improve and replace aging garden infrastructure, and to recruit new members.
BQLT garden leaders Kim Wyche (Euclid/Pine) and Lauro Lebron (Sheffield) were essential to this grant project! We thank them for their extensive time commitment and dedication, so that all our gardeners can benefit from the challenges, solutions, and successes they faced!
NEW GARDEN INFRASTRUCTURE & MORE FRESH FOOD!
With an emphasis on safety and accessibility, a new concrete pathway was built at Euclid/Pine Street Block Association Garden (before and after photos below).
Thanks to this grant and a generous donation from Epic Gardening we were able to secure and build a total of 29 new metal raised beds–18 in Euclid Pine and 11 in Sheffield–with the goal of increased food production. The beds were assembled and filled by BQLT Board Members, gardeners, Facilitator Eli Sol from East New York Farms!, plus workshop participants and guests. We were also able to expand our tool library, so all BQLT gardeners have increased access to drills, drivers, and supporting accessories.
The new metal raised beds for more food production have been a BIG HIT with our gardeners!
BROOKLYN GRANGE FARM GREENHOUSE: SEED STARTING WORKSHOP
In mid-March 2024, we hosted our second and highly anticipated Brooklyn Grange Farm Seed Starting Workshop led by Connor Cushman, Farm Manager at Sunset Park. This workshop educated gardeners on the ins and outs of sowing seeds in a commercial greenhouse setting, and allowed them to leave their seeded trays for eight weeks to germinate and grow. This workshop was aimed at gardeners of all experience levels and participants were encouraged to grow plants not usually found at traditional plant giveaways. Participants shared seeds, especially ancestral seeds, culturally important seeds, or seeds with a story.
BQLT gardeners were excited to collect their healthy, greenhouse grown plants in mid-May from the Brooklyn Grange Farm Rooftop in Sunset Park!
MORE EARLY SPRING 2024 WORKSHOPS:
SEED STARTING AT HOME, COVER CROPS PART 2, & NUTRITION
In early March, at the BQLT Monthly Gardeners Meeting, we held a Seed Starting at Home Workshop with Maya Kutz, former Greenhouse Manager at Brooklyn Grange. Maya was the co-facilitator of the previous year’s greenhouse workshop with BQLT and currently serves as a Board Member (May 2024-present) and Co-chair of Operations Committee! This session covered how to read a seed packet, reviewed the kinds of seeds to start at home or in the garden directly, and surveyed types of indoor setups including grow light options. Every gardener was able to browse and share seeds from their own seed libraries and more seeds supplied by this grant.
Caption: Seed Starting at Home Workshop led by Maya Kutz
In April 2024, BQLT collaborated with Kwesi Joseph, Urban Garden Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York on Cover Crops Part 2 Workshop hosted by Euclid/Pine Street Block Association Garden. Kwesi led participants in a hands-on workshop on the next steps of turning in the cover crops (aka green manure) planted in the previous Fall at the garden. He also shared info on how, when, and why using basalt dust in the garden can help nourish your plants and build healthy soil.
Caption: Cover Crops Part 2 Workshop led by Kwesi Joseph, Urban Garden Specialist
In April 2024, BQLT hosted a Nutrition Workshop and Cooking Demonstration led by Eling Tsai, MDH RD at Euclid/Pine Street Block Association Garden. Eling made a nourishing ribollita soup in real time while discussing the role of major food groups, getting in touch with physical cues like hunger and fullness, and what she considers the essential “eating skills” for health and well-being.
Caption: Nutrition Workshop and Cooking Demo led by Eling Tsai, MDH RD
Photos by: Ashley Cruce, Sandra Watanabe, & Kim Wyche
Support Brooklyn Queens Land Trust this giving season for our urban agriculture endeavors and our 37 gardens’ food growing potential in 2025 and beyond!
Donate on our 2024 BrooklynGives Fundraising Campaign Page before Dec. 31st 2024 midnight!
Photo credits: Ashley Cruce, Sandra Watanabe, and Kim Wyche
Posted on 12/13/24
