Grants for Grant!

We received a generous grant of $2500 from the Citizens Committee for New York City recently! This will enable us to take advantage of the garden as a public space and classroom, using it as a tool for other initiatives beyond simply growing food--though that is not always so simple in itself. We are grateful to the Citizens Committee for providing us this grant and look forward to taking advantage of their community organzing expertise and resources to aid us in our endeavor.

http://www.citizensnyc.org/

Blogistics

This is just a test post to make sure the events calendar is staying at the top of the blog.

Cheers,
Eli

Before Grant...

If grass surrounds the Grant Houses now and soon there will be a vegetable garden, what, one might wonder, was there before? New York Public Library photo archives reveal that, in fact, there was quite a lot...

...shops...


...apartments...


...and long ago, farms.

Making Guacamole

On Friday, after reviewing the growth stages of a fruit plant (including a dramatic rendition of the process), we made guacamole! The best part? Getting to eat it afterwards, of course!

Class #2 -- The Seed!

 
 
 
 

Spectator Article

A bit of publicity for us, courtesy of the Columbia Spectator!

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/02/19/campus-food-sustainability-project-sprouts-city-initiative

Beginning of Classes!

We had our first day working with Grant Houses youth in the afterschool program on Friday. The kids were full of enthusiasm, along with the teachers. Leah, Rickie, Gracie and Andrew led a lesson on what kinds of foods grow in New York City (hint: not citrus) and a special lesson on the origins of chocolate--it's a plant!--in honor of Valentine's Day. Check out the slideshow below and you'll see a few puckered faces from tasting chocolate without sugar.