Ocean Hill/Brownsville: Phoenix Community Garden's Gate to Good Health

Wow— we made our first goal way early. Now here's a new challenge, a real stretch goal. Can we raise another $2000 to buy a hoop house for the garden?

The Phoenix Community Garden is one of the largest open green spaces along historic and bustling Fulton Street in Brooklyn-- a half-acre of vibrant vegetables and flowers, furnished with benches and picnic tables. Thanks to generous support from our community, we are now able to afford to install a gate near the bustling bus stop, welcoming in the elderly and disabled.

Now please help us solve another problem. Every year, the garden buys dozens of flats of seedlings. Not only is this expensive, it also generates a significant amount of plastic waste. In addition, we're forced to buy what's in the nursery trade. We'd love to grow more heirloom and open-pollinated varieties of vegetables, and we'd like to grown them organically. Plus, we'd like to extend our growing season of greens into December, and begin again in February. The solution: a greenhouse.

With a greenhouse, we can become a year-round garden, extending the season for fall crops, growing microgreens in winter, and starting our own seedlings. The greenhouse will also be a vital teaching resource for local schools.

A recent study found that at 31%, Ocean Hill-Brownsville had the highest food insecurity rate of any neighborhood in New York. Fresh, healthy produce is scarce, much less organically grown produce. We are truly located in a food desert. For the past 10 years, Phoenix Community Garden members have been working hard to change that. We grow vegetables and fruits from all over the world, much of which we donate to Neighbors Together, a local soup kitchen. In the summer of 2017, we started a farm stand, to sell our produce at accessible prices. A hoop house would be a huge boost to  neighborhood food access. Help us extend our growing season, raise our own organic seedlings, and create a teaching resource for the next generation of urban farmers.

FULTON STREET GATE - April/May 2018

This project has three major components: the installation of a gate on Fulton Street, creation of a walker and wheelchair friendly path into the garden, and the repair of two gates on Somers Street. The gate installation and repair needs a professional, but the path can be made by our volunteer garden members and others from the community. The beauty of this project is that with the resources, it can be quickly and simply completed. Here's a timeline:

Weekend of April 14-15: move plants that are in the way of the new path. Install steel edging for path.

Weekend of April 21-22: Lay down paving base for path and install pavers.

April 23 - 29: Installation of new gate and repair of old gates.

Saturday, May 5: Celebration and community open house, with healthy snacks, music, and good cheer.

GREENHOUSE - September/October 2018

We wiill install the hoop house in the early fall, using volunteer help. We still need to to some more purchasing research, but it looks like a kit is the best way to go. We'll organize a community "barn raising," following these standard steps:

- install the ground posts

- install a base board

- attach the frame

- Attach the plastic skin

- and voila! Many hands make light work. The hoop house will be available for fall crops and classes on plant biology and starting seeds.

We are doing these two projects to make the garden accessible to community elders and the disabled; to extend our growing season and save money on seedlings for the garden; and to provide a teaching resource for local schools.