project leader
Augusta P
location
225 Adelphi Street
Brooklyn (Fort Greene-Clinton Hill)
latest update rss
THank you from the students!

the project

This project is an expansion of PS 20 Farms, a classroom that grows in the heart of Brooklyn. Founded in 2010 at Brooklyn’s PS 20: The Clinton Hill School, this PTA-created and funded initiative started providing instruction to just two classes in 2011 and expanded to provide instruction in urban agriculture to four classes in 2012. This year, with your help, we will build beds surrounding the school so that our urban agriculture can reach ALL of our 14 classes, over 300 students in Pre-K to 5th Grade!

All of our kids will have the opportunity to dig in the dirt, plant seeds they helped save in the fall, and then sample the fruits of their labors in the form of herbs, mixed greens, pea shoots, tomatoes, and much more.

It’s also very important that students will be having this experience outdoors, in spaces that are open to the community, providing the opportunity for environmental education and urban farming to jump the fence into the wider community.

We have already completed measuring of the areas around the school where beds are to be built, created detailed plans, and consulted with school administration, teachers, and custodians about the feasibility of our plans. PS 20 Parents are excited about our expansion and willing to help with their volunteer labor.

Students will receive experiential, inquiry-based farming and ecology lessons appropriate to their grade level from veteran school gardener Jonathan Blumberg (a creator of and continuing consultant at the PS 107 School garden) and a small team of interns, building on curriculum developed by out past garden coordinators Joan Puchalski and Zachary Pickens. Students and staff will be supported in the garden and elsewhere by parent and PS 20 Farms Co-Founder, Augusta Palmer.

the steps

In order to complete this process, we will continue and expand weekly farming sessions to reach every class at the school. We will purchase needed materials and hold two volunteer days to build beds for every one of our 14 classrooms.  We will then install timed irrigation systems to provide our plants with moisture. At the same time, we will be starting seeds in our indoor greenhouse and teaching students about worm composting. Classes will then plant in and take care of their beds.  We will be able to do an early harvest before the end of the school year, and co-host our second Garden to School Café Day. Our success will be measured in both produce and achievement of learning goals for students.

why we're doing it

Ignorance is the single larges environmental problem facing us today. Lack of direct connection to farming and exposure to fresh, local food are a common problem in urban areas.  This disconnection is one of the biggest challenges to the environment, because if people can’t see the interconnectedness of the planet, they will not move forward in greening it.

 

At PS 20 Farms we are dedicated providing environmental education to the diverse student body of PS 20: The Clinton Hill School, located in the heart of Brooklyn. We have already provided some of our students with this exposure over the last two years, and with your help we want to do more. Learning about the food cycle and experiencing it first hand through sprouting, growing, harvesting and seed saving gives students an invaluable opportunity. They are empowered to teach their parents and their neighbors about fresh, local food, interconnectedness and sustainability. Seeing the fruits of students’ labor growing in the school grounds surrounding PS 20 will not only expose students to this, but also draw our larger community into the process, providing informal environmental education to neighbors and passersby.

budget

 



RAISED = 2115.00
ioby Platform Fee  35.00
3rd Party Credit Card Processing Fee (3%) 60.58
TOTAL TO DISBURSE = 2019.42

 

Budget

Lumber Donated by BIGNYC - $0

4X4 Corner supports - from 4 *x4s @$10 each, Loew’s - $40

hardware (wood screws) from Loew’s - $20

170 cf of soil @ $6/cf from David Shannon Florists & Nursery - $1000

Wheelbarrow true temper 6cu ft, from Loew’s - $70

3 Kobalt Fiberglass Shovels @$25.98 from Loews’s - $78

40 gal Rain Wizard Rain Barrel from Loews - $109

Assorted Irrigation equipment – Loews - $200

new locks and copies of keys for multiple garden gates , storage shed– Loew’s - $40

Earthpaint non toxic sealant for lumber (Earthpaint) - $324

Rubbermaid 4.6ft X 4.33ft Storage Shed, loews - $397

Seeds, Loews - $50

Seed Starting Medium – 50

Peat Pots for seed starting , left over from last year - $0

Garden Coordinator – 40 hours@$25/hr - $1000

SUBTOTAL - $3417.70

 



SUBTOTAL  $3,418
ioby Platform Fee   $35
3rd Party Credit Card Processing Fee  $103
TOTAL TO RAISE  $3,555

 

updates

THank you from the students!

The students of PS 20 say thank you:

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Nathan S.
  • Valerie L.
  • Anonymous
  • Mary Lisa M.
  • Michele S.
  • Rustin L.
  • Valerie L.
  • Rachel W.
  • Chloe M.
  • Robin D.
  • Mary C.
  • Laura G.
  • Bobby R.
  • Jane F.
  • Augusta P.
  • Doug H.
  • Elsa R.
  • Julie & Davaid R.
  • Terra I.
  • Sandrine I.
  • Francine N H.
  • Michael G.
  • Zachary P.
  • Ursel S.
  • Judith A.
  • Augusta P.