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Reaching out to help people of all of our diverse urban neighborhoods to enhance the quality of their surroundings and their daily lives through the cultivation and enjoyment of plants…
Brooklyn GreenBridge Community Outreach
Brooklyn GreenBridge, the Garden's community environmental horticulture program, continued to work with thousands of community residents to help ensure healthy, more vibrant neighborhoods. This past year, GreenBridge celebrated its 12th annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest, coordinated in partnership with Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz and sponsored by the Independence Community Foundation. More than 1,200 blocks throughout Brooklyn have entered the contest since it was founded in 1994, and an estimated 500,000 residents have participated in this borough-wide beautification and greening effort.
This year brought the largest number of participants yet: 255 residential and commercial blocks, comprising an estimated total of more than 100,000 people. The winning residential block for 2006, East 25th Street between Clarendon and Avenue D in Flatbush, had almost one-hundred-percent participation from residents and featured beautifully designed front gardens, colorful window boxes, and a wonderful variety of plants, including many native species. The commercial winner was Lewis Avenue between MacDonough and Decatur Streets in Bedford-Stuyvesant. First place for Greenest Storefront went to Patenaud Glassworks at 607 Henry Street in Carroll Gardens, and first place for Window Boxes went to Max and Gail Blythe at 95 Bainbridge Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. As part of the competition, Brooklyn GreenBridge distributed more than 400 window box kits to neighborhood groups and held street clinics in ten different locations.
The Garden's Therapeutic Horticulture Network organized a holiday gathering that included a talk and book signing by James Jiler, author of Doing Time in the Garden: Life Lessons Through Prison Horticulture. Jiler directs the Horticultural Society of New York's jail-to-street GreenHouse program at Rikers Island. Therapeutic horticulture is the practice of using horticulture to advance physical, mental, and emotional development. It also brings plants into the lives of people for whom they would otherwise be inaccessible.
Youth farmers at United Community Center Garden in East New York.
In March 2007, BBG kicked off the spring gardening season by celebrating the 26th anniversary of Making Brooklyn Bloom with the theme "Garden-Wise Greening: Growing Healthy Soil, Food & Community." This annual event drew record crowds, and keynote speaker Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, delighted participants with her talk on "Global Reflections on Eating from Home." Numerous workshops, exhibits, and speakers filled this popular day of learning and renewal.
Brooklyn GreenBridge continued to expand its repertoire of workshop topics with these new classes: How to Start a Children's Garden; Greening Up Your Street; Extending the Season with Cold Frames; and Creating a Rain Garden. GreenBridge staff continued to participate in the New York City Water Resources Group and received a New York State Environmental Excellence Award from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for BBG's work promoting rainwater harvesting.
To help educate New York City policymakers about a more sustainable, horticultural approach to storm water management, GreenBridge staff was pivotal in organizing a Water Resources Group bus tour of demonstration sites in Philadelphia for attendees from the New York City Council, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and New York City Department of Environmental Protection, among other agencies.
Through the GreenBridge Registered Garden program, BBG continued to provide technical assistance and gardening resources, particularly for responsible conservation, to about 100 community gardens. The gardens also received plants donated by BBG's Auxiliary and the annual recycled tulip bulb giveaway, as well as from various nurseries. GreenBridge continued its work with GreenThumb, the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, Green Guerillas, and other organizations to ensure the long-term preservation of these valuable community spaces.
The Brooklyn Compost Project (formerly known as the Urban Composting Project) extended its reach with funding and programming support from the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). Nearly 500 people attended workshops on a number of composting topics. Twenty-two participants, selected from nearly 60 applicants, completed the Garden's six-week intensive Master Composter program and were awarded certification. A major component of BBG's composting program is the compost "giveback" (the public provides fallen leaves for composting, and DSNY gives back the resulting compost). Over 8,500 people attended the October and April Givebacks, bringing compost back to their neighborhoods to rebuild Brooklyn soil. About 400 compost bins were sold at the givebacks, where electronics and clothing could also be dropped off for recycling.
Brooklyn Gardener, GreenBridge's newsletter, was provided free of charge to more than 14,000 community residents and organizations this year. The biannual newsletter features gardening information, tips, and a calendar of upcoming BBG workshops and events, and introduces the world of BBG to many new constituents.