photo by Laura Kiev - Laura (at) makedocreative (dot) com

~ We never take for granted those who most deserve our gratitude: our volunteers! ~

This year’s Greening Flatbush was one of our biggest undertakings to date. We found ourselves adding more twists like the sustainable art component, live music, and a tasty community meal, but faced being short-staffed for this adventure. Since our non-profit organization is run by local volunteers, we relied on the help of other community volunteers and groups like New York Cares and TimeBanksNYC to produce a successful event.

photo by Sheryll Durrant

~ How beautiful a day can be when kind hearts touch it! ~

Although the weather wasn’t on our side, the positive feedback we received from those who attended and participated was awesome. Everyone had a fabulous time at the event, we all networked with great people and organizations, and the donations we received helped cover the cost of Greening Flatbush.

The success of this event is due in large part to our wonderful volunteers and their efforts. For all the volunteers listed below, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Adam Weber

Allison Braham

Athena Bernkopf

A. Victoria Hunter (TimeBanksNYC)

Brian Batka

Carole Silverman (TimeBanksNYC)

Cori Carl (New York Cares Team Leader) and 10 New York Cares Volunteers (Shift 1)

Dolores Henry (TimeBanksNYC)

Elena Tenchikova (TimeBanksNYC)

Ellen Lehman (TimeBanksNYC)

Emmelyne Louis

Engin Karabagli

Ilana Yamin

Jamey Ellis

Jean Baptiste Joseph (TimeBanksNYC)

Jimmy Ng (TimeBanksNYC)

Karana White

Kevin Butrick (TimeBanksNYC)

Laura Vladimirova

Madeline Schwarz

Metsha Renois (New York Cares Team Leader) and 12 New York Cares Volunteers (Shift 2)

Mona Kidd (TimeBanksNYC)

Natalia Sucre

Phil Shipman

Rosalia Lucero

Sonaz Safari

Stephen Anh

Tamara Leighton

Tracey Sharpe

Tricia Ang

Veena Muthusamy

Veena’s Mom and Aunt

Vivian Vivas

And a special thank you goes out to the talented Community Meal Specialists:

David Cohen
718 Collective – Berlin Reed, Jesse Gold, Cresta White
Barry Schwartz
Margaret Dunn-Carver and Jeff Campoli

~ We (heart) our volunteers ~

SF Team

Listen to a preview of Gaitambó here!

4:45 to 5:30 pm: Live music and appetizers! Enjoy Afro-Colombian rhythms and songs of the musical ensemble Gaitambó. According to their bio — they seek to maintain and perpetuate the oral and acoustic folklore of a music which was born through the fusion of African, Colombian, Indigenous and European ancestry.

5:30 to 7 pm:  Join your neighbors for a delicious healthy vegetarian meal lovingly prepared by local community chef David Cohen, Barry Schwartz (of Barry’s Tempeh), 718 Collective, Margaret Dunn-Carver and Jeff Campoli, and our group of volunteers. Continue the lively discussions and interactions that resulted from your participation in the day’s events. Meet new neighbors and say hello to old ones. And share, learn, and build relationships around sustainable living in our communities.

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s on the menu (subject to change without notice):

Main Course:

Ginger Rice
South Indian Dahl
Roasted Herb Mushrooms
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Barbecue Tempeh

Salads:
Massaged Kale Salad with Grated Carrot and Sesame Seeds
Red Cabbage Slaw

Dessert:
Homemade ice cream
Fig and Date Bars

Drink:  Cool Ginger Mint Herbal Tea

WHEN: Sunday, March 25 at the Flatbush Reformed Church!

See you there!

Over 30 groups/organizations (more than half of them from our own Flatbush neighborhood!) will be present with hands-on activities/demos to talk about their projects or simply share a skill with you! (See a partial list below.)

We’re also super-excited to be honoring the 300 East 25th Street Block Association, aka The Greenest Block in Brooklyn!

300 E25th Street aka The Greenest Block in Brooklyn!

Sustainable Flatbush will give workshops on Gardening with Native Plants, Urban Composting, and Solar for Community Gardens and Backyards. Come and learn something new with us!

Here are just a few of the amazing folks who are coming, and what they’ll be presenting:

BK Farmyards – Urban Chickens Guessing Game
596 Acres- Your Vacant Land
Freegan Gardening – Waste Not, Want Not: free and almost free ways to improve your diet
Compost for Brooklyn – Composting with Worms
Newkirk Cares Collaborative – DIY Tree Guards
Tsuh Yang Chen – The Houseplant Doctor is IN!
Flatbush Food Coop – Special Diet Foods and Sustainable Household Products
718 Collective – preview of “Salt & Vinegar: A Food Preservation Series”
The POOP Project – Turning Waste to Resource: Brown is the New Green
Crown Heights Farmshare – Fast Food vs. Healthy Food
Flatbush Farm Share CSA – Spend Your Money Wisely
Office of NYC Councilmember Jumaane Williams – Participatory Budgeting in the 45th District

We’ll finish the day with live music from Gaitambo and a delicious vegan Community Meal cooked by local chefs!

Don’t miss this one! We’ll see you there!

Greening Flatbush is free, with a suggested donation of $10 for the event and the community meal.

WHEN:

Sunday, March 25, 2012
2pm–7pm (Community Meal starts at 5)

WHERE:
Flatbush Reformed Church
890 Flatbush Avenue [map]
(corner of Church and Flatbush Avenues)

Let us know you’re coming! Please RSVP!

Greening Flatbush is back, Sunday March 25th. Get involved!

Sustainable Flatbush will host our 4th annual Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are, on Sunday, March 25th at 2pm.

The event will be held at the historic Flatbush Reformed Church, host of our compost and gardening initiatives, located on Flatbush and Church Avenues.

This year, Greening Flatbush promises to be better than ever — an event the entire family can participate in and enjoy. Our annual extravaganza celebrating community gardening, neighborhood greening, and urban agriculture will feature, from 2 – 5pm, hands-on workshops, interactive demos, DIY projects, creative arts, and live entertainment, presented by Sustainable Flatbush and a curated roster of community-based groups. The day will culminate in a delicious Community Meal from 5 until 7pm.

What’s New at Greening Flatbush 2012

In addition to interactive displays from a wide variety of community organizations (check out info and photos from last year’s event!), Sustainable Flatbush will offer workshops on Gardening with Native Plants, Composting, Community Engagement, and Solar for Community Gardens.

There will be live entertainment and a delicious meal prepared for the whole community. Like our first Community Meal on January 28, which attracted over 120 people, this is an opportunity for neighbors to meet neighbors and to share, learn, and build relationships around sustainable living in our communities.

Why We Do It

Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are engages and empowers people from all over Brooklyn and beyond to participate in creating sustainable urban neighborhoods. Our goal is for YOU to discover (or create!) a project within walking distance of your home where you can get involved in making your community greener — whether it’s by learning to compost, joining a CSA or community garden, adopting a tree, or growing flowers on your windowsill!

While bringing more visibility and participants to sustainable neighborhood-based projects, Greening Flatbush will also be a great opportunity for all of us to get acquainted with like-minded organizations and people, form partnerships, and strengthen the growing network of environmental stewardship in Brooklyn.

You can be part of this event!
Click here for information on how to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor.

Greening Flatbush is free, with a suggested donation of $10 for the event and the community meal.

Details

WHAT:
Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are
WHEN:
Sunday, March 25, 2 – 7 pm
WHERE:
Flatbush Reformed Church
890 Flatbush Avenue (corner of Church and Flatbush Avenues) [map]

Let us know you’re coming! Please RSVP here.

Partner with us – Become a Sponsor

We offer a range of sponsorship opportunities that helps your business or organization gain enhanced visibility, brand awareness, and access to potential customers from all over Brooklyn.

Join the Party – Be a Volunteer

Volunteers are the heartbeat of what we do and we all have fun together. Join us for a rewarding experience and amazing networking opportunity.

We are super-excited to partner with The Cookbook Project to create a free and healthy meal for the  whole community — that means YOU!

Enjoy a delicious FREE vegetarian meal prepared by community chefs and Alissa Bilfield of The Cookbook Project, along with lively conversation about local food systems, food waste and composting, and the environmental, health, and budget benefits of eating a plant-based diet.

We will provide a cost-per-plate breakdown to illustrate that tasty, healthy meals can also be affordable! Come for an opportunity to share, learn, and build relationships around sustainable living in our community.

WHAT: Sustainable Flatbush’s Community Meal: Healthy Eating on a Budget
WHEN: Saturday, January 28th, 12-2pm
WHERE: Flatbush Reformed Church
890 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY [map]

Also – we are asking for donations of soup bowls for the church’s food program, which currently uses disposable styrofoam bowls.  If you can spare a reusable soup bowl, please bring one to donate!

(photo by Jason Reif)

Serviceberry bush on Church Avenue

Brooklyn Native Plants Tour May 15th, Spring Planting at the Garden May 21st, and Celebration with Flatbush Farm Share CSA June 8th!

Thanks to all who came out for our first spring planting at the garden on April 30th! We were able to score some beautiful native plants from the 12th Annual Wildflower and Native Plant Sale at Westchester Community College for the first installation of the Church Avenue streetscape, including a beautiful Serviceberry (Amelanchier) bush. The edible garden also looks great, and we’ve now planted okra, cauliflower, collards, cherry peppers, green beans, and more in sub-irrigated planters created from reclaimed materials!

There are several exciting events in the works for the garden over the next month, please save the dates! Events will take place at the backyard space of the Flatbush Reformed Church, at Kenmore Terrace and East 21st Street, unless otherwise noted.

Sunday, May 15th, 12-3pm

special off-site event: Native Plant Garden Tour

As part of NYC Wildflower Week, our own Chris Kreussling (aka Flatbush Gardener), Director of Sustainable Flatbush’s Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative, will partner with Compost for Brooklyn to provide a tour of two native plant gardens in the neighborhood. The self-guided tour begins at Compost for Brooklyn, Newkirk Avenue and East 8th street, and continues to Chris’s home garden.
Register here for this free event (and for directions).

Planting the Church Avenue streetscape

Saturday, May 21st, 11am-4pm

Spring Planting and Potluck: Native Plants Edition!!!

Join us for a special spring planting day and potluck meal!

This is our second installation of spring planting days at the the Church Avenue Communal Garden. We’ll focus on beautifying the Church Avenue streetscape and preserving our urban ecosystem with plants that are native to the New York City region.

Enjoy a beautiful day outdoors at the historic Flatbush Reformed Church! A composting demonstration and workshop will be held from 11-12. Bring food or drinks to share with your fellow gardeners.

Wednesday, June 8th, 4-8pm

Spring Planting Celebration and Potluck with the Flatbush FarmShare CSA!
Join us for a potluck social at the Church Avenue Communal Garden to celebrate our spring plantings and the first day of the season for the Flatbush Farm Share CSA! We’ll have info tables, wine tastings, live music, and more. Bring finger food and/or drinks to share.

See you at the garden!

(photos courtesy of Alexandra Corrazza)

The Church Avenue Communal Garden is a new community garden located on the grounds of the historic Flatbush Reformed Church property at Church and Flatbush Avenues. The project is a partnership between Sustainable Flatbush and the Flatbush Reformed Church, and will include a rain garden and community space, an edible garden, and a native plant streetscape along Church Avenue. As we begin our first planting season this spring, the garden will become a community space for Flatbush residents to participate in workshops and events around nutrition, composting, container gardening, native plants, and local food, including special activities for youth. For more information email emily@sustainableflatbush.org or call 718.208.0575. Come get your hands dirty with us!

Choosing Seeds (photo by Alexandra Corrazza)

Join us on June 8th for a Spring Festival and Potluck Social at the Church Avenue Communal Garden to celebrate our new spring plantings and compost system, and the Flatbush Farm Share CSA‘s first produce distribution of the season!

After just a few months our newly-established community garden project at the Flatbush Reformed Church has a lot of accomplishments to celebrate: planning meetings and workdays that have engaged dozens of community and church members; an after-school gardening program for youth; the beginnings of a native plant streetscape on Church Avenue; a vegetable garden growing in containers made from recycled materials; and a 3-bin compost system we’ll use to create our own soil amendments as well as for community composting education.

Now that the school year is ending and the CSA season is beginning, we wanted to create an opportunity for youth (as well as other neighbors) to learn about the CSA and CSA members to learn about the garden; so we’re co-hosting a Spring Festival and Potluck with lots of fun activities. We’ll have ice-breakers and nametags to help mingling, and Sustainable Flatbush and CSA core-volunteers will be there to host.

Everyone is welcome to this family-friendly community event, come celebrate with us!

WHERE:
Flatbush Reformed Church backyard
East 21st Street at Kenmore Terrace
Brooklyn, NY  11226

WHEN:
Wednesday, June 8th (not June 1st as originally announced!)
4 – 8pm

ACTIVITIES:
–Info tables and workshop topics will include community gardening, composting, recycled art, CSA volunteering and more!
–Wine tasting provided by CSA wine supplier T.B. Ackerson Wine Merchants
–Live music (to be announced)

WHAT TO BRING:
–Please bring some finger food and/or drinks to share. Any cups, plates, utensils, or napkins as needed would be welcome.
–A picnic blanket might be helpful to set up your goodies.
–If you choose to make something, you might like to include a recipe card and info on whether the food is vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free etc.
–CSA members, don’t forget your grocery bags and egg cartons, since you’ll be picking up your veggies/extra shares too.

Come for a tour of the garden, check out the CSA (it’s not too late to join!), and make new friends!

Grass-fed cattle at Grazin' Angus Acres

I learned many things but most importantly: cows as herbivores evolved to eat and digest grass – not corn.  Eating grass as they evolved to do, cows produce less greenhouse gases, and is way more efficient than conventional meat production.  While grass-fed beef is environmentally sustainable, but it’s not yet financially sustainable for independent farmers who do it.  On day one, we watched a documentary called “Green Beef” that highlighted the scientific and culinary importance of sustainably produced cattle. On day two, I learned that conscious beef is expensive to produce but does not have lucrative results for the chief executives. Dan told me that the farmers spend all summer and early autumn preparing for the winter months when fresh food for the cattle and his family are both in short supply. I get to purchase great meat like other New Yorkers at local Greenmarkets. That’s lessening our carbon footprint, and helping Dan and Susan Gibson meet their bottom line, but it’s not enough.

Now the foundation is laid, and we know what we need to do in order to ensure both the environmental and financial sustainability of our agricultural system:  

Carnivores, eat grass-fed beef!

Thank you Dan and Susan Gibson for your generous hospitality and warmth.