sustainableflatbush.org

Flatbush CommUNITY Garden

The mission of the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden is to create space for a diverse group of neighbors to establish a community-led organic garden; to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and create a multi-cultural, interactive, empowering space that fosters unity and pride within the community while supporting healthy eating and local sustainable agriculture. An additional goal of this program is to promote sustainable gardening and farming practices throughout the neighborhood, especially on publicly accessible land that is currently underutilized. Our gardens will serve as visible examples of sustainability practices such as rainwater harvesting, water-efficient landscaping, composting, and permaculture.

A community garden visioning meeting took place on May 28th. Over the summer land was cleared, raised beds were built, and the first crops have been planted. Garden participants have joined committees, based on interest and ability, to help move the process forward.

As Brooklyn’s newest community garden, we are still working out membership procedures. We hope to have these finalized by the end of the year. Announcements for future meetings, and procedures for new members to join, will be posted on this site when they are available.

For more information about the garden, please contact the garden group (choose the garden from the category drop down).

Flatbush Bike Ride to Summer Streets

Sustainable Flatbush partnered with Transportation Alternatives to sponsor a feeder ride on August 16th to Summer Streets, the historic car-free celebration in Manhattan.

Lawn Litter Campaign

An August 3rd press conference at City Hall protesting unwanted menus and advertising fliers was attended by Sustainable Flatbush. Neighborhood residents are being organized to file affidavits against companies that dump materials on their property, and Sustainable Flatbush has created a downloadable “No Fliers” sign.

Neighborhood Solar Forum

On July 16th Sustainable Flatbush sponsored its first Neighborhood Solar Forum, with the goal of educating property owners interested in installing solar energy systems. Chris Neidl from Solar One gave a presentation on the current state of solar in NYC, and Peter Landy spoke about his experience of installing photovoltaic panels on his Brooklyn home. This forum was geared toward single-family homes, with a forum on multi-family buildings planned for the future.

Newkirk Avenue Block Party

On June 21st, together with co-sponsors Flatbush Development Corporation and Make Music New York (and using a grant received from NYC Streets Renaissance), we closed one block of Newkirk Avenue to cars and enjoyed a Block Party with live music, traditional New York street games (skelly, double dutch, hopscotch, etc.), fitness activities with Midwood Martial Arts, and getting to know our neighbors. Environmental organizations including Solar One, Brooklyn Compost Project, and Transportation Alternatives spent this first day of summer with us.

Arbor Day Street-Tree Walking Tour

In partnership with Trees NY, Sustainable Flatbush celebrated Arbor Day by conducting a neighborhood Street Trees Walking Tour.

Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are

On February 24th Sustainable Flatbush’s Gardening Committee produced its first event, Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are. Held at the Flatbush branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, the afternoon’s activities - free and open to the public - featured a great lineup of speakers, demonstrations and workshops on a range of topics, including community gardens, gardening in containers, composting, street trees and community-supported agriculture.

Post-Holiday Electronics Recycling Event

On January 5th and 6th Sustainable Flatbush held a neighborhood e-waste recycling event, providing residents with a local dropoff point for their newly obsolete electronics. Materials were brought to Lower East Side Ecology Center’s huge e-waste collection at Union Square in Manhattan.

Photo credits: Chris Kreussling (Flatbush CommUNITY Garden), Themis Boaventura (Pink Maraca)

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