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	<title>Sustainable Flatbush &#187; Composting</title>
	<atom:link href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/tag/composting/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org</link>
	<description>Promoting sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood.</description>
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		<title>Greening Flatbush 2012: Garden Where You Are!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/02/29/greening-flatbush-2012/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/02/29/greening-flatbush-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:52:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community Building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Permaculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Street Gardening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[URBAN GARDENS & FARMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Volunteer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community gardening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Meal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Reformed Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gardening with native plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greening Flatbush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar for community gardens]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6408</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-6516 alignright" style="padding: 0px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% #ffffff; border: 0px solid #ffffff;" title="GreeningFlatbush_logo_big" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/logo_big-e1330533081983-400x163.gif" alt="" width="200" height="82" /></p>
<h4><strong>Greening Flatbush is back, Sunday March 25th. <a title="Greening Flatbush 2012 - Get Involved!" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/02/27/get-involved">Get involved!</a></strong></h4>
<p>Sustainable Flatbush will host our 4th annual <strong>Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are</strong>, on Sunday, March 25th at 2pm.<span id="more-6408"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6500" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 5px 10px;" title="GreeningFlatbush_Erica" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GreeningFlatbush_Erica.jpg" alt="" width="197" height="350" />The event will be held at the historic Flatbush Reformed Church, host of our compost and gardening initiatives, located on Flatbush and Church Avenues.</p>
<p>This year, <strong>Greening Flatbush</strong> 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.</p>
<h4>What’s New at Greening Flatbush 2012</h4>
<p>In addition to interactive displays from a wide variety of community organizations (check out <a title="Greening Flatbush 2011" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/projects/urban-gardens-and-farms/greening-flatbush-2011/" target="_blank">info and photos</a> from last year&#8217;s event!), Sustainable Flatbush will offer workshops on <em>Gardening with Native Plants</em>, <em>Composting</em>, <em>Community Engagement</em>, and <em>Solar for Community Gardens</em>.</p>
<p>There will be live entertainment and a delicious meal prepared for the whole community. Like our first <a title="Community Meal: Healthy Eating on a Budget" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/01/18/community-meal-healthy-eating-on-a-budget/">Community Meal</a> 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.</p>
<h4>Why We Do It</h4>
<p><img class="size-full wp-image-6413 alignright" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 5px 10px;" title="GreeningFlatbush_Loudemo" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GreeningFlatbush_EE.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="197" /><strong>Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are</strong> 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&#8217;s by learning to compost, joining a CSA or community garden, adopting a tree, or growing flowers on your windowsill!</p>
<p>While bringing more visibility and participants to sustainable neighborhood-based projects, <strong>Greening Flatbush</strong> 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.</p>
<h4><strong>You can be part of this event!</strong><br />
<a title="Greening Flatbush 2012 - Get Involved!" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/02/27/get-involved">Click here for information on how to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor</a>.</h4>
<p><strong>Greening Flatbush</strong> is free, with a suggested donation of $10 for the event and the community meal.</p>
<h4>Details</h4>
<p><strong>WHAT:</strong><br />
Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are<br />
<strong>WHEN:</strong><br />
Sunday, March 25, 2 – 7 pm<br />
<strong>WHERE:</strong><br />
Flatbush Reformed Church<br />
890 Flatbush Avenue (corner of Church and Flatbush Avenues) [<a title="Map of 890 Flatbush Avenue" href="http://g.co/maps/kuz6r" target="_blank">map</a>]</p>
<p><strong>Let us know you&#8217;re coming! <a title="Register for Greening Flatbush 2012!" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/projects/urban-gardens-and-farms/greening-flatbush-2012/rsvp/">Please RSVP here.</a></strong><br />
<strong> </strong><strong></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>What Can I Compost?</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/01/06/what-can-i-compost/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/01/06/what-can-i-compost/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:56:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kady</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church Avenue Communal Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Reformed Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[open hours]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ZERO WASTE]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6225</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that you’re ready to start composting, here’s an initial list of things to get you started: Please bring: fruit and vegetable scraps coffee grounds and tea bags egg shells (with no egg residue) bread and grains fresh leaves, flowers, green plants and garden trimmings shredded newspaper or brown paper manure and bedding from horse, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now that you’re ready to start composting, here’s an initial list of things to get you started:</p>
<p><strong>Please bring:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>fruit and vegetable scraps</li>
<li>coffee grounds and tea bags<span id="more-6225"></span></li>
<li>egg shells (with no egg residue)</li>
<li>bread and grains</li>
<li>fresh leaves, flowers, green plants and garden trimmings</li>
<li>shredded newspaper or brown paper</li>
<li>manure and bedding from horse, hamster, rabbits or guinea pig</li>
<li>food soiled paper towels / napkins</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Please DO NOT bring:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>meat or fish scraps</li>
<li>fats, grease or oil</li>
<li>cheese or dairy products</li>
<li>non-compostable materials such as Plastic, Metals or Glass</li>
<li>pesticide-treated plants, grass clippings, deceased or pest-infested plants</li>
<li>dog and cat waste</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>TIPS:</strong></p>
<p>* You can save your food scraps in the refrigerator or freezer to bring to the garden; freezing will kill any food flies and bugs often found on the skin or shell of most fruits and vegetables, and the added moisture helps in the compost decomposition process.</p>
<p>* Carrying your food scraps in a reusable (and rinsable) container means no yucky plastic bag to get rid of at the garden!</p>
<p>* Please shred or chop materials into small pieces (no bigger than your pinkie finger). The smaller the materials, the easier and quicker they will decompose.</p>
<p>* If you are unable to chop your scraps beforehand, tools will be on-site to chop the materials before we put them in the compost bin.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Winter</strong> <strong>Compost open hours </strong>will be hosted at the Flatbush Reformed Church on the following dates:<strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Saturdays January 7th and 21st, and February 4th, from 11am until 1pm</strong><br />
Please check <a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/sustainable-flatbush-calendar/">our calendar</a> to confirm Saturday composting schedule.</p>
<p><strong>* Please DO NOT leave compost around the bins or by the gate. Compost will only be accepted during open hours</strong>!</p>
<p>See you at the compost site!</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Winter 2012 Composting Schedule!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/01/06/winter-2012-composting-schedule/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2012/01/06/winter-2012-composting-schedule/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kady</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church Avenue Communal Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Reformed Church]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As of January 2012, our winter open hours will be: WHEN: Saturdays 11am &#8211; 1pm WHERE: The Flatbush Reformed Church - East 21st and Kenmore Terrace side (map).   Check our calendar regularly for schedule updates, changes or cancellations. See What to Compost to get you started. Turn your kitchen waste into rich soil for the upcoming gardening season! &#160; &#160;]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As of January 2012, our winter open hours will be: <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>WHEN: Saturdays 11am &#8211; 1pm<span id="more-6238"></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>WHERE: The Flatbush Reformed Church - East 21st and Kenmore Terrace side</strong> (<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=east+21st+street+at+kenmore+terrace+brooklyn+11226&amp;hl=en&amp;sll=40.636566,-73.960599&amp;sspn=0.011333,0.022466&amp;vpsrc=0&amp;hnear=E+21st+St+%26+Kenmore+Terrace,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11226&amp;t=m&amp;z=16" target="_blank">map</a>). <strong> </strong></p>
<p>Check <a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/sustainable-flatbush-calendar/">our calendar</a> regularly for schedule updates, changes or cancellations.</p>
<p>See <a title="What to Compost" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6225" target="_blank">What to Compost</a> to get you started. Turn your kitchen waste into rich soil for the upcoming gardening season!</p>
<div id="attachment_6250" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Composting-with-Kady.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-6250 " title="Composting with Kady" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Composting-with-Kady.jpg" alt="" width="500" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Composting at the Flatbush Reformed Church</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Project LeafDrop 2011: compost your fall leaves locally!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2011/11/07/project-leafdrop-2011-compost-your-fall-leaves-locally/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2011/11/07/project-leafdrop-2011-compost-your-fall-leaves-locally/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:37:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[URBAN GARDENS & FARMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ZERO WASTE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church Avenue Communal Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Compost for Brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East 4th Street Community Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Reformed Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High School for Public Service Youth Farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYC Leaves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Project LeafDrop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prospect Farm]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fall has arrived, and we want your leaves! For our compost! In 2008, due to budget cuts, the NYC Department of Sanitation discontinued its program to collect fall leaves for composting, instead taking them to landfills as garbage. A group of community gardeners felt that this was both an outrage and an opportunity, as anyone [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fall has arrived, and we want your leaves! For our compost!<span id="more-6177"></span></p>
<p>In 2008, due to budget cuts, the NYC Department of Sanitation discontinued its program to collect fall leaves for composting, instead taking them to landfills as garbage. A group of community gardeners felt that this was both an outrage and an opportunity, as anyone who composts knows that leaves are a valuable resource and shouldn&#8217;t be wasted! Residential leaves represent both a major addition (20,000 TONS) to the city’s waste management burden and a missed opportunity to create free, high-quality gardening fertilizer for NYC residents and community gardens.</p>
<p>In 2009 a citywide coalition called <strong>NYC Leaves</strong> was formed to keep fall leaves out of the waste stream by composting them at local community gardens through a program called <strong>Project LeafDrop</strong>. Locations to &#8220;recycle&#8221; leaves can be found <a title="NYC Leaves website" href="http://nycleaves.org" target="_blank">all over the city</a>. So don&#8217;t put your leaves on the curb where they&#8217;ll become trash; bring them to the nearest Project LeafDrop site, where the gardeners will thank you for your gift!</p>
<p>Sustainable Flatbush joined the NYC Leaves coalition in 2009, and since then we&#8217;ve diverted many tons of leaves from the landfill. Join us for Project LeafDrop 2011 at our new community garden project, the Church Avenue Communal Garden, located at the historic Flatbush Reformed Church! Our Community Composting program at the garden is growing, so we need your leaves!</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 510px"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5543566495_348dfa6bd8.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="281" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Fun with leaves at the Church Avenue Communal Garden</p></div>
<p>We&#8217;ll accept leaves brought by neighbors and collect leaves from the church property, run as many as possible through a shredder, and store these carbon-rich &#8220;browns&#8221; for our winter compost collections.</p>
<p><strong>WHAT:</strong> Project LeafDrop at the Church Avenue Communal Garden<br />
<strong>WHERE:</strong> East 21st Street at Kenmore Terrace, Brooklyn (<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=east+21st+street+at+kenmore+terrace+brooklyn+11226&amp;hl=en&amp;sll=40.636566,-73.960599&amp;sspn=0.011333,0.022466&amp;vpsrc=0&amp;hnear=E+21st+St+%26+Kenmore+Terrace,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11226&amp;t=m&amp;z=16" target="_blank">map</a>)<br />
<strong>WHEN:</strong> Saturday November 19th from 11am until 2pm</p>
<p><strong>We welcome volunteers for this project! </strong></p>
<p><strong>Project LeafDrop is a great opportunity to get your hands dirty at the garden and learn more about compost, gardening, and urban soil remediation. If you&#8217;d like to volunteer, contact us at volunteer@sustainableflatbush.org or 718-208-0575.<br />
</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here are some additional Project LeafDrop sites in Kensington, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Windsor Terrace:</p>
<p><strong>Compost for Brooklyn</strong><br />
Newkirk Avenue at East 8th Street<br />
Sunday November 20th<br />
2-5pm</p>
<p><strong>East 4th Street Community Garden</strong><br />
East 4th Street between Caton Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway<br />
every Saturday and Sunday through November 20th<br />
10am-12pm</p>
<p><strong>High School for Public Service Youth Farm</strong><br />
600 Kingston between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street<br />
Saturday November 19th<br />
11am-4pm</p>
<p><strong>Prospect Farm</strong><br />
Prospect Avenue below the Seeley Street Bridge<br />
Saturdays through December 3rd<br />
11am-1pm</p>
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		<title>Moving Planet -&gt; September 24 2011</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2011/09/22/moving-planet-september-24-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2011/09/22/moving-planet-september-24-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:13:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Climate Change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SunBike]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[350.org]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church Avenue Communal Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moving Planet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=6139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This Saturday, September 24th (RAIN or SHINE!), we are proud to host one of thousands of events in over 170 countries for Moving Planet, a global day of action to &#8220;move the planet away from fossil fuels&#8221;. &#8220;The planet has been stuck for too long with governments doing nothing about the biggest problem we&#8217;ve ever [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img style="margin: 10px 20px;" src="../wp-content/uploads/2011/09/MovingPlanet-logo-pictogram-en.png" alt="" width="212" height="150" align="right" />This Saturday, September 24th (RAIN or SHINE!), we are proud to host one of thousands of events in over 170 countries for <a href="http://moving-planet.org/"><strong>Moving Planet</strong></a>, a global day of action to &#8220;move the planet away from fossil fuels&#8221;.<span id="more-6139"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;The planet has been stuck for too long with governments doing nothing about the biggest problem we&#8217;ve ever faced: the climate crisis,&#8221; said Bill McKibben, founder of <a href="http://350.org/"><strong>350.org</strong></a>, the international climate campaign coordinating Moving Planet. &#8220;This is the day when people will get the earth moving, rolling towards the solutions we need.&#8221;</p>
<p>For this global day of climate action Sustainable Flatbush will focus on local solutions, by providing opportunities to learn and participate in a more sustainable future right here in our own neighborhood!</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>WHAT:</strong><br />
Moving Planet Sustainable Flatbush</p>
<p><strong>WHERE:</strong><br />
Church Avenue Communal Garden at the Flatbush Reformed Church<br />
East 21st Street and Kenmore Terrace, Brooklyn (<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=east+21st+street+and+kenmore+terrace,+brooklyn&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;gl=us&amp;t=m&amp;z=16&amp;vpsrc=0">map</a>)</p>
<p><strong>WHEN:</strong><br />
Saturday, September 24th 2011, 11am &#8211; 3pm</p>
<p><strong>This event will take place rain or shine! If it&#8217;s raining hard we will keep the outdoor portions very brief and move inside the church house building (located in the center of the property).</strong></p></blockquote>
<h2><strong>Come join us, as we:</strong></h2>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 310px"><img style="margin: 5px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" title="Kady shows compost to kids" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6098614712_142eed9cf1.jpg" alt="377" width="300" height="225" align="left" border="1" hspace="10" vspace="5" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Kady and the composters (photo by Jocelyn Cohen)</p></div>
<p><strong>Bump up the Compost!</strong><br />
Jump into hands-on education with Master Composter Kady Ferguson. We&#8217;ll collect and shred leaves (&#8220;browns&#8221;) for our 3-bin system, harvest finished compost, and add mulch to the garden beds. Learn how YOU can compost at home or here at our community compost site!</p>
<p>WHY COMPOST? <em>Composting reduces waste by recycling organic matter that would otherwise be  considered garbage (food scraps, yard trimmings, etc.) into a nutrient-rich soil amendment through natural decomposition. That means fewer methane-producing landfills, fewer pollution-spewing garbage trucks, and more locally-generated rich fertilizer for NYC community gardens!</em></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-admin/Symphyotrichum cordifolium, Blue Wood Aster (photo by Flatbush Gardener)"><img style="margin: 5px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" title="Native Plant close-up" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5279/5872482083_be1e5812e5.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" align="left" border="1" hspace="10" vspace="5" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Blue Wood Aster (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p><strong>Go Native&#8230; native plants, that is!</strong></p>
<p>Chris Kreussling (aka <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/">Flatbush Gardener</a>) will lead a tour of our native plant garden, explain the benefits of gardening with native species, and teach us how to identify native plants (and distinguish them from weeds).</p>
<p>WHY NATIVE PLANTS? <em>Native plants provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies, and other desirable wildlife, even in urban settings. Native plants save water and energy (including your energy!). Because they have adapted to local conditions, once established they are hardy and require no additional watering or maintenance. That means no need for fossil-fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides!</em></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 335px"><img style="margin: 5px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" title="SunBike!" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5234/5805353988_a74e3f07f4.jpg" alt="" width="325" height="198" align="left" border="1" hspace="10" vspace="5" /><p class="wp-caption-text">SunBike! (photo by Keka Marzagão)</p></div>
<p><strong> Show Renewable Energy in Action with the SunBike!</strong></p>
<p>The Sustainable Flatbush <a href="../projects/energy-solutions/the-sunbike/">SunBike</a> is a mobile off-grid solar energy system that travels around on a cargo bike. We use it to provide power for outdoor events and activities &#8211; from street fairs to garden work days! The SunBike shows that clean, renewable energy can be a reality right now.</p>
<p>WHY SOLAR?<br />
<em>Renewable energy sources are a crucial tool in the fight against climate change. In New York City, solar could potentially provide 49.7% of the current estimated daytime peak demand and about 14% of the city’s total annual electricity use (<a title="NY Times Solar Map article" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/science/earth/16solar.html" target="_blank">NY Times</a>). That means a significant reduction in NYC&#8217;s greenhouse gas emissions!</em></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 360px"><img class=" " style="margin: 5px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/5815498945_d12a671e83.jpg" alt="379" width="350" height="197" align="right" border="1" hspace="10" vspace="5" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Spring Celebration potluck (photo by Keka Marzagã</p></div>
<p><strong>Finish the day with a Potluck lunch!</strong><br />
Bring something tasty to share. Potlucks are a great way to meet your neighbors and build a resilient community.</p>
<p>WHY A POTLUCK?<br />
<em>It&#8217;s fun!</em></p>
<p>We will also have a photo and graphic display including information about <a title="350.org website" href="http://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> and Sustainable Flatbush&#8217;s work, and an exhibit of climate-themed photos by <a title="Diane Lent Flickr site" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenelent/" target="_blank">Diane Lent</a>.</p>
<p><strong>About 350.org</strong><br />
<a href="http://350.org/">350.org</a> is an international climate campaign named after the safe upper concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, 350 parts per million. Right now, the atmosphere contains 392 ppm of CO2. Scientists say immediate action is necessary to address the crisis.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Greening Flatbush is a Hit!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/02/23/greening-flatbush-is-a-hit/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/02/23/greening-flatbush-is-a-hit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maria Bergenhem</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[URBAN GARDENS & FARMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11226]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barry Schwartz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Campus Road Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emily Goodman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Farm Share CSA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greening Flatbush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Just Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lisa Maya Knauer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Madeline Nelson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maikel Carder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maya Nayak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicole J. Caruth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pieranna Pieroni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plant Secrets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SeedForChange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sprouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban gardening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windowfarms]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=3023</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello Sustainable Flatbush community! Thank you so much to everyone that joined us at the second annual Greening Flatbush event on Sunday, February 21st! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and learned a lot about what we can do to actively ensure that our food is local&#8211;grow it ourselves:) I had a lot of fun [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3047" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 560px"><a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/marias_feature.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3047    " title="Greening Flatbush 2010" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/marias_feature.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="224" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Greening Flatbush 2010 (photo by Maria Bergenhem)</p></div>
<p><BR />Hello Sustainable Flatbush community!</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone that joined us at the second annual Greening Flatbush event on Sunday, February 21st! <span id="more-3023"></span>I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and learned a lot about what we can do to actively ensure that our food is local&#8211;grow it ourselves:) I had a lot of fun spending my afternoon with you all!</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 336px"><img style="border: 0pt none; margin: 0px 10px;" title="Barry's sprouts" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4376773441_6980d46417.jpg" alt="" width="326" height="216" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Barry&#39;s sprouts (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p>What was your favorite part of the event? I have to say the food samples excited me the most. Barry&#8217;s sprouts were so tasty and fresh, it really proved to me that we can grow quality stuff right in our apartments/homes. And the Moroccan carrot and orange salad was like nothing I&#8217;ve ever tasted, I&#8217;m going to look up Just Food Chef Nicole Caruth&#8217;s <a href="http://www.contemporaryconfections.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> ASAP to find out more recipes. I&#8217;m having people over for dinner next weekend, I&#8217;m totally going to try and make it for them! I also enjoyed speaking to Pieranna about composting with worms, I was skeptical before but she made it sounds so doable. She mentioned that Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a hotline you can call for composting questions, so you&#8217;ll always have help there if you need it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for making this a great event! I look forward to starting to recognize some of your faces at future events:)</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:</strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Thank you to our sponsors:</strong> <a href="http://www.kingscountynurseries.com/" target="_blank">Kings County Nurseries</a>, <a href="http://flatbushfoodcoop.com/" target="_blank">Flatbush Food Co-op</a> (for providing tasty snacks and ingredients for Nicole&#8217;s cooking demo), and <a href="http://voxpopcafe.com" target="_blank">Vox Pop</a> for the coffee!</p>
<p><strong>Thank you to our DJ</strong> <a href="http://azmatec.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Azmatec</a> for the musical soundscape!</p>
<p><strong>Thank you to our venue</strong>, <a href="http://dorchesterseniors.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dorchester Senior Center</a>!</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 510px"><img style="border: 0pt none; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Emily Goodman in Gardening for Children" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4376468649_5f66a46ebe.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Emily Goodman in Gardening for Children (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p><BR /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>PRESENTERS and WORKSHOPS </strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Maikel Carder</strong><br />
<strong>&#8220;Seeds, Soil, and Sunshine&#8221;</strong><br />
This workshop will cover what to grow, where to grow it [indoors, outdoors, in the ground, in containers] and how to grow it. Participants will learn how to prepare soil, plant seeds and care for seedlings, and how to grow herbs and microgreens on the windowsill.<strong><br />
Maikel Carder</strong> has been gardening all his life [60+ years] and is a confirmed &#8220;foodie&#8221;. He is active in local urban gardening and other efforts to re-invent daily life on a more simple, sustainable and satisfying basis.</p>
<p><strong>Emily Goodman</strong><br />
<strong>&#8220;Gardening for Children&#8221;</strong><br />
Park Slope resident Emily Goodman never really appreciated plants until she moved to New York City and realized she missed seeing green. She studied horticulture at the New York Botanic Garden, worked briefly as a professional gardener, and is now a full-time freelance writer and editor with a special interest in writing and teaching about plants. Her award-winning children&#8217;s book PLANT SECRETS was published by Charlesbridge in 2009.</p>
<p><strong>Nicole J. Caruth</strong><br />
<strong>&#8220;Cooking Tips from a Just Food Community Chef&#8221;</strong><br />
Nicole J. Caruth has been a Community Chef with <a href="http://justfood.org" target="_blank">Just Food</a> since 2009. When she&#8217;s not giving cooking demos, she primarily works as a freelance writer and visual art curator. She contributes a monthly food-art column to the PBS-affiliated blog, Art:21; and frequently pens reviews for the contemporary art e-journal &#8230;might be good. Her writing has been published by the Brooklyn Museum; Studio Museum in Harlem; Brooklyn Fine Arts Magazine, and Gastronomica to name only a few. She is currently organizing an exhibition about food for the Center for Book Arts in New York. Her companion book &#8212; a cookbook featuring recipes by contemporary artists and art world professionals &#8212; will be the first in an ongoing series. Both projects debut next spring. Caruth resides in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.</p>
<p><strong>Maya Nayak<br />
&#8220;The Windowfarms Project&#8221;</strong><br />
Windowfarms are vertical hydroponic systems made of recycled bottles and used indoors to grow veggies year-round. The Windowfarms Project combines social media, urban farming and open-source product development to provide city dwellers with the tools to grow food and cultivate their understanding of agriculture and collaborative change-making. Please visit <a href="http://www.windowfarms.org" target="_blank">www.windowfarms.org</a> to see photos/additional information.</p>
<p><strong>Pieranna Pieroni<br />
“Composting with Worms in Your Apartment”</strong><br />
Working with residents, schools, community gardens, and other organizations, the <a href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/urban/composting/composting.html" target="_blank">Brooklyn Compost Project</a> offers workshops on both indoor and outdoor composting and provides technical assistance to gardeners, building managers, landscapers, and institutions who wish to compost.<strong><br />
Pieranna Pieroni</strong> is a <a href="http://bbg.org" target="_blank">Brooklyn Botanic Garden</a>-trained Master Composter and educator who works with New York City public school students around school-community gardening and ecoliteracy.</p>
<p><strong>Barry Schwartz<br />
&#8220;Seed for Change&#8221;</strong><br />
Barry Schwartz is a recent transplant to the Peoples Republic of Brooklyn, having moved here from being the medical director for a socialist youth movement camp in Liberty, NY, and before that cooking for Ananda Ashram in Monroe, NY. The skills he has learned along the way have culminated in starting “Seed for Change”, a sprouting and microgreen workshop which features “Garden in a Bag”, a simple way to grow sprouts. He also makes fresh tempeh out of many different types of beans and makes wonderful ghee. He is looking to start a collective kitchen in the area if anyone is interested or has feedback.</p>
<p><strong>Lisa Maya Knauer<br />
“How (and Why) to Join the Flatbush Farm Share CSA”</strong><br />
The mission of <a href="http://flatbushfarmshare.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Flatbush Farm Share</a> is to make fresh organic produce available to any Brooklyn resident, regardless of economic status.<br />
<strong>Lisa Maya Knauer</strong> is a member of the core group of Flatbush Farmshare. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she is also involved in sustainability initiatives. She is currently helping develop a women&#8217;s weaving cooperative and a micro-enterprise incubator focusing on women, immigrants and low-income residents in New Bedford, Massachusetts.</p>
<p><strong>Madeline Nelson<br />
“Save the Campus Road Community Garden”</strong><br />
This gorgeous community garden and functioning ecosystem has graced Brooklyn College since 1991. It&#8217;s now endangered by the College&#8217;s plan to build a parking lot on the garden site. The gardeners welcome you to see why we want to save the peaches and mulberries, azaleas and daylillies, a refuge for people, bees, and Brooklyn parrots.<strong><br />
Madeline Nelson</strong> is a <a href="http://freegan.info/" target="_blank">freegan</a>, bicycle activist, forager and avid gardener. She&#8217;s especially interested in growing plants native to Brooklyn, as well as no-cost and very-low-cost food gathering and growing.</p>
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		<title>October/November 2009: Sharifa&#8217;s Report</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/12/10/octobernovember-2009-sharifas-report/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/12/10/octobernovember-2009-sharifas-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:44:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sharifa</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Intern Reports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11210]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11218]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11230]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[B44]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn Coll]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn College]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bus Rapid Transit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Campus Road Commu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Resource Exchange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daffodil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fall Foli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farm City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Comm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IF2030]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intern]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nostrand Ave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Novella Carpenter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYCLeaves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[potluck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Town Hall on Sustainability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transpor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vox Pop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Welcome Back Bash]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=2378</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my internship class the professor asked who wanted to do an environmental internship with Sustainable Flatbush and my hand shot up. After reading Sustainable Flatbush’s initiatives and looking through the vibrant website, I knew wanted to try to get an internship with this organization. So that night I went home and the first thing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In my internship class the professor asked who wanted to do an environmental internship with Sustainable Flatbush and my hand shot up. After reading Sustainable Flatbush’s initiatives and looking through the vibrant website, I knew wanted to try to get an internship with this organization. So that night I went home and the first thing I did was email Anne, the Founder/Director of Sustainable Flatbush, and expressed my interest. When I met Anne in the Sustainable Flatbush office I was so nervous. I wasn&#8217;t sure if I could accurately express how interested I was in learning about and being a part of every aspect of the organization.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 562px"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2801147175_bbbb8e486b_b.jpg"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2801147175_bbbb8e486b_b.jpg" alt="Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)" width="552" height="365" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p>Before the interview was over Anne gave me a list of upcoming events and meetings to attend. Also she suggested that I walk over to <a title="Stop the Demolition of the Campus Road Community Garden" href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=140469322799" target="_blank">Brooklyn College’s Campus Road Community Garden</a>. Even after attending Brooklyn College for a year I had no idea that there was a garden. When I neared the end of Campus Road I saw sunflowers and pumpkins and I was already amazed. When I walked through the paths in garden I could not believe that something so sacred existed on Brooklyn College’s campus. I instantly recognized the peach trees even though they were not bearing any fruit because I grew up with peach trees in my backyard.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 369px"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/66/202479060_92ab7baa0e_o.jpg"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/66/202479060_92ab7baa0e_o.jpg" alt="Peach Tree from Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)" width="359" height="280" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Peach Tree from Campus Road Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p>Finding a peach tree in the middle of Brooklyn was my greatest discovery because it was just a little something that reminded me of home, but that Sunday, October 4th, I attended the Campus Road Community Garden meeting and learned about the proposed demolition of the garden. You could hear from the discussion how passionate these gardeners were about preventing the garden from being turned into a parking lot. Each year many of the students and local gardeners use their hands to turn the soil into fruitful vegetation, so the fervor in their voices was understandable. Ideas were proposed about making the campus community aware of the presence of the garden and the threat of its demolition.</p>
<p>By that Tuesday, October 6th, I was able to help Sustainable Flatbush with <a title="Brooklyn College's Student Center" href="http://www.myspace.com/bcstudentcenter" target="_blank">Brooklyn College’s Student Center’s</a> <a title="Welcome Back Bash" href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/10/20/welcome-back-bash-at-brooklyn-college/">Welcome Back Bash</a>. From our table set up on Campus Road we provided students and local community members with information about the goals and initiatives of Sustainable Flatbush. The street became filled with students and members from the community who played games, listened to live music from <a title="The Pimps of Joytime" href="http://www.myspace.com/pimpsofjoytime" target="_blank">the Pimps of Joytime</a>, watched the street performances of <a title="Circus Amok" href="http://www.circusamok.org/" target="_blank">Circus Amok</a>, and gathered information from student groups and organizations. Sustainable Flatbush invited several environmental groups to table at the event and introduce students to their programs. Since Sustainable Flatbush invited the <a title="Brooklyn Compost Project" href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/urban/composting/" target="_blank">Brooklyn Compost Project</a>, I was able to dig through and at the same time learn about worm composting from Annie Houck-Lawson. I watched Rommel from <a title="Recycle-A-Bicycle" href="http://www.recycleabicycle.org/" target="_blank">Recycle-A-Bicycle</a> fix bikes and Sam from <a title="Transportation Alternatives" href="http://www.transalt.org/" target="_blank">Transportation Alternatives</a> advocate for biking, walking, and public transit. Community Gardeners from the Campus Road Garden took students on tours of the garden to make them aware of the garden&#8217;s existence and solicited signatures for their petition to thwart the demolition of the garden.</p>
<div id="attachment_2427" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 277px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2427 " src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/4049236212_13bf4f6bdf-267x400.jpg" alt="Fall Foliage Walking Tour (photo by Jason Reif)" width="267" height="400" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Fall Foliage Walking Tour (photo by Jason Reif)</p></div>
<p>The light rain did not stop members of the community from gathering at <a title="Sacred Vibes Apothecary" href="http://www.sacredvibeshealing.com/" target="_blank">Sacred Vibes Apothecary</a> on October 24th, to follow Tracey Hohman and Chris &#8220;<a title="Flatbush Gardener" href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Flatbush Gardener</a>&#8221; Kreussling to learn more about the trees in the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood. The drizzling rain made the yellow, red, orange, and green leaves as well as the brown in the barks glisten. By the end of the tour, tour-goers were able to identify and name the trees that line Argyle, Albemarle, Marlborough, Cortelyou, and Beverley Roads. I am now able to recognize the gingko trees that are on my street and Brooklyn College not just from their smelly fruit but their distinctive leaves.</p>
<p>I also had the chance of sitting in on a meeting with Anne and three representatives from the New York City <a title="Citywide Congested Corridors" href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/corridorintro.shtml" target="_blank">Department of Transportation</a> on October 20th. They were proposing the idea of changing and making improvements to the Nostrand Avenue bus service, the B44. By creating the <a title="NYC SBS Project" href="http://www.mta.info/mta/planning/sbs/projectupdate.htm" target="_blank">Nostrand Avenue Bus Rapid Transit</a> they would improve boarding time, bus speeds, and more through restructuring the street lanes and the sidewalks to accommodate the over 41,000 daily riders of the B44. Living right off of Nostrand Avenue I know how crowded the B44 can get and how long bus waits are, so I can appreciate the much needed upgrades. These representatives were looking for local organizations and community members to support the idea of the Nostrand Avenue Bus Rapid Transit so that it would be an idea that came into fruition.</p>
<p>Anne, fellow intern Mark, and I all met at the <a href="http://crenyc.org/" target="_blank">Community Resource Exchange</a> on the 21st of October for a Budgeting Basics workshop for non-profit organizations. Being in a workshop with other non-profit organizations was very helpful because even though everyone was from different organizations and had different objectives, many of the concerns and questions about budgets were similar. I learned how much actually goes into creating and maintaining a budget. Also I began to understand that budgets should be symbiotic with planning, because a budget is your plan in numbers.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 293px"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/4089597326_63f1e8e17d_b.jpg"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/4089597326_63f1e8e17d_b.jpg" alt="Shredding Leaves at the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)" width="283" height="425" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Shredding Leaves at the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden (photo by Flatbush Gardener)</p></div>
<p>Twice in November, on the 8th and the 21st, Sustainable Flatbush collected leaves at our Flatbush CommUNITY Garden in conjunction with <a title="NYCLeaves" href="http://nycleaves.org/" target="_blank">NYCLeaves</a>, to turn into rich compost for the garden. I was able to help work the leaf shredder and thanks to all the members of the community who dropped off their leaves there were way more leaves than we could shred in a single sitting. The first day that we collected leaves we received over 800 pounds of future compost. Once the leaves were shredded we added them to the compost piles in the garden. Rather than using the leaf shredder some children and a few adults took shredding into their own hands by jumping, playing, and tossing the leaves, so leaf composting not only keeps leaves out of our landfills but it is fun for all age groups.</p>
<p>Sustainable Flatbush invited <a title="Ghost Town Farm" href="http://novellacarpenter.com/" target="_blank">Novella Carpenter</a> to read from her book <a title="Farm City" href="http://farmcity.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer</a> at <a title="Vox Pop" href="http://www.voxpopcafe.com/" target="_blank">Vox Pop Cafe</a>. Her book contained stories of dumpster diving, pig auctions, squatting, and much more about the trials and tribulations of having and maintaining an urban farm and garden. I learned that a lot of time and effort go into raising your own animals for food. I found Novella Carpenter&#8217;s experiences so inspiring that someone could be so dedicated to wanting to know where their food came from that they grew and raised their own food.</p>
<p>The morning of November 15th neighbors of the Flatbush community and beyond gathered with their own tools and the desire to beautify the streets by planting daffodil bulbs. The bulbs were planted in street tree beds with trees that were planted within the last year. Come spring everyone will be able to witness the fruits of their labor when the streets of Flatbush are decorated in shades of yellows and whites from the daffodils&#8217; blooms.</p>
<div id="attachment_2457" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 548px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2457" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/4154118730_069d4253d7_b-400x300.jpg" alt="Daffodil Project " width="538" height="402" /><p class="wp-caption-text"> Flatbush Daffodil Project 2009</p></div>
<p>There was record attendance at Brooklyn College&#8217;s November 17th <a title="Brooklyn College's Town Hall" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooklyn-NY/Brooklyn-College-Town-Hall/135129876818" target="_blank">Town Hall</a> on Sustainability: 93 students, faculty, and community organizers met to voice their opinions on topics such as food, housing, health, transportation, water, energy, community gardens, and waste. Anne was one of the panelists that spoke and answered questions about sustainability in Brooklyn College and the community beyond the campus gates. I was a part of the health round table; we discussed concerns about health insurance or lack thereof, making more students aware of the health clinic, having healthier food choices at the Brooklyn College cafeteria, and using non-hazardous materials for cleaning and landscaping. Individuals at the community garden round table were some of the gardeners from the Campus Road Community Garden; they questioned and gave suggestions to Joseph Nigro, the representative from Brooklyn College&#8217;s facilities, about maintaining all of the garden&#8217;s land without having to destroy any of it for a parking lot, but he was unable to provide any clear answers. The purpose of the town hall was to present to the community what Brooklyn College is doing with regards to sustainability and take suggestions to improve on its sustainable efforts.</p>
<p>In October and November I had the opportunity to not only attend but be involved in a variety of events, meetings, and workshops with Sustainable Flatbush. Events are important to actively demonstrate to the surrounding community that as an organization you are fulfilling your objectives. What I love about Sustainable Flatbush is that the initiatives spread across a broad range of environmental topics, so I can meet with representatives from the Department of Transportation one day and then be in the garden and shredding leaves on another day.</p>
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		<title>Keep leaf composting alive in Brooklyn!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/10/01/keep-leaf-composting-alive-in-brooklyn/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/10/01/keep-leaf-composting-alive-in-brooklyn/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:09:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ZERO WASTE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community gardening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYDOS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=2211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This Saturday, October 3rd, join with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and local gardeners to take the initiative on establishing a community-led leaf composting project! Due to budget cuts, in 2008 New York City discontinued both its autumn leaf-collecting project and free compost pickups in the springtime. This was a big step backwards for the city, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/leaf-image-150.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2215" style="margin: 5px 10px;" title="leaf-image-150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/leaf-image-150.jpg" alt="leaf-image-150" width="150" height="162" /></a>This Saturday, October 3rd, join with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and local gardeners to take the initiative on establishing a community-led leaf composting project!</p>
<p><span id="more-2211"></span>Due to budget cuts, in 2008 New York City discontinued both its autumn leaf-collecting project and free compost pickups in the springtime. This was a big step backwards for the city, from the standpoint of both urban gardening and Zero Waste advocates: huge quantities of leaves (potentially soil amendments) are once again being sent to landfills.</p>
<p>The good news is that a group of Brooklyn compost advocates are meeting this Saturday to come up with a community-led initiative for collecting leaves to create compost and mulch for urban gardens! Read on for more info (the message quoted below has been making the rounds in community gardening circles).</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Greetings,</em></p>
<p><em>Please join your fellow community gardeners and our friends from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a brainstorming session that will focus on how we can expand and improve community leaf collection and recycling this fall.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/leaf-bag-dangler.gif"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2217" title="leaf-bag-dangler" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/leaf-bag-dangler.gif" alt="leaf-bag-dangler" width="200" height="200" /></a>As you know, the City will not be collecting leaves separately from regular trash, again, this fall.  That means that it&#8217;s up to us to find ways to take this rich source of garden nutrients out of the waste stream and bring it into our gardens, where it will do the most good.  Building on a very successful leaf collection and recycling project that was implemented at 6/15 Green garden last year, we hope to coordinate a Brooklyn-wide project that will enable local community gardens to be collection points for bagged leaves from their neighbors for use in the community gardens&#8230;.and possibly even distributed back to the community in the future.</em></p>
<p><em>This is truly a win/win for everyone.  Gardens will benefit from the addition of wonderful leaves that they can use as mulch or make into &#8220;brown gold&#8221; compost and residents will be able to recycle their leaves knowing that they will not be wasted clogging up our landfills.  Please join us for our first planning meeting to get the ball rolling.  We&#8217;ll be brainstorming on the basic strategies of how we can work together, coordinate dates and collection methods, create a unified press release and outreach and the ways we can avoid duplication and confusion of efforts.  We really need your voice and your ideas right from the start!</em></p>
<p><em>Feel free to forward this information to any community gardens or other folks you think would like to be part of this project.</em></p>
<p><em>Date:  Saturday, October 3, 2009<br />
Time:  12:00 Noon<br />
Location:     Ozzies&#8217; Coffee 249 5th Ave.  Bet Carroll &amp; Garfield Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 768-6868<br />
Subways:     M. R to Union St  Buses: B63 along Fifth Ave B37 &amp; B103 along Third Avenue B71 along Union St.</em></p>
<p><em>We&#8217;re looking forward to a lively discussion.  If you can&#8217;t make it to this meeting and want to be kept informed about upcoming meetings, please RSVP to this email or contact me directly and I&#8217;ll put you on the email list:  Jessica Katz bklyn.nighthawk[at]gmail.com 718-788-8287</em></p>
<p><em>Best wishes,  Jess                &#8212;  Jessica Katz Brooklyn, NY ************************************************************</em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;We must be the change we wish to see in the world.&#8221; &#8220;To forget to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.&#8221;      &#8211; Mahatma Ghandi</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Related links:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nyccompost.org/program/dsny-leafwaste.html" target="_blank">NYC Department of Sanitation Leaf Composting page</a><br />
<a href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/urban/composting/composting.html" target="_blank">Brooklyn Botanic Garden &#8220;What is Composting?&#8221; page</a></p>
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		<title>Everyone loves a Worm Composting Potluck!</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community Building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11210]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flatbush Supper Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GreenEdge Collaborative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IF2030]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[potluck]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=1394</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Despite the somewhat counter-intuitive program, yesterday&#8217;s Worm Composting Potluck was a great success! After enjoying a delicious meal, we got a tour of our host(ess) Micki Josi&#8217;s backyard compost bins and a chance to aerate their contents with a compost crank. (Although there were several graduates of the Brooklyn Compost Project&#8216;s Master Composter course present, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Despite the somewhat counter-intuitive program, yesterday&#8217;s Worm Composting Potluck was a great success!</p>
<p>After enjoying a delicious meal, we got a tour <span id="more-1394"></span>of our host(ess) Micki Josi&#8217;s backyard compost bins and a chance to aerate their contents with a compost crank. (Although there were several graduates of the <a title="Brooklyn Compost Project" href="http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/urban/composting/composting.html" target="_blank">Brooklyn Compost Project</a>&#8216;s Master Composter course present, most of us were amateurs.) Then we came indoors to &#8220;harvest&#8221; the worm bin by separating the compost from the worms and replenishing the bin with food scraps and newspaper. Since this task normally takes several hours and we had enough people to complete it much more quickly, this worked out well for everyone. Some of us went home with leftovers, compost, and even worms to start our own bins!</p>
<p>Thanks to Micki for hosting and to all who attended! Don&#8217;t miss the next <a title="Flatbush Supper Club" href="http://greenedge.ning.com/group/flatbushsupperclub" target="_blank">Flatbush Supper Club</a> event &#8211; we promise more great meals with quirky themes! Flatbush Supper Club is a partnership of Sustainable Flatbush, <a title="GreenEdge Collaborative" href="http://greenedge.ning.com/" target="_blank">GreenEdge Collaborative</a>&#8216;s Neighorhood Supper Club program, and <a title="Educating Tomorrow" href="http://educatingtomorrow.org" target="_blank">Educating Tomorrow</a> (recycling and Zero Waste advocates for NYC public schools).</p>

<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3283190383_5825697edb/' title='Worm Close-up'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3283190383_5825697edb-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Worm Close-up" title="Worm Close-up" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3284003806_8b55b42203/' title='Sifting the Compost'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3284003806_8b55b42203-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Sifting the Compost" title="Sifting the Compost" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3284000248_d9240261cb/' title='Micki'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3284000248_d9240261cb-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Micki" title="Micki" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3283197019_8d1013774d/' title='Worm Harvest'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3283197019_8d1013774d-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Worm Harvest" title="Worm Harvest" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3284011768_3769d8ee97/' title='Worms Close-up'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3284011768_3769d8ee97-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Worms Close-up" title="Worms Close-up" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3283194635_b149a7d8f9/' title='Future Compost'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3283194635_b149a7d8f9-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Future Compost" title="Future Compost" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3283193425_be25406fe9/' title='Coquille with Worms'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3283193425_be25406fe9-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Coquille with Worms" title="Coquille with Worms" /></a>
<a href='http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/16/everyone-loves-a-worm-composting-potluck/3283189387_0c39db8eba/' title='Worm Harvest 2'><img width="150" height="150" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3283189387_0c39db8eba-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Worm Harvest 2" title="Worm Harvest 2" /></a>

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		<title>Flatbush Supper Club potluck this Sunday, 2/15/09</title>
		<link>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/13/flatbush-supper-club-potluck-this-sunday-21509/</link>
		<comments>http://sustainableflatbush.org/2009/02/13/flatbush-supper-club-potluck-this-sunday-21509/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community Building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[11210]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Composting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GreenEdge Collaborative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IF2030]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://sustainableflatbush.org/?p=1378</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Flatbush Supper Club is our partnership with Green Edge Collaborative&#8216;s Neighborhood Supper Club program: Hosted by collaborators just like you, these small potlucks are intended for neighbors to get to know neighbors while sharing their skills, ideas and interests in urban sustainability. The next gathering of the Flatbush Supper Club will be this Sunday afternoon, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Flatbush Supper Club is our partnership with <a title="Green Edge Collaborative" href="http://www.greenedgenyc.org/" target="_blank">Green Edge Collaborative</a>&#8216;s Neighborhood Supper Club program:</p>
<blockquote><p><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hosted by collaborators just like you, these small potlucks are intended for neighbors to get to know neighbors while sharing their skills, ideas and interests in urban sustainability. </span></p></blockquote>
<p>The next gathering of the Flatbush Supper Club will be this Sunday afternoon, February 15th, at 3pm. We will share a potluck meal and learn about worm composting. Hope to see you there! Here are all the details:</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1235" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 10px;" title="flatbushsupperclub-food" src="http://sustainableflatbush.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/flatbushsupperclub-food-224x400.jpg" alt="flatbushsupperclub-food" width="125" height="224" /></p>
<p><strong>Worm Composting Potluck</strong></p>
<p>*Learn about worm composting &amp; harvest a worm bin</p>
<p>*Eat &amp; share fantastic food with friends and neighbors</p>
<p><strong>When:</strong> Sunday, February 15th at 3pm</p>
<p><strong>Where:</strong> Micki Josi’s house (RSVP for details)</p>
<p><strong>What:</strong> We will share a potluck and then learn about worm bin composting by harvesting a worm bin.</p>
<p><strong>Who:</strong> Anyone who wants to learn about worm composting.  Hosted by Micki Josi</p>
<p><strong>Requirements:</strong></p>
<p>1. Please bring a seasonal, homemade vegetarian/vegan dish to share &amp; Tupperware containers for leftovers &amp; worm castings</p>
<p>2. Willingness to get down and dirty with the worms, but feel free to bring gloves if you don’t feel comfortable touching worms with your bare hands.</p>
<p>3. Please RSVP by emailing: mathjosi@yahoo.com</p>
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