GardenLab at Bushwick High School Campus

Vital Stats

Elisabeth C

Brooklyn, NY

  • people helped1000
  • People Doing It 40

The Problem

I work at the Bushwick High School Campus in Bushwick, which is an under-served high needs community of Brooklyn. A group of teachers and students noticed a number of serious concerns, namely the lack of available green space in the community, the lack of options for gardens, and the lack of local produce available in the community. These are city-wide concerns, but they are even more pronounced in neighborhoods like Bushwick that have been repeatedly ignored by much of the GreenNYC funding and other such initiatives in New York. There are very few green markets in Bushwick, and Bushwick High School has no official garden that is designated for use by students and teachers. Teachers were also concerned about what we have noticed is little to no connection with nature among our students, which is often true of students from urban areas. When students feel connected to the natural world they are more likely to take action in ways that are beneficial to the environment. Additionally, projects such as community gardens, tree planting, etc, encourage responsibility and can increase engagement in school. And this is not something that is simply being pushed on students by teachers who think they know best. There is a sense that students want to be involved with gardening and green space, but there is no outlet for that. These are the concerns that our building-wide organization, the Bushwick Green Team, have noticed and are hoping to address.

Plan of Action

We have space available to create an on-campus vegetable garden, and we are going to make one! But a garden doesn’t just happen overnight, and it takes more than aspirations to create it. With something as big as a garden, it takes community action. And it takes time. We’ve had this idea for a while now and wanted to put it into place, but funding is really tight right now in the New York City public schools. And it’s not just funding- we’ve had to get approval from the three principals in the building as well as from the buildings and grounds office, and now we finally have the green light to go. We also have to build a fence, plan the garden, build the beds, get and plant the plants, buy a shed and gardening tools. It’s a process, and despite our sustained efforts so far it has been a difficult process. What we need right now is a financial boost to get some of the more concrete supplies and requirements out of the way. Here is an outline of our plans for the year to come: This summer: Put up the Fence with $300 we will hopefully have raised within the next few weeks. This Fall: The Bushwick Green team, including both students and teachers, will be constructing compost bins and Vermicompost beds, tilling soil in the garden, and prepping for winter. At this point we will have to purchase a wide variety of tools, from hammers and nails for building our beds to shovels and rakes to till the soil. We will also have to install some sort of shed into the garden area, and students were hoping to build a cobblestone walkway. Students at the school who are in particular classes with related themes will be maintaining and monitoring these projects, and so will students and teachers who are part of the Bushwick Green Team. Early Spring: Harvest compost! Purchase plants and grow seeds indoors, till soil and prep for planting. Mid-Spring: Plant and maintain an array of vegetables. Late Spring: Harvest our first vegetables to share with our classes and with the local community. Students and teachers will do the harvesting and will share in the bounty! As you see, this involves lots of partners and we have been building those partnerships. Also, who knew making a garden would be so expensive? We have partners like Green Thumb, who are supplying us with dirt, wood chips, and wood for raised beds. Earth Matter, a composting support organization, is helping us to build and maintain compost bins. And our seeds are coming from the America the Beautiful Foundation. But there is something missing. To do something--to do anything--you need tools! We are hoping to get a grant from the Do Something foundation to help with the purchase of tools for our garden.
Go
Education
Environment
Physical and Mental Health

Related Stuff