We tried to clean up in this park. We could only do some work. Now we hope we can get NYC Parks & Recreation to clean up the big mess. As of 2010 this park has not been cleaned up and remains fenced and locked.
Going Green in Highbridge Community
Submitted by 1212Community on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 16:15
the problem:
There is almost no Green space in our community. There are almost no healthy food stores. Mostly candy stores that sell chips and candy Diabetes and obesity is the highest in the community we live. The air where we live is also the most polluted in NYC. We found an answer to these problems. We were able to do real farming this summer in a community garden. We want to tell everyone about what we did and tell the politicians that we need more Green spaces and not more cement basketball courts.
vital stats:
people impacted:
25people involved:
25why it's important:
We met a man who was a sharecropper. He taught us about farming and herbs that can heal us. One boy was bit by a mosquito and Mr. Talib gave us Aloe to put on it and it worked. We want to be healthy. When we were hungry He just told us to pick any fruit from his trees. We had 14 different fruit trees to choose from. That was cool. When we come in the garden the air is even different. That is important because we learned that we can grow our own food and we can heal ourselves if we are in a forest.
the plan of action:
We made a documentary and we want to share it with everyone we can. We want to do showings of our DVD and tell other people that they can do this too. We have been joined in the work with a school in New Orleans called the "School at Blair Grocery" and we want to share with them what we have done and do some of the things they have done.
how you can get involved:
People have given us great praise for what we did over the summer. Many people have asked us to have a show about our summer and to come and give talks.This will help everyone to know things in our community are worthwhile and good.We can also let people know about the Taqwa Community Farm so that people keep it good for everyone to gather and to learn.
project updates:
10/09/2009
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Comments
As of summer 2010 it has been spectacular. Our plot had a full salad bar and the children who have come to the garden have been thrilled. One camp with the Bronx Defenders have said this was the best trip that they took. Our mentor and teacher, Mr. Abu Talib, draws thousands to learn and see this paradise. We are so very lucky to be part of all.
This is our 3rd year of planting. What a great summer we are going to have. We have started a Peace Plot where children each take a small square and plant their choice of seeds.
We planted a Peace Plot. Each child planted in the Peace Plot. We can't wait to see what it is going to look like.
The 2011 Peace Plot was a success!!! One child planted marigold seeds and it turned out to be African Marigolds. They were huge and spread to other places in the garden. Our harvest was also prolific with vegetable everywhere.
MARCH 10 - CAN'T WAIT - We will take children to learn how to grow Organic Vegetables in a window box, backyard or front yard. ++++ make your own compost. It will be at The Learning Tree Prep School in Bronx, NY