Hattie Carthan Community Garden

Hattie Carthan Community GardenPreserving Brooklyn's Agricultural HeritageWe would like to honor the memory of Mr. Riley Hawkins, May 4, 1926 - August 7, 2011, beloved member of the Garden.

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Hattie Carthan Community Garden Mission:

To preserve the agricultural heritage of Brooklyn.

To serve as an intergenerational space for reflection, inspiration, education, and training for those who visit.

To preserve the biodiversity of life, whose continuing decline threatens the health of our agricultural and natural ecosystems.

To provide an outdoor learning classroom where children and adults become exposed to a working garden.

To make a connection between the complexity of the natural world and our role as nature's caretakers.

To supply fresh food and value added products to our garden members and our community farmers market.

The Hattie Carthan Community Garden, located at Lafayette and Marcy Avenue, was formed in 1991 as a place where humans can expand their knowledge of plants and grow fresh food in Brooklyn. The garden has been a public space that is multigenerational and multicultural for over two decades in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. The garden is named after a prominent Brooklyn environmentalist who was instrumental in planting over 1,500 trees in Brooklyn. In the mid-90s the garden received preserved landmark status as a result of the community's organizing efforts and became an Operation Greenthumb Parks & Recreation site. The Hattie Carthan Garden is an important public space with its own legacy and history. The garden is equipped with a recently built children's learning garden, mushroom patches, new chicken coops, a three bin composting system and vermicomposting system. There are currently 60 members on the books, 45 individual plots, a large herb garden, a host of flower beds and islands, and fruit trees (fig, peach, apple, plum, sour cherry and apricot). Two thirds of the garden is dedicated to food production.

In the greenhouse and coldframes, seeds are propagated and nurtured until planting time. The compost piles, created from food waste and other natural materials, contribute nutrients which are essential to building healthy soil. Chemical-free plant care, and permaculture principles demonstrate practical techniques for a variety of visitors.

Food grown in our hoophouse and designated market plots is sold in the market to ensure the market is a sustainable venture. Please stay tuned for the launch of our online food education site which encourages community health through seasonal and holistic approaches to food as opposed to nutritionism. www. healthyeatinginbedstuy.org

To learn more about the garden's legacy, Central Brooklyn icon Hattie Carthan, and our rules of engagement or to see a site map and read about our bi-laws click on about us.

If you are interested in supporting this Brooklyn based community revitalization project and want to see us continue to build capacity in this community space donate here. All donations are tax deductible.

About

Hattie Carthan
History
Impact
Rules of Engagement
Community Partners

Hattie Carthan No Frame

Hattie Carthan

1900-1984

Bed-Stuy Resident, Environmentalist and Legacy

Hattie Carthan

"Block by Block"

History

Hattie Carthan Community Garden: A History

Our community garden sits on what was originally the site of St. Augustine Church which caught fire and burned to the ground. The land lay vacant for many years before the Magnolia Tree Earth Center (MTEC) took possession of the property for community gardening.

The Marcy Avenue Block Association under the leadership of Ms. Evelyn Warren decided to seek opportunities and develop relationships with the MTECs Executive Director, Sophie Johnson. Ms. Johnson assigned a young woman named Jennifer Cone to work the eyesore lot with community residents to create a beautiful garden. In 1991, a garden club was created and named for MTECs founder Hattie Carthan The Hattie Carthan Memorial Garden Club. The club was organized by the late Jerome Young, and he became the clubs first President. The other officers included Gline White, Vice President, Veronica Small, Secretary and Bettina Calloway-White, Treasurer.

The Garden Club worked successfully with MTEC as well as with Operation GreenThumb under the Directorship of Ms. Jane Weissman. The club had visions of plots, fun areas and rock gardens. With some technical assistance from MTEC and supplies from GreenThumb and plenty of hard work their vision became a reality. Our garden now has an herb garden, flowerbeds and many fruit trees (fig, peach, apple, plum, sour cherry and apricot) as well as, 32 individual plots used for flowers and vegetables. Many neighbors began to just drop-by and lend a helping hand. There was a homeless man named John who became a valuable partner. He is the one responsible for creating the rock garden. He along with the clubs officers chopped, weeded the overgrowth. This interaction changed his life. He began to open-up and built some life long relationships.

The garden always been a place that is multigenerational and multicultural. We have had garden members that are from Africa, Asia, Italy, European and the Caribbean Islands.

In the mid-90s the garden was slated to become the sight for Bed-Stuy chapter of PAL. The gardeners and local politicians (Councilwoman Mary Pinkett) and community residents rallied and distributed petitions, which halted the sale of the property. This is when more and more people signed on as club members. Right after the winning back our garden the late Estelle Robinson, one of Bedford-Stuyvesants leading citizen became our first non-gardening member. She just loved the flowers planted around the garden helped organize the planting to ensure something would be growing during all four seasons. She was in her late 70s then and we became her surrogate family.

The garden club hosts a few annual events to raise funds for our continuing visions. We have purchased a shed, a generator, lighting fixtures, lawn equipment, weed-whackers and whatever else the group deemed necessary.

Some of our activities include Easter egg hunts, Halloween parties, Christmas Tree decorating, overnight Pig Roasts, bus rides and our Annual Last of the season Bar-B-Q in late September.

Our garden has been used for wedding photos and receptions.

One of our visions was to build a pond. We dug the pond and planted some water plants the first year, however, because of the West Nile Virus we decided to that it was best to convert it into another flowerbed. We are currently building a gazebo.

The garden has hosted many affairs for the community which has brought out the political people representing our area. Council member Mary Pinkett and NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery have been constant supporters and have many times stop-in for a few moments of peace. This has worked to everyones advantage because this has allowed our neighborhood residents a chance to see the human side of the office they hold and not to be afraid of the political process.

There are many pieces of artwork in the garden. There are two 30 foot tall wooden East African Stilt walkers and a black marble statue called The Caliphs Favorite, that was donated by GreenThumb and the Grace Corporation.

There was a period of transition in our sponsorship and the directorship of MTEC in 1997. MTECs new Executive Director, Mr. Arthur Sheppard, brought to fruition many of the outstanding pieces of the vision to reality. The iron fence and gates, piped in water (being the most important) and the landmark preservation status for the garden.

Our garden has had six garden club Presidents since its inception. The current President Emmanuel Kolajo, leads a group of 37 gardeners.

Club Officers: Vice PresidentWilliam Carroll

Secretary Priscella Randolph

TreasurerBettina Calloway-White

As you can see the garden has become an integral part of our community and it is with pride and unity that we submit to you our history.

Impact

Hattie Carthan Community Garden/Hattie Carthan Herb Farm/Markets

Impact Timeline Report 2009-2011

*We are grateful to our fiscal sponsors Baileys Café, Green Guerillas and Ioby.org for taking in financial support for our programs and small farming project.

*We are grateful to our funders, community supporters, collaborators and community partners for helping us to achieve our goals

Background:

Across the United and States, rates of obesity and diabetes are increasing dramatically, particularly within lower-income, African-American, and Latino communities. In New York City neighborhoods like Bedford Stuyvesant in Central Brooklyn where a third of residents live in poverty, more than 12% of adults have diabetes, compared to 8% nationwide. In these settings, a growing body of research points to the intersection between low rates of consumption of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains and limited access to healthy choices as driving disease rates.

Hattie Carthan garden/Herban farm/farmers markets Mission statement:

The Hattie Carthan Herban garden,farm and its 2 community markets seek to enhance the quality of life in the Bedford Stuyvesant Central Brooklyn area through:

*Educating and empowering vulnerable youths and populations to positively engage with their community through the operation of a socially responsible urban farming enterprise

*Increasing access to fresh locally grown food and value added farm products in the Bedford Stuyvesant community while providing intergenerational educational programs in the areas of food education, urban agriculture and cultural education .

*Preserving Brooklyns agricultural heritage

2009 Impact

Help 48 low income residents and their families subsidize food budget by growing local food in community garden plots

Hosted annual free cookout for community residents

Hosted 13 community workdays in the garden ,organized over 1500 volunteers, who helped clean and revitalize the new market and children garden space, gain knowledge about tree care, livestock management and composting .

Reclaimed and revitalized 20ft X 100 ft abandoned lot

Designed outdoor community market space with plant installations in marketplace

Revitalized and designed learning childrens garden

Distributed 8,344 pounds of locally grown food

Built chicken coop and raised 10 pullets

4 large scale teaching culinary festivals 1Herb festival 2 food festivals,1 Pumpkin festival

5 gardening workshops

9 cooking demonstrations

Partnered with neighborhood charter school to create gardening lesson plans and taught school personnel the fundamentals of operating an educational urban farm

Delivered 48 garden based workshops to 400 elementary aged children of La Cima Charter school

Provided five at-risk high school youths with urban agriculture training, green job experience and a seasonal stipend of $600.

Provided rural farmers with income generating opportunities in the urban setting.

2010 Impact:

Help 48 low income residents and their families subsidize food budget by growing local food in community garden plots

Hosted annual free cookout for community residents

Hosted community workdays in the garden ,organized volunteers, who gained tree care, livestock management and composting and basic gardening experience.

Created women security conference to mobilize women in the community

Created 1 part time green market job

Created 1 part time green educator job

Distributed 9,741 pounds of food

Conducted 9 gardening workshops to community residents

Conducted 11 educational tours

Conducted 4 bread baking workshops for community residents

Conducted 4 herbalism workshops to teach residents about the value of herbs in the human diet and urban landscape

Built second chicken coop

Added 20 pullets

Built outdoor clay oven

Distributed 142 dozen local eggs to community

Created alternative distribution program which provides families with vegetables and eggs weekly

Signed on 21 families to weekly basket program

Partnered with neighborhood charter school to create gardening lessons and taught school personnel the fundamentals of operating an urban educational farm

Delivered 48 garden based workshops to 400 elementary aged children of La Cima Charter school

Provided five at-risk high school youths with urban agriculture training, green job experience and a seasonal stipend .

Provided rural farmers with income generating opportunities and customers in the urban setting.

Provided food and fitness programming to approximately 800 children via Playstreets closures during the summer months

Created Hattie Carthan Urban Agriculture Youth corps program which offers at risk high school aged youths an opportunity to Learn and Earn on the farms for 7 months of the year. Seven neighborhood youths Learnt about Urban agriculture and Earned a monthly stipend by working in the market.

Implemented compost dropoff system converting organic matter into humus and diverting them from the landfill Processed approx 3 tons of compost

2011 Impact:

Help 43 low income residents and their families subsidize food budget by growing local food in their garden plots

Hosted annual free cookout for community residents

Reclaimed and revitalized 60 ft X 100ft abandoned lot

Remediated asphalt ridden lot with organic matter

Added 15 pullets 2 coops 40 pullets

Designed herb farm with 3-ton compost bin system & greenhouse

Created 2nd community based market

Created 2 part time green market jobs

Created 1 part time green educator job

Expanded alternative distribution program to deliver vegetables, fruit, eggs and herbs to neighborhood families

Distributed 18,879 pounds of food at two markets

Conducted 20 cooking demonstrations at two markets

Conducted 3 bread baking workshops for community residents

Conducted 8 gardening/composting workshops

Hosted four teaching culinary festivals

Produced women empowerment conference

Distributed 350 dozen local eggs to community

Signed on 38 families to weekly basket program

Trained and hired 18 neighborhood youths to learn about growing food and Earn a stipend from working in our 2 markets

Created an institutional distribution basket for local churches and institutions to sign on for weekly food deliveries

Provided rural farmers with income generating opportunities and customers in the urban setting.

Worked with the DOHMH and local authorities to obtain street closure for dangerous street facing market: Provided food and fitness programming to approximately 1200 children via Playstreets closures during the summer months

Educated and empowered community residents to learn about compost, to do composting at home or dropoff at market. In 2011 our compost dropoff system grew exponentially converting organic matter into humus and diverting them from the landfill Processed approx 5 tons of organic waste from community residents living within ¼ mile of both markets thus creating concentrated impact around organic waste in District # 36 community Board #3.

Youth food education workshop series Delivered 2 day food education / seasonal eating workshops to youths to enable them to engage other youths in food conversations and conduct cooking demos in the markets. Youth food educators earn a stipend for doing cooking demonstrations.

Leadership training series Delivered 6 part Food justice workshop series to community residents to demystify food justice , learn about systemic racism and inequities in the food system and advance a strong grassroots collective to advance empowering models for change.

Rules of Engagement

Hattie Carthan Community Garden Membership Rules and By-Laws

Updated Spring 2009

Deviation from rules, terms & conditions is cause for exclusion from

the garden club and membership privilege.

1. Meetings are held on the first Saturday of each month, unless otherwise notified.

2. Members are required to pay $36 annually in membership dues. Dues are to be paid in full by June 30th or else you will forfeit your membership. Dues can be paid in full or in two equal payments of $18 each. Dues are used for garden clubs operation; members are not buying or renting a plot.

3. All plots will be kept free of weeds, pests, & disease. Plant props, trellises and fences should be less than four feet high. Poles and stakes used for stalking beans or vegetables should be removed after harvesting. High fences will be dismantled.

4. Tools should be returned to the tool shed after each use. Members who fail to do so will be fined $3 per incident.

5. All plots should be cultivated by June 15th. Plots left uncultivated by this date will be utilized to plant edible crops for use by the community.

6. Members who use the garden for their own private affairs must clean up immediately when the event is over. Adults are required to clean up after their children, disposing of pampers in the trash only. Failure to clean up after garden parties will result in the loss of this privilege.

7. Conflicts regarding rules and regulations will be resolved by membership at the next garden meeting after the conflict occurs.

8. The president of the garden is the contact person on the Green Thumb registration application.

9. Personal property should not be stored in the tool shed.

10 .All empty containers, personal garbage, and other garden trash must be removed by the afternoon.

11. Non-members, volunteers, and others who use the garden must confer with garden officers prior to spraying, pruning, or planting. Tree pruning and care is done annually according to the tree/shrub/evergreen maintenance calendar.

12. Every member is entitled to one set of keys to the main gate.

13. The garden conducts a number of fundraisers during the year to offset operational costs. Each member is responsible for contributing to the successes of each fundraising event. Members are currently required to purchase two tickets to the Annual Atlantic City Trip, unless the activity costs more than $50 per ticket, in that case each member will only be responsible for one ticket. In addition, the International Food Fests held during the garden season and in the early fall also raise funds for our garden. All members should make a dish or make a financial contribution so that someone else can cook the food and/or assist in cleaning up the garden before and after the even and in serving the food.

14. Garden club members are required to volunteer for various garden duties on a rotational basis. You may choose a job that best suits your talents and capabilities. Failure to comply will result in an automatic forfeiture of your membership. Exceptions: the handicapped, the elderly, small children.

15. Club members caught taking crops from another members plot without their consent will be dismissed from the club.

16. Shed keys may be issued to members at the discretion of the person in charge. Keys are to be returned after usage.

17. Non-members are not allowed to pick food from garden members plot and fruit trees without the permission from a gardener.

18. Garden members are responsible for keeping walkways, communal growing areas, and eating areas free from obstruction and debris.

19. Garden members will completely separate trash into 4 groups: 1) dead plants, leaves, vegetable skins, and plant parts 2) rocks, stones, and asphalt 3) recyclable paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal 4) meat scraps, bones, cooked food and other trach. Category 1 may be placed in compost bins. Please do not put weeds, diseased plants, cooked food, or meat scraps into compost bins.

20. Discarded debris, refuse, and other articles from outside are not permitted within the perimeters of the garden i.e. tree stumps, dead branches, building materials, etc.

21. If you are the last member in the garden, you must insure that all garden gates are properly secured.

22. Garden events not sponsored by a member of the garden club should be scheduled at least one week in advance and does not take priority over garden events. The garden calendar presides over events held by outsiders. The president of the garden will make a decision on non-member events to be held in the garden.

23. Qualified persons in the areas of community organizing, urban agriculture, farming, market management, landscaping, and horticulture have first preference for hiring should positions become available in the garden.

24. The garden president will serve as project director when a farmers market is implemented.

25. The president makes final decisions on hirees for all garden positions and is responsible for overseeing final projects and for providing training to market staff.

26. All able bodied members are mandated to help in garden landscaping chores, including the distribution of soil and wood chips, cutting the grass, etc.

27. Compost bins are for composting only. Read instructions for proper use!

28. Keep children off garden structures, i.e. grapevines, garden trellises, rock garden and shed for their own safety and to maintain the gardens beauty.

29. Garden club members support each other during sickness, death, and other calamities or emergencies. Each member is entitled to a $25 contribution from the gardens general funds once per year for this person. Contributions are also collected from the general membership.

30. Non-members of the garden and general public need to be accompanied by a garden member when visiting the hoophouse. Smoking is prohibited in the hoophouse. The hoophouse is an experiment in growing organic food. Please do not store harsh chemicals in the hoophouse or add chemical soil amendments.

31. Alcoholic beverages, firearms, using illegal substances, cursing loudly, tagging or defacing community property, and gambling are not prohibited in NYC Parks community gardens. No member will conduct garden tours, teach children, or speak on behalf of the garden community to government officials while inebriated.

32. The Hattie Carthan garden will consider admitting new members after a one-year volunteer period. Exceptions to this rule apply to longstanding friends of the garden who have supported its efforts from the inception. Such members shall be approved through the discretion of the membership body. Joining volunteers will be asked about their interests in the garden and tell us about their background and skills. They will receive notification to participate in our events and community work days.

33. New members will be admitted under the exception with at 90-day probationary period. In this case the new member will be able to sit in on meetings and familiarize with our by-laws. Membership dues will be accepted and gate keys will be issued at the June meeting in this case which is the equivalent of a 90-day probationary period.

34. Please do not feed stray cats, birds, or other animals on garden tables in community dining areas or in areas slated for childrens gardens. Although we love our animals dearly it is not hygienic to engage in this activity where humans cook and eat and it is a violation of public health standards set forth for communities in urban cities.

GARDEN OFFICERS

Emmanuel Kolajo President

Yonnette Fleming Vice President

Bettina White Treasurer

Stefanie Siegel Secretary

To See upcoming Events in the Garden and Market please go to www.hattiecarthancommunitymarket.com and click on Events

Community Partners

The Hattie Carthan Community Garden/Market relies on support from our many community partners to provide amazing green programs to Central Brooklyn community residents.

To learn more about our Sponsors please click on the links below:

To learn more about our community partners, please click on the links below:

Hattie Carthan Community Famers' Market

GreenThumb

Magnolia Tree Earth Center

American Community Gardening Association

Grow NYC

Green Guerrillas

Just Food

Department of Health

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

East New York Farms

Finca del Sur Farms

Brooklyn Rescue Mission

Citizens Committee for NYC

World Hunger Year

Partnership for Parks

New York Community Garden Coalition

• Al Vann - 36th District Councilman (Youth &

Agriculture cmtees)

• DOHMH (Health Bucks, Playstreets)

• Con Edison (Youth,green initiatives)

• Citizens Committee for NYC (The Built

Environment)

• Baileys cafe - Fiscal sponsor

• Green Guerillas - (Youth in Agriculture)

• World Hunger Year - 2009 Harry Chapin Self-

Sufficiency Award

• Partnerships for Parks NYC

• GrowNYC (Plant Starts)

Transformation

In the News

Fresh Eggs a Big Hit in Bed-Stuy

(NY1 Aug 17, 2010)

Coming to the Defense of Community Gardens by: Colin Moynihan

(New York Times City Room Aug 4, 2010)

What the Cluck? NYC Chicken Farming

(CNN Money)

A Fragrant Harvest

(NY Times June 10, 2010)

Of Coups and Coops: Hattie Carthan Brings Chickens to North Brooklyn by: Yonnette Fleming

(April 24, 2010)

Hattie Carthan Farmers Market by: cityofstrangers

(October 15, 2009)

Yonnette Fleming discusses her work at Hattie Carthan on Hot Grease

(Heritage Radio Network September 21, 2009)

Young green thumbs sprouting bounty: Months of work bring harvest of veggies around borough by: Elizabeth Lazarowitz

(NY Daily News August 25, 2009)

Hattie Carthan Farmers Market by: Alexa11221

(July 21, 2009)

Urban Garden Supplies Local Brooklyn Residents with Fresh Food Options photos by: Chris Hondros

(Getty Images July 9, 2009)

Food For All by: Annaliese

(May 1, 2009)

CB3 Meeting.pdf

SelfReliance Award.pdf

Sprint Community Champions.pdf

greenthumbSept09.pdf

Brooklyn-marty fall 2009.pdf

From Local Garden.pdf

Helping Children Grow.pdf

Brooklyn Farms Teach UN Delegates Lessons on Sustainability.pdf

Sustainable food monitor.pdf

40 women 40 years.pdf

New Yorks Green Guide.pdf

New Yorker for New York Awards Gala blurb.pdf

Photos

From Community Gardening

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To Urban Agriculture

Involved

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Garden Programs

Hattie Carthan Community Market

Composting

Community Composting

Current Positions

The Built Environment: Community led Building projects in the Garden

Urban Agriculture Youth Corps

Hattie Carthan Garden Urban Agriculture Youth Corps

Livestock

Children's Garden

Children's Garden

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Stories

Contact

Page 9

Food Justice

Events

News

In the News:

Resources

NEW RULES FOR PARKS/HPD GARDENS set to replace the 2002 OAG "Community Gardens Agreement"

Training

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Training

Basic Advocacy Training for community Residents

Feminine Empowerment

Feminine Empowerment

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