Happy Fall!
Over the years the "down season" of fall has transitioned to being as busy as Spring and Summer. We often are asked, what do you do this time of the year? And the answer is a lot! While schedules may change with school back in session -- the farming, well it must go on!
Farm Share is still going with 10 distribution sites, providing fresh, affordable and local produce to nearly 200 subscribers. We will be wrapping up soon, but there's still several weeks of fall vegetables to come! We educate community members on how to grow, prepare and preserve their food throughout the year at our Free Green Thumb Workshop series. We're really proud to report that volunteers, garden members and farm share members are even teaching some of these workshops, as you'll see below in "Chasing the Dream".
The Urban Farm is still tending to cold-hardy plants brassicas (cabbage-type plants) and root vegetables, and the green house is growing leafy greens like spinach and kales. We have weekly volunteer opportunities where community members can learn a little about farming and help us tend to our farm. That could be tending to plants, planting garlic, or preparing beds with compost.
But while the growing slows down, planning begins. We will be expanding our farm space at our Urban Farm next year, which means more vegetables, and also more youth! In 2018 we hired 20 youth to work for 6 weeks this summer at the Urban Farm. Through our Grow Binghamton program, we not just employ local teens, but teach them about food and farming. We learn the basics like seed starting and caring for plants, but also talk about community concepts like food security and food justice.
And don't forget that this time last year we announced our campaign to build 20 Gardens by 2020 -- and our Community Garden effort is well underway. We built 12th garden, and the first in Endwell earlier this fall at 1605 Davis Avenue, and we will be building on the East Side of Binghamton later this month.
Community members interested in bringing a community garden to their neighborhoods should save the date for Thursday, November 15th when VINES will have a Community Garden Proposal Workshop. Details can be found here.
Needless to say, the rainy season hasn't stopped us and this chilly fall won't either! We have lots on the horizon for 2019 and we'll continue to update you on our progress!
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