Spring is almost here!

​​Spring is almost here! And that means that community garden stewards are anxious to get busy on the sites! Chances are some planting is already underway indoors...in peat pots & trays atop heating pads & under grow lights. Chances are good that saved seeds are being re-examined, new seeds ordered &/or purchases made. Some community gardens are also busy marking the calendar w/ dates for cleanups & new builds, plantings & special activities. & this would be the ideal time to consider use of a toolkit designed to help community gardens & urban farms: Farming Concrete BARN. Farming Concrete began as a research project in NYC...as an open access, community-based project to measure how much food is grown in the Big Apple. Here in JC, calculating area, weight, volume, & the value of donated &/or shared harvest for edibles + an environmental imperative, ornamentals, means measurable indicators which make it a lot easier to manage & improve a site's health, efficiency, outcomes, & impact. Think about using this free tool. Go to farmingconcrete.org/barn/data-collection-toolkit/ to read about telling the story of your garden thru Food Production, Environmental, Social, Health, & Economic data, anecdotes, & images. Between 2015-2016, we identified, oftentimes visited, & mapped close to two dozen Chilltown green gems...& you'll probably find yours on the Green Map by visiting sustainablejc.org/wordpress/2014/10/. There you'll also be able to access Farming Concrete, see what info we've input, & share what you know. Questions? Fill out the page's quick form & an admin will get back to you. So...how does your garden grow?