This Saturday, May 21st the Urban Farm at the Battery needs your help!
This is our first weekend volunteer opportunity since the plants have gone in the ground. From 10am-4pm, we will need as many people as possible to help up with various tasks on the farm, including:
We look forward to seeing you!
It’s been hard to enjoy all of this gray weather mid-May (what happened to Springtime?), but the Urban Farm at the Battery has been loving it!
So much, in fact, that our first crop has been harvested. We got a beautiful bundle of radishes: take a look!
Along with the radishes, you’ll recognize our growing braising mix, shallots, and the broccoli that was planted at our opening on April 11th.
Check out these pictures, and stop by the farm to see it for yourself.
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Our wonderful student farmers from City-As-School have been blogging about their farm on their own!
Check out these great posts from the students themselves!
City-As-School’s Urban Farm Blog:
Student Farmer Emma’s Farm Blog:
Student Farmer Alissa’s Farm Blog:
Student Farmer Erika’s Farm Blog:
Student Farmer Natia’s Farm Blog:
Student Farmer Anika’s Farm Blog:
Thanks for helping us spread the word, guys!
If your day is as rainy as ours and, like us, you can’t wait to get back outside in some sunshine, then in the meantime take a look at a video created by the lovely sixth graders at PS896. This link will take you to their blog, “Downtown Farmers” where you can find the wonderful video that has inspired us all at the Battery Conservancy. Thanks Guys!
Hello Farmers and Friends!
Even though today the weather today has been somewhat volatile, tomorrow looks like it will be a beautiful day! We hope you will come join us to volunteer tomorrow any time from 9am to 3pm… As little or as much time as you would like.
Tasks will include:
Directions
Enter the Urban Farm from State Street at Pearl Street.
Several subway stations are nearby: Whitehall [N,R] South Ferry [1] Bowling Green [4,5]
Don’t forget your gardening gloves if you have some. Water provided – please bring a reusable water bottle.
When you get to the farm ask for Camilla or Brendan.
See you tomorrow!
The Farm even made it to the morning news!
Take a look at the NY1 spot on the Farm’s Opening Ceremony. It shows the very first planting by students from PS 276, PS 896, and Millennium High School’s Environmental Club, as well as Parks & Rec Commissioner Adrian Benepe working with the kids and the Battery’s own Urban Farmer Camilla Hammer introducing the vegetables that we will soon see sprouting in the Farm.
See for yourself!
http://www.ny1.com/content/137161/urban-farm-sprouts-up-in-battery-park?ap=1&MP4
The Urban Farm at the Battery has been generating a lot of buzz! As the neighborhood gets more excited, the media is close behind.
Check out the press we’ve been getting, from sources as varied as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal to Curbed and Gothamist.
NYTimes: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/a-farm-grows-in-the-battery/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Wall Street Journal: (print only)
Gothamist: http://gothamist.com/2011/04/11/parks_commissioner_benepe_and_stude.php#photo-1
DNA Info: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110411/downtown/its-open-growing-season-at-battery-parks-turkeyshaped-farm
Curbed: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/04/11/the_birds_the_word_at_battery_parks_new_farm_yes_farm.php
With her name all over the news, we hope this attention doesn’t go straight to Zelda’s head.
This morning was very exciting for the Farm!
We held our wonderful Opening Ceremony. We were so excited to have Adrian Benepe, the Commissioner of NYC Parks & Recreation, as well as students from Millennium High School, PS276, and PS896.
The students, ranging from first to twelfth grades, sang “The Old Battery Has a Farm” (to the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm”), walked through the farm holding signs of the vegetables they will plant – and most importantly – planted their first seeds!
Afterwards, Fatty at the Battery and Merchant’s Market provided delicious and nutritious snacks in the “head” of the farm.
Take a look at our pictures!
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We are inaugurating the Urban Farm at the Battery!
If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by the urban farm at 10 AM on Monday, April 11th for the opening ceremonies.
Speakers will include Conservancy President Warrie Price, NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, and a student from Millennium High School’s Environmental Club. First graders from PS276 and sixth graders from PS876 will lead a special parade through the Zelda-shaped farm. Students from the Environmental Clubs at Millennium HS and PS 276-Battery Park City School will plant broccoli, lettuce, carrots and snow peas, the first vegetables planted on our inaugural day! And all will join in for a jovial rendition of “The Old Battery Had a Farm” (to the tune of the children’s classic, “Old McDonald”).
Hope to see you there!
After calling out to volunteers near and far for last week’s construction of the urban farms beds, we were surprised when mother nature decided we could use three days of rain and snow. We were then forced to cancel half of our volunteer days, but we were lucky to have a hardworking group of volunteers help finish the bed construction in just three days! School groups, individuals and even people off the street picked up shovels and enjoyed the sunshine and a little manual labor.
Thank you to everyone who came out! If this is an indication of what our volunteers will be like in the future, we’re in for quite a season.
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