Category: Education

Spring and Fall Youth Gardening Classes Returned in 2021

10/16/2021

Despite the ongoing challenges of Covid 19, the Outreach Team who were interested in offering free garden classes was able to make a come back this spring and fall 2021. Laura Laderman and Julia Ferguson both enjoy "teaching" these gardening classes and they were glad to be able to start again this year. We offered 6 weeks of free classes in May and June and then again another 6 weeks of free classes in September and October.

Plot D12 is super shady with many tree roots, but we persist. We also were able to use some sunny spots in C-38 and C-39 in the summer for corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Plot D12 has produced lots of kale, purple beans, a few radishes, and now Swiss chard, lettuce, and garlic for winter crops. We have some native pollinator plantings ,one hydrangea, and a few impatiens. Most of all Plot D12 gives youth ages 9-13 a place to learn with a cycle of activities that we repeat in some way each week:

Breathe deeply
Observe & Inquire
Look Down - Soil - Check on & Learn about soil.
Look about - Plants - Check on & Learn about plants.
Look up and around - Ecosystem - Think about and Consider the Interconnected Whole

This fall at our final class we had two boys and two girls and a guest scientist. (Thank you, Alexander Dvorak.) We also had three children of member gardeners - now a "tradition" since 2014 when one high schooler, the daughter of a member in the B section, got it all started. Click here for the article

Stay tuned for more. The last thing these young people said was:
" When is our next class?"

Cornell Tech's Service Learning Course and RIGC

9/10/2017

Cornell Tech campus moved on to Roosevelt Island this summer and RIGC has been part of the welcoming committee. As one of the many non-profits on Roosevelt Island, we are also unique in that we are an all volunteer organization.

We were honored to be invited by Jane Swanson, Cornell Tech Community Liaison, to connect with Professor Tapan Parikh in June as he began planning a new Service Learning course for Cornell Tech Graduate Students. Sande Elinson, Neal Weissman, and Julia Ferguson enjoyed this meeting and began the connection. Then in August, RIGC was invited to attend the opening reception along with other RI non-profit organizations like the Carter Burden Senior Center, Main Street Theatre, RIVAA gallery, RI Historical Society, Dr. Jack Resnick, and more. Anthony Longo and Julia Ferguson were able to represent RIGC at this exciting reception hosted by RIVAA at the Art Gallery and enjoyed officially greeting Cornell Tech students for the first time.

Three weeks later...we have already begun meeting and corresponding with three wonderful graduate students who are researching and exploring a service project for RIGC and RI. They will work to complete a green and also technology related project by the end of November. More news soon as this exciting collaboration continues.

Bindweed: one of the more invasive, tenacious weeds

7/31/2017

How can one avoid or eliminate this suffocating weed?
1) Amend your soil and fill your garden with healthy strong plants.
2) Dig down and dig out the root (often 12 "deep).
3) Cut back/Prune repeatedly to ground level to weaken and eventually kill.
4) Pull out and remove before flowering and seeding that spreads then to others' plots.
5) Another successful strategy is to mulch the area after weeding by laying down 5-6 sheets of overlapping newspaper or cardboard over all bare soil, and then cover with 3” of ramial wood chips.
6) Please try to trash all bindweed trimmings and avoid placing them in the compost bin. However, our compost piles do also heat up to 140 degrees Farhenheit to kill any possible weed reproduction.

RIGC member, Karen Lee, has prepared her own bindweed publication with excellent pictures of varied stages of growth for this plant, which can be downloaded below.

This link provides another bindweed discussion from an organic gardening blog with pictures of field bindweed; and this link will take you to a clear explanation of hedge bindweed from the RHS in England, but please be reminded that at RIGC, we keep our methods natural and do not allow pesticides that damage the environment and our health long term.

If one weeding nightmare is not enough for you, beware, there is an even worse weed that appears only on a small western edge of the garden because it spreads from an area in the DEP site: Japanese knotweed.

bindweed_5.31.17 by K Lee.pdf
File Size:	3746 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Soil Care, Garden Care, and Organic Mulch

7/31/2017

Standards Chair, Beverly Shutes, offered two mulching workshops in July on how to use quality organic mulch correctly to build your garden soil and prevent weeds. RIGC has received wood chips from several Roosevelt Island trees because VP Dave Nisthaus and Beverly recently asked the DEP site workers for the chipped remains of a cottonwood tree that had to be removed for the water tunnel work. As a result, we received a large, free pile of locally sourced ramial mulch.

This method of wood chip mulching is based on the no-till "Back to Eden" garden method, as taught by Paul Gautschi, a renowned arborist. (http://barbolian.com/permaculture-by-nature/) It both builds the soil and avoids too much soil disturbance. RIGC Landscape committee members have seen the benefits for our perimeter beds as plant growth and soil health have been enhanced. The need for weeding has been reduced in areas where we followed these instructions. The attached document below provides further instructions and careful reasoning for the specifics.

Other kinds of garden care methods include plants as mulch which espouse close plantings methods such as in our own Rose Garden by Marjorie Marcallino and in some of our award winning gardens by Julie Lipp and Elizabeth Bolden. This article and interview of Claudia West from Margaret Roach at A Way To Garden explains these ideas further.

weed_prevention by BShutes docx
File Size:	27 kb
File Type:	docx

Download File

Seasonal Planting Photo and Link to Plants are the Mulch by Margaret Roach

Learning about Gardening: Mid-week Middle Schoolers

7/31/2017

Andrew, Jake, and Annelisa all tried the pilot program for learning about gardening that was offered by Julia Ferguson in July. Plot C-30 on the east side became the temporary site for this weekly gardening and learning. We used the following checklist options for each lesson:

Connect: Close your eyes, listen & breathe, then walk a bit and observe
Compost: Check, add, turn, or spin
Grow: Plant seeds, thin seedlings, "dead head", weed, or water
Clean: Rake, sweep, care for and store tools
Observe: Measure, draw, look around & breathe

Students planted radishes, lettuce greens, marigolds, basil seedlings, zinnias, cosmos, and a wildflower mix. They learned to identify certain plants, harvested green beans and squash, and measured sweet corn growth. They learned about compost and tried both sifting and the trammel. One big question that came up was about pollinators and bees. What do these insects actually do to help plants and vice versa? So we looked up details about plant fertilization and reproduction. Ecological concept connections included cycles, interdependence, diversity, and flow. Despite the summer heat, we made lavender wands, a plant wreath, and were able take home some herb cuttings or plants in pots. Stay tuned for more news from late August and possible September classes.

RIGC Landscape Committee News

6/19/2017

Our RIGC Landscape Borders and Common Areas are a very important part of what we share with our visitors. Julie Lipp served as RIGC Chair of the Landscape Committee from 2013-2016,working very hard with her team to clean up and clean out. For many years prior, Julie had already helped with the perimeter and common areas creating beautiful spaces like the iris bed just east of the cottonwood tree and the beds with David Austin Wildflower Roses to the north east. In addition, Julie Lipp brought in experts like landscape architect Daryl Beyers (currently NYBG's Gardening Program Coordinator) to guide and teach the committee. Julie helped RIGC to focus on design and to refresh, rethink. Along with the committee, she added significant plantings to border areas like the west bed and added anchor plants and bulbs in the north beds. Her constant work brought the revitalization of the landscape beds and common areas into full swing.

This year, Johan Marfey is serving as Chair of the Landscape Committee. He has worked with the 2017 team for a plan that he calls "comprehensive landscape enhancement." They have already finished work to improve the soil and stabilize by plantings in the north beds with mulching and soaker hoses. The committee is now identifying every plant for signage, so that the entire perimeter and front common area of our garden will have small signs with the names of the plants. These signs will match the current southwest border and create a look much like a botanical garden for the benefit of members and visitors alike. In addition, Johan and the 2017 group are working with the Board to review and update benches in the garden for safety, accessibility, beauty, and comfort.

Roosevelt Island Day 2017 Seed and Seedling Planting

6/19/2017

RIGC Outreach and Publicity shared free plants on Roosevelt Island Day again this year. Last year we tried basil and chives seeds. This year we had basil seedlings and wheat grass seeds. RIOC generously allows us to set up across from the Food Scrap Drop Off Site from NYC Compost hosted by BigReuse. So we added NYC compost to every pot and people who drop their food scraps could benefit first hand from the hyper local compost!

The rain dampened the turn out this year, but not our spirits. This may have been the driest, calmest spot in the whole Island celebration between 12 and 1 p.m. A special thanks to Robert Ostergaard, Jérôme Dutilloy, and the Longo family who all helped out and brought friends!

More Pre-K students visit the gardens in May 2017

6/19/2017

Two different classes from P.S. IS 217 and also some Roosevelt Island Day Nursery students were hosted in the gardens for visits in May and early June. Anthony Longo as well as Gen and Cory Katana were our hosts for these visits. We love for students to visit, learn about seeds, explore and observe the flowers and trees. Spring is the perfect time to get out of the classroom!

If you know a group who is interested in a mid-week visit to the gardens, please email rigardenclub@gmail.com and we will work to set up a time with a volunteer host. We will also see if we can set you up with a scavenger hunt or another small hands on activity! We can never get too much nature when we live in a big city and RIGC enjoys sharing our gardens.

Compost Connection: W.O.R.M.S!

6/19/2017

Early in February the emails were exchanged, and by mid-March the Saturday date had been set with the Outreach coordinator of NYC Compost Hosted by Big Reuse. Erycka De Jesus saved Saturday, June 3rd, for our RIGC community connection date. Anthony Longo began searching for the name and he found it -Weekend Organics Recycling Mission+Sifting - W.O.R.M.S!

Roosevelt Island is fortunate to have NYC Compost hosted by Big Reuse offering our weekly Food Scrap Drop Off Site near the Farmer's Market. As of a last count in March, Roosevelt Islanders had diverted over 35,000 pounds from landfill. (That's about the weight of an 18 wheeler semi truck!) RI has also received give backs of hyper local compost from the Queensboro Bridge site for gardens, trees, and schools on Roosevelt Island.

Anyone who wanted to learn more about composting was invited to join Roosevelt Island Garden Club and NYC Compost hosted by Big Reuse this Saturday, June 3rd for a Compost Connection Event.

This was our first open composting event in RIGC community gardens (across from 750 Main Street) and we were ready and set up for visitors between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. on June 3rd!

However, the visitors came even before 1:00! As soon as baseball players on the field north of the garden saw Anthony Longo setting up, they were there and present and searching for worms and learning about composting! We had a great afternoon with both middle school and teen volunteers, RIGC hosts and volunteers and children and adults learning and experiencing compost sifting first hand! I addition we sifted about 3 cubic yards of compost from mulch that had been cold cooking outside the fence for a year and gardeners quickly scooped it up! Don't worry, there is more..always more!

iDig2Learn starts another great year with RIGC visit

6/5/2017

April 27, 2017 PS IS 217 and RIGC

Spring brought nearly 90 second graders from P.S.217 to the community gardens again this year for the annual iDig2Learn kick off. What better way to get students excited about photosynthesis, food, and nature then to start with a visit to the beautiful gardens of RIGC. Students met RICG leaders, learned what a community garden is, visited the compost station, and got inspired. At the end of the visit 217 students learned they would start their very own gardens at the youth center outdoor courtyard with Spring iDig2Learn science enrichment sessions. Celebrating five years, iDig2Learn initiative founder, Christina Delfico, was thrilled that RIGC welcomed 217 from the beginning in 2012. A huge part of initiative, which allows children to explore science and the origin of food through plant life, was building bridges with other Roosevelt Island organizations. P.S. 217's Ms. Fokine, the teachers and PTA volunteers are often eager to enjoy the tour and all remark on the beauty of the gardens. This year, Christina sent this email in gratitude to the Board member hosts. Thanks also to Christina! RIGC is so glad to be able to reach out to children and help with their environmental STEM learning program!

Dear RIGC Board Members,

A joyful day! You all touched my heart today - I learn so much from you every day and today was no exception - I feel so lucky to know you all!!

THANK YOU!!!!
With love and respect,
Christina Delfico

<<Previous

Spring and Fall Youth Gardening Classes Returned in 2021

Cornell Tech's Service Learning Course and RIGC

Bindweed: one of the more invasive, tenacious weeds

Soil Care, Garden Care, and Organic Mulch

Learning about Gardening: Mid-week Middle Schoolers

RIGC Landscape Committee News

Roosevelt Island Day 2017 Seed and Seedling Planting

More Pre-K students visit the gardens in May 2017

Compost Connection: W.O.R.M.S!

iDig2Learn starts another great year with RIGC visit

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