Fresh, Organic Produce Available this Season

The Bed Stuy CSA is now accepting members for the 2008 harvest season through June 1st.

*The Bed-Stuy CSA* is a Community Supported Agriculture project of the Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc. and Conuco Farm.

We bring fresh, locally-grown organic vegetables to the community at an affordable price through a mutually beneficial partnership between residents looking for quality produce and a local farmer of color. The season begins mid-June and ends end of October.

We are now accepting applications for our 2008 harvest season. Share prices for a full share are $475 and for a half share are $275. If your income is below $25,000, the share prices for a full share are $325 and for a half share $200.

In addition to getting great vegetables from Hector Tejada of Conuco Farm this year, we will be giving members the option to purchase additional fruit, egg and meat shares from local farmers through the CSA.

To sign up, you can download the membership contract at
www.bedstuycsa.wetpaint.com or call us
with any questions at (718) 387-2116 x12.

Free Trees!

1,250 Free Trees Available to NYC Homeowners and Families in May!

Through the generous sponsorship of BNP Paribas – presenting sponsor of MillionTreesNYC Month – 1,250

FREE trees will be available for adoption throughout the City’s five boroughs this May. Trees will be distributed by New York Restoration Project (NYRP) at four Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) Greenmarkets and the Riverdale, Bronx YM-YWHA’s Environmental Fair – with 250 trees being given away to homeowners and families at each tree-distribution site.

Note – individuals and families are limited to adopting one tree per household and required to register their new tree at www.milliontreejavascript:void(0)
Publish Postsnyc.org. NYRP horticulture specialists will be on hand to provide instruction on proper tree-planting and maintenance techniques. For CENYC Greenmarket and Environmental Fair participants who do not have their own yard to plant a tree, information on volunteering, educational programming and contributing to MillionTreesNYC will also be available.

Adopt your FREE tree in May at the following locations, and be one in a million!

• Saturday, May 10 – 8 am to 2 pm NOTE – NEW DATE
Borough Hall CENYC Greenmarket – Staten Island
St. Mark’s and Hyatt

• Saturday, May 10 – 8 am to 2 pm
Grand Army Plaza CENYC Greenmarket – Brooklyn
Prospect Park NW Entrance

• Saturday, May 17 – 8 am to 2 pm NOTE – NEW DATE
Inwood CENYC Greenmarket – Upper Manhattan
Isham St – Seaman & Cooper

• Saturday, May 17 – 8 am to 2 pm
Sunnyside CENYC Greenmarket – Queens
Skillman between 42nd and 43rd Streets

• Sunday, May 18 – 8 am to 2 pm
Riverdale YM-YWHA Environmental Fair – Bronx
5625 Arlington Avenue at 256th Street

Limited quantities of the following species of trees will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis: Red Bud, Dogwood, Cherry, Crabapple, Service Berry, Linden, Sweetgum and Oak.

About MillionTreesNYC

Led by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and New York Restoration Project (NYRP), MillionTreesNYC is a citywide, public-private initiative with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs by 2017.

April 5th Minutes

Toya was home sick, so Maliza organized the April 5th meeting.

We started out the meeting with a reminder about dues.

The goal of the block association for 2008 is block beautification. Maliza is putting together a budget for planters, including soil and plants. We're looking at plastic planters because they last longer than the wood ones, and they're lighter. April is the deadline for Green Guerrilla's plants. Perhaps other homeowners would like to piggyback on the order of planters.

We're looking for a grant for block beautification. Mailza is writing a letter asking for homeowner help in watering and caring for the planters once they're finished.

We'd also like to organize a planting day to put together the planters. Perhaps it could be in front of Toya's place, since there's enough room there. We'd also like to distribute information about what to plant over the summer to keep the planters looking nice all year around.

Next was an update from the garden committee. They're thinking of organizing the garden by plots, to encourage people to tend a plot and grow their own plants. We'd also like to enter the competition for the greenest block in Brooklyn again this year. June says a new member of the garden is building a planting box. There will be clean-up happening in the garden, lot-by-lot. The open hours for the garden will probably be flexible, at least ten hours a week in the summer.

We then dealt with Old Business. 186 Madison is owned by a bank and currently in forclosure. It's currently being marketed and waiting for plans.

There's currently an old building being torn down on the corner of Gates and Bedford. Word is that there are plans to develop the property along with an adjoining property for a large, L-shaped condo building.

We then dealt with New Business. Rebecca Broughton said that Transportation Alternatives is looking into a "Parking Swap" near the Franklin stop on the C. A "Parking Swap" is a project in which two parking spaces are changed into parking for many bikes, making it easier for commuters to bike to the subway. She was looking for input about a location for the project.

There's a new cafe on Nostrand, across from the Girl's School building. We haven't had a chance to check it out to much, but it's nice that there's another place to grab a coffee on the way to the subway!