The free event offers hands-on workshops, speakers, and exhibits presented by regional experts who will present Brooklynites with innovative organic home-gardening techniques. The experts will also provide greening ideas and techniques for urban communities and demonstrate the community health benefits that derive from cultivating open green space and keeping a focus on local food.
The event features a keynote address by Joan Dye Gussow: "Global Reflections on Eating From Home." Gussow, author of This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, is a professor, farmer, and passionate advocate of incorporating green practices into everyday life.
No preregistration is required for Making Brooklyn Bloom, but it is suggested that visitors arrive at 10 a.m. to register for the day's workshops.
It may surprise citizens to know that today the average food item for sale in New York City travels more than 1,200 miles to get to the city. According to nutritional experts, as energy costs soar, community food security and the need for local food sources are more critical than ever. Making Brooklyn Bloom will showcase the pioneering work of organizations and community gardeners dedicated to the goal of sustainability and its incorporation into the urban lifestyle. "Greening for Healthy Communities: A Panel Discussion" will present perspectives from Dr. Karen Benker, a SUNY Downstate Medical Center physician, who will discuss the health benefits of community gardening and greening in fighting common urban ailments such as asthma, diabetes, melanoma, and obesity; Classie Parker, representing Five Star Community Garden in Harlem, who will talk on the healing power of plants; and Maura Lott, of the advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks, who will discuss land stewardship and how citizens can help preserve parks and green space.
Workshops, many of which are hands-on, will offer guidance and inspiration for community greening efforts. A member of the Garden of Union Community will discuss the collaboration between that garden and the Park Slope Food Coop, which created compost to enrich the garden's soil, yielding exceptional results ("Soil Partners: Building a Community Garden With Food Coop Compost"). A workshop on rooftop gardening explores simple new technologies and techniques for growing a rich rooftop crop ("Making Your Rooftop Bloom: Gardening on the Frontier"). Brooklyn Botanic Garden's renowned rosarian Anne O'Neill, curator of the world-class Cranford Rose Garden, will offer insight into maintaining ecological balance in "Eco-Friendly Rose Gardening."
According to Ellen Kirby, director of Brooklyn GreenBridge at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, "In our work with community gardens, urban farms, and neighborhood groups, we have helped support the movement toward sustainably growing fresh, organic food for families, as well as selling Brooklyn-grown produce throughout the borough. Brooklyn Botanic Garden has coordinated local gardening and greening groups in addition to international experts for this year's 25th anniversary of Making Brooklyn Bloom event in order to help more Brooklynites overcome the challenges of growing and attaining fresh and healthy food in the city, and to showcase the community and health benefits of garden-wise greening."
Making Brooklyn Bloom will also present an example of another urban community dedicated to improving the lives of its residents through greening. An episode of the new PBS series Edens Lost & Found, entitled "Philadelphia: The Holy Experiment," is the story of how concerned citizens grew a new title-"Farmadelphia"-for their greener city. This program promises to inspire Brooklyn community members working on similar efforts.
Visitors should register by 10 a.m. at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, in order to get first choice of workshops.
Morning and Afternoon Workshop Topics:
* Greening for Healthy Communities: A Panel Discussion
* Making Your Rooftop Bloom: Gardening on the Frontier
* Best Heirloom Vegetables for Brooklyn
* Growing Organic Food in Containers
* Brewing Compost Tea
* Canning to Preserve the Harvest
* Kitchen Botany
* Eco-Friendly Rose Gardening
* Everyday Alliums: How to Grown Onions, Garlic, Shallots & Leeks
* Jump-Start Your Salad Bowl With Cold Frames
* Building a Slow Food Community
* Starting With Seeds and Propagation
* Soil Partners: Building a Community Garden With Food Coop Compost
* Seed Saving Made Easy
* Brooklyn's Bounty: Growing, Selling & Teaching About Food
* Lasagna Gardening: Layering Your Compost for Great Soil
Some workshops will be held at 11 a.m. and others at 3 p.m; the schedule will be announced at registration. Attendees will have a chance to choose one workshop from each time block, as long as space permits. -- www.bbg.org
Posted March 5th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
