Welcome to our first monthly E-Newsletter supporting a network of school garden advocates. We will keep you updated on the latest news and work being done across school gardens programs here in Newark, New Jersey and the best resources from across the country.   

Looking for a specific resource? Interested in having your own resources published? Reach out to us to discuss more at pevans@citybloom.org and we would be more than happy to help.

Nuts & Bolts School Garden Workshop

Virtual 

Wednesday, January 25th @ 4:00 PM

We continue our series on creating and sustaining a school garden with this workshop that will focus on the mechanics of growing (mostly edible) plants within the school garden context. Even if you are an experienced home gardener this workshop will help you plan and grow a productive, organic, bountiful garden during the school year. 

RSVP Here

Fundraising for Your School Garden Workshop

Virtual 

Wednesday, February 22nd @ 4:00pm

Join us as we walk you through the steps to help secure funding for your school garden programs. We will discuss helpful tips for writing grants and provide valuable resources to utilize.

RVSP HERE

Shortly after the new year, we will be having a Seed Share for community members to pick up FREE packets of seeds for your gardens! Stay tuned for more details. 

The Nourishing Newark Community Grants Program, supports community-based growers, urban farmers and gardeners in Newark to 1) expand or significantly improve their production of fresh healthy food; and 2) make it available to families experiencing food insecurity, either directly or through partner relationships with pantries and other free or low-cost distribution entities.

In the middle of Newark lies Hawthorne Avenue Farm, a 3 acre urban farm growing a variety of fruits, veggies, and flowers all throughout! Learn more about the farm in this video.

This Outdoor Learning Toolkit, developed by GrowNYC and the National Wildlife Foundation, with help from nonprofit partners in NYC, is meant to help schools in the planning and implementation process. It details infrastructure options to teaching considerations and more.

This comprehensive guide covers everything from: how to get your garden started all the way to keeping it thriving years down the line, complete with definitions, detailed types of gardening, curricula library, and step-by-step worksheets.

This guide spells out what it entails to keep the school garden thriving throughout a whole year. Every month details what is expected to be done for the school garden, from the behind-the-scenes budget planning of a garden committee to garden tasks that students and adults can participate in. 

Register your school garden to be a part of our Newark School Garden Support Network and see where other school gardens are located near you!

Interested in bringing your students to the Outdoor Learning Center at Greater Newark Conservancy to experience the joy of nature-based education? Fill out this Field Trip Interest Form! We offer a variety of field trip programs that will spark the interest of any youth. Whether they are learning about urban habitats, diving into the world of bugs and insects, or seeing how worms can break down our food into a valuable soil amendment, your students will leave our site with a host of knowledge! For more information reach out to soleary@citybloom.org.

The Cooperative Market emphasizes food sovereignty and empowerment in agriculture by prioritizing products supplied by Newark based food producers, with an emphasis on small lot urban growers, BIPOC and women-owned farm businesses, and family farms with demonstrated commitment to urban food access for our City of Newark and the greater region.

Their seasonal products include fruits, veggies, flowers, herbs, baked goods, eggs, and some specialty items. More products are coming, like honey, mushrooms, hot sauce, pickles, and sauces that can be purchased all year long. Open Thursday through Monday where preorders can be picked up at select locations in Newark including Greater Newark Conservancy. 

Each year, the Conservancy hosts a group of FoodCorps Service Members who serve at various Newark Public Schools in New Jersey. As a FoodCorps service member, you’ll teach kids to grow, cook, and love the nourishing foods that celebrate their cultures and communities—and help schools serve more of those foods, too. FoodCorps recruits talented leaders into full-time, paid public service, where they grow healthy school food environments in diverse communities through hands-on, experiential food education. Service members commit for a year at a time, but for the greatest impact on kids and on your career, we encourage you to come back for a second year. Interested in applying, find more info here! 

The work that we do would not be possible without the generosity of our donors. While we had to put some of our on-site programs temporarily on hold during the COVID-19 crisis, we are back to normal operations and ramping up a number of programs and activities at our Outdoor Learning Center, the Hawthorne Avenue Urban Farm, school partner gardens, as well as various virtual workshops.