Victory Garden breaks ground at Kingston City Hall in Kingston, NY on Earth Day
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VICTORY GARDEN BREAKS GROUND AT KINGSTON CITY HALL ON EARTH DAY WITH ‘THREE SISTERS’: Planting to involve residents and students with nod toward city’s colonial and Native America roots.
KINGSTON – The Garden Committee of the Kingston Land Trust and the Kingston Victory Garden Project is teaming up with the Mayor’s Office of the City of Kingston and the Kingston Public Schools to create a Victory Garden at City Hall, which will be a “Three Sisters”— themed garden.
The garden breaks ground on Earth Day, April 22, at 9 a.m. at City Hall, which is located 420 Broadway in Kingston. The project involves master gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension and over 50 students at the Kingston High School. A “Three Sisters” garden is one that features the three main agricultural crops of some Native American groups in early North America: squash, maize (corn), and climbing beans. In the Esopus River basin area, these vegetables were staples for Native Americans.
“A Victory Garden at City Hall is significant as it will set the tone and be a positive example for gardens of all sorts in the city of Kingston,” said Rebecca Martin, chair of the Kingston Land Trust’s Garden Committee and founder of the Kingston Victory Garden Project, which is an initiative of KingstonCitizens.org.
Martin said this is the first project in a series, which will involve home gardens for people in the midtown area of Kingston, Victory Gardens for residents and community and school garden projects. “Given current economic realities, helping families feed themselves by creating gardens is as empowering as it is positive,” Martin added.
The choice of a “Three Sisters” garden for the City Hall site was done to recognize the region’s historical attributes as well as in recognition of the anniversary of Henry Hudson’s journey up his namesake river 400 years ago.
The project involves the development of a year-long curriculum with 50 students of the Kingston High School’s ecology and biology departments. The project is also done in collaboration with city officials, master gardeners, local farmers and volunteers.
Sponsors include Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano from Hortus Conclusus (HortusConclusus.net) and Adam’s Fairacre Farms.
About The Kingston Land Trust: The Kingston Land Trust protects and preserves open space, scenic and natural areas and historic sites in the Greater Kingston Area via acquisitions, conservation easements, education, research and advocacy. The Kingston Land Trust is committed to fostering civic participation and encouraging neighborhood revitalizations while preserving open space.
About KingstonCitizens.org: KingstonCitizens.org is a community-based organization that is charged with improving the quality of life of Kingston residents through the development of community gardens, community visioning sessions, clean-up projects, neighborhood meetings and more. The organization also works to foster clarity and transparency between citizens and local government. For more information visit KingstonCitizens.org, which includes discussion groups for each ward as well as blog.
For more information on this exciting Earth Day event in the city of Kingston, contact Rebecca Martin at: 845/750-7295 or info@kingstoncitizens.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VICTORY GARDEN BREAKS GROUND AT KINGSTON CITY HALL ON EARTH DAY WITH ‘THREE SISTERS’: Planting to involve residents and students with nod toward city’s colonial and Native America roots.
KINGSTON – The Garden Committee of the Kingston Land Trust and the Kingston Victory Garden Project is teaming up with the Mayor’s Office of the City of Kingston and the Kingston Public Schools to create a Victory Garden at City Hall, which will be a “Three Sisters”— themed garden.
The garden breaks ground on Earth Day, April 22, at 9 a.m. at City Hall, which is located 420 Broadway in Kingston. The project involves master gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension and over 50 students at the Kingston High School. A “Three Sisters” garden is one that features the three main agricultural crops of some Native American groups in early North America: squash, maize (corn), and climbing beans. In the Esopus River basin area, these vegetables were staples for Native Americans.
“A Victory Garden at City Hall is significant as it will set the tone and be a positive example for gardens of all sorts in the city of Kingston,” said Rebecca Martin, chair of the Kingston Land Trust’s Garden Committee and founder of the Kingston Victory Garden Project, which is an initiative of KingstonCitizens.org.
Martin said this is the first project in a series, which will involve home gardens for people in the midtown area of Kingston, Victory Gardens for residents and community and school garden projects. “Given current economic realities, helping families feed themselves by creating gardens is as empowering as it is positive,” Martin added.
The choice of a “Three Sisters” garden for the City Hall site was done to recognize the region’s historical attributes as well as in recognition of the anniversary of Henry Hudson’s journey up his namesake river 400 years ago.
The project involves the development of a year-long curriculum with 50 students of the Kingston High School’s ecology and biology departments. The project is also done in collaboration with city officials, master gardeners, local farmers and volunteers.
Sponsors include Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano from Hortus Conclusus (HortusConclusus.net) and Adam’s Fairacre Farms.
About The Kingston Land Trust: The Kingston Land Trust protects and preserves open space, scenic and natural areas and historic sites in the Greater Kingston Area via acquisitions, conservation easements, education, research and advocacy. The Kingston Land Trust is committed to fostering civic participation and encouraging neighborhood revitalizations while preserving open space.
About KingstonCitizens.org: KingstonCitizens.org is a community-based organization that is charged with improving the quality of life of Kingston residents through the development of community gardens, community visioning sessions, clean-up projects, neighborhood meetings and more. The organization also works to foster clarity and transparency between citizens and local government. For more information visit KingstonCitizens.org, which includes discussion groups for each ward as well as blog.
For more information on this exciting Earth Day event in the city of Kingston, contact Rebecca Martin at: 845/750-7295 or info@kingstoncitizens.org
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Roger on
-
Congratulations, Rebecca! I'm just reading this now and am so impressed.
-
Permalink Reply by Rebecca Martin on -
As are we of you. Thank you for all you do! It's great to connect. Come to the ground breaking in Kingston! Be our special guest!
-
-
I would love to, but I'm supposed to attending a conference out west then. If you have a moment, post a picture showing where the garden will be going in so we can have a sense of what it's going to look like. Also, be sure to snap some pics and possibly even shoot some video of the digging itself. The more things like that we can show the world, the more there'll be to show. I'm very happy for you!
-
Permalink Reply by P.Price aka Red,White&Grew on -
This is awesome!!!! Tweet me about sending some pics my way and we'll put 'em up on my blog (http://www.redwhiteandgrewblog.com).
-
Permalink Reply by Rebecca Martin on
-
Hello! Thanks for writing.
You can follow along here: http://kingstonlandtrust.wordpress.com/community-gardens/
The Victory Garden project is an initiative of KingstonCitizens.org and The Kingston Land Trust. It's a great project that involves over 50+ high school students in the biology/ecology department, master gardeners, farmers, volunteers and city officials.
Rebecca Martin
-
Permalink Reply by Rebecca Martin on
-
Dear Neighbors,
Today was a glorious day at City Hall. After six months of planning, the cedar log raised bed has been installed and we are ready for ground breaking on Wednesday.
Here is the story, and pictures of everyone's great work.
http://kingstonlandtrust.org/2009/04/20/first-phase-of-victory-gard...
Rebecca Martin
© 2010 Created by Roger
