Posts by Karen Alessi

photo by Phil Shipman Thank you to Kele Nkhereanye, a community gardener and activist, who represented East New York Farms! at the US Social Forum and brought back these lessons and inspiration for all of us “From June 22-26, 2010, people from different parts of the world gather together for USSF2010 in Detroit. It was…

We grow over 70 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs at our farm, but sometimes the things that attract the most attention are the plants we consider weeds.  Many of the common weeds on our farm–chickweed, amaranth, purslane, dandelion, lambs quarters, and mugwort–are valued as food or medicinal crops.  Oftentimes passersby will ask for our…

On Tuesday, March 16th, the Board of Health voted to legalize beekeeping in New York City.  Honeybees make a big contribution to the health and sustainability of our city, and we’re excited to help start more hives in East New York.  Check out these articles in the Brooklyn Eagle, New York Times, and the New…

A million thanks from East New York Farms! for signing the Petition to Bring Back Composting to NYC. Because of your support, City Council Members Arroyo, Yassky, and Felder have expressed interest in holding a public hearing on Fall Leaf Collection this autumn. Let’s keep the energy going and make this hearing happen! Here’s how…

Composting in NYC as we know it is no more! Leaf collection and Give Back Days have been canceled and the whole NYC Compost Project has taken a huge budgetary hit (they have basically been asked to stretch their already reduced 2009 budget through the 2010 fiscal year with no guarantee of renewed funding!!). However,…