Urban Agriculture Spring Kickoff ~ March 20, 2010

Celebrate Spring and Learn About Growing Food in the City with Providence’s Community Gardeners!

Join Southside Community Land Trust, Providence Community Garden Network, and the Urban Agriculture Task Force on Saturday, March 20th
 

• WHO:             Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) & The Urban Agriculture Task Force          
• WHAT:             Urban Agriculture Spring Kickoff          
• WHEN:             Saturday, March 20, 1pm-4pm          
• WHERE:             The Highlander Charter School, 42 Lexington Avenue in South Providence*
• WHY:             Jump-start the growing season with SCLT’s Community Gardeners

Music, Food, and Workshops and Demonstrations on Growing Food  in the City.

 *(On the corner of Lexington & Broad Streets)     

Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) and Providence Community Gardens Network are excited to invite gardeners of all ages and experience levels to the Urban Agriculture Spring Kickoff to celebrate the upcoming season. The event is free and open to the public. Saturday, March 20th, the first day of Spring, community gardeners from every neighborhood of Providence will enjoy food, music, and food growing demonstrations at the Highlander Charter School.

The Celebration will also be the kickoff event for the Plant Providence Calendar, a new initiative of the Urban Agriculture Task Force. The Plant Providence Calendar is a listing of all the workshops, events, and celebrations that will take place in 2010. You can find the calendar at www.plantprovidence.org, or on posters in coffee shops, libraries, and shops around Providence. The Calendar highlights 11 free workshops on a wide range of gardening topics, including a three-part “Beginning Growers’ Series.”

The Urban Agriculture Spring Kickoff will be a fun celebration, but also a preview of the events and workshops to come in 2010. Longtime community gardeners of Southside Community Land Trust will lead workshops and demonstrations on topics including Rain Barrels – to save rainwater for your garden, Soil Testing – to test urban soil’s safety for growing food, Garden Planning – to map out your garden plot to grow the highest yield of fruits and vegetables, Seed Starting – to ensure that your seeds sprout healthy in the early Spring, and Compost – to make the most of organic fertilizer in your garden.

SCLT’s gardeners will also have samples of ethnic foods at the Urban Agriculture Spring Kickoff. Learn how to make your own Nime Chow and sample cuisines from around the world. The event is free and open to the public. Gardeners are reminded to bring seeds for a Seed Swap.
 
Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) provides access to land, education, and other resources so people in Greater Providence can grow food in environmentally sustainable ways and create community food systems where locally produced, affordable, and healthy food is available to all. For more information, please visit www.southsideclt.org.

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Ed Note: Don't forget that you'll find all of these events in a nice neat Calendar format at What Grows On in Rhode Island so you can plan your days with the Earth in mind! More info about City Farm and urban agriculture in Providence, including a video from YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip) is in the Providential Gardener post, Urban Agriculture ~ Providence Continues to Grow!