PS 149 Garden!

Food Bazaar has agreed to let the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and PS 149 use the 300 square feet at the end of the parking lot, which is now a bunch of dirt and rocks, to grow a flower garden.  Now we just have to put a few dollars together to get the supplies.

We want the students at PS 149 to work to transform the strip of dirt into a garden, so they can see that with a little effort you can change your community for the better.

This will be a second garden.  For the last two years we have worked on transforming an area next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from a dumping ground into a garden. 

1. We have already obtained the approval from Food Bazaar to use the land.

2. PS 149 and the students want to help.

3. We would like to use Brooklyn Queens Day which is a free day from school to get the garden started.

4. The Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG) and Grow NYC have to tools we need to use.

5. We need compost, watering hose and some plants.

6. Long term, we will need some kind of barrier to keep pedestrians from walking on the plants. For now, we will plant and see how much of a problem this will be.

This is an immigrant community.  We want our new families to set root in our community.  What better way than to work on a garden together?  You do not need to speak a specific language to weed, water or plant.  Most of our new families are from less urban areas and gardening is an activity that everyone can participate in.

The goal is that the school children will see that they can make a positive impact on their neighborhood so they take ownership in their community.