Community Garden Programs
Now that we've Grown our Garden, help us share it with our community with markets, family days, movie nights, harvest festival and more!
Leader
Danielle Hilkin
Location
5816 Clarendon Rd Brooklyn, NY 11203
About the project
Last fall, we raised nearly $5,000 to Grow our Garden! We were so overwhelmed by all of your support, with which we have been able to plant over 3,000 new bulbs, build new beds, and construct a garden shed. Now that we have all this added capacity, we need your help in sharing our beautiful garden and bounty with our community.
Our staff is working hard to plan and execute a number of fun public events to celebrate our garden this growing season. We will host 10 COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS, featuring over 800 pounds of produce grown at the Wyckoff Famhouse, as well as homemade food and crafts from our local neighbors. We will partner with neighborhood organizations to host MONTHLY MOVIE NIGHTS on the farm featuring homemade food from the garden and popcorn cooked on our outdoor hearth. Lastly, we'll cap off out growing season with out 7th ANNUAL BREUKELEN COUNTRY FAIR, a community-based harvest festival celebrating food, agriculture, history, and arts.
Fidler-Wyckoff Park is home to New York City's treasured oldest house, the Wyckoff House Museum. Its one-and-a-half acres of parkland features twenty raised beds for vegetable and herb production, native plant gardens, fruit and nut trees, flower gardens, and much-needed open green space. Now that our bulbs are in bloom, we want to share this magical space with our neighbors, the thousands of school children who visit each year, and families across Brooklyn.
The Steps
April 2018 - Plan and coordinate dates for all activities, recruit volunteers, artists, partners, and garden apprentices
May - Publish programs, market activities, and get the word out!
June - First community farmers market on 6/16 to kickoff the season. First movie night on 6/21 featuring Coco and hot cocoa.
July - Farmers markets on 7/7 and 7/21 featuring Haitian Herbs and Fermentation workshops. Farmhouse movie night on 7/26 featuring A Wrinkle in Time.
August - Farmers markets on 8/4 and 8/18 featuring Medicinal Herb workshop. Farmhouse movie night featuring Sherlock Gnomes on 8/23.
September - Farmers markets on 9/1 and 9/15 featuring Natural Dyeing workshop and garden skill-building day. The 7th ANNUAL BREUKELEN COUNTRY FAIR on September 23 featuring pony rides, face painting, colonial crafts, puppet show, food, market, and much more!
October - Farmers markets on 10/6 and 10/20 with garden volunteer days and hearth cooking.
Why we‘re doing it
Access to fresh local produce and green space are scarce in our community.
Our local district, Brooklyn #17, is one of the most food insecure communities in New York City (ranking at fifth lowest out of 51) with a resounding 29% of households qualifying as "food insecure" according to recent research by the Food Bank of New York City. We offer the ONLY farmers market in a two-mile radius and the only place for neighbors to get fresh and local produce.
As one of very few open and public green spaces in East Flatbush, the Wyckoff Farmhouse is a popular destination for local families to enjoy the outdoors, engage with nature, and have access to local food. Thousands of families come and enjoy the farm each year and we are excited to offer even more opportunities and activities for our community.