Urban farm growing again at Vale Cemetery Schenectady Gazette By Kelly de la Rocha June 11, 2015
SCHENECTADY — “Oh Lord, you see my pepper coming on right there? See that baby right there? That green thing sticking right there? That’s what I’m talking about,” Rita Tillmon exclaimed, pointing at a budding bell pepper on a plant in her garden plot.
This is Tillmon’s second year tending a 10-by-10-foot piece of land at Vale Urban Farm in Vale Cemetery. Undiscouraged by a rash of vandalism and vegetable thefts last season, the Schenectady resident has already got peppers, corn, lettuce and collards in the ground. The farm, which is about two-thirds of an acre in size, has an operating model that’s a takeoff on the traditional community-supported agriculture theme.
Members are asked to contribute between eight and 10 hours of garden work each month in a large CSA garden in exchange for a percentage of what’s grown.
Ten-by-ten-foot community garden plots like Tillmon’s are also available, in exchange for between two and four hours of volunteer work each month in the large CSA garden. In addition, members are asked for a $10 or $25 annual donation, if they can afford it.
Now in its third year of operation, the farm is getting upgrades this week, thanks to a major grant. The Vale Cemetery Association secured $10,000 from the Carlilian Foundation to purchase a shed and fencing for the farm. The foundation
provides capital improvement grants to organizations that benefit the people of Schenectady County.
The shed was delivered Tuesday and installation of the 5-foot-high chain-link perimeter fence began Wednesday. The fence will be locked. Only members will have access. “I would love it if we didn’t need a fence but we lost gardeners last year because of vandalism and theft,” said farm coordinator Cathy Winter. Last year, several hundred onions were planted, but the gardeners were able to harvest only about 40. Out of 70 cabbage plants, only 20 or 30 escaped theft, she said.
“Especially once it got to be September, October, a couple of times, people with grocery bags were picking lots of stuff. They would say, ‘Well, we thought it was for the community.’ The fence will make that clear,” Winter said. Those taking vegetables are people the farm would love to have as members, she noted.
“They know what’s there, they appreciate what’s there, they recognize what’s growing. They know something about gardening or it would be hard to find the food,” she said.
Memberships are still available for this growing season . . . “I think for the survival of this project, in this place, we have to have the community appreciate it,” she said. Bernard McEvoy, vice president of the Vale Cemetery Association, said the garden is a perfect fit for an urban cemetery like Vale, which was designed to serve as a recreation area for the community.
Visit Vale Urban Farm
An open house will be held at the farm,
located near Vale Cemetery’s Brandywine Avenue entrance,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The event will include
garden tours and plant giveaways.
This is Tillmon’s second year tending a 10-by-10-foot piece of land at Vale Urban Farm in Vale Cemetery. Undiscouraged by a rash of vandalism and vegetable thefts last season, the Schenectady resident has already got peppers, corn, lettuce and collards in the ground. The farm, which is about two-thirds of an acre in size, has an operating model that’s a takeoff on the traditional community-supported agriculture theme.
Members are asked to contribute between eight and 10 hours of garden work each month in a large CSA garden in exchange for a percentage of what’s grown.
Ten-by-ten-foot community garden plots like Tillmon’s are also available, in exchange for between two and four hours of volunteer work each month in the large CSA garden. In addition, members are asked for a $10 or $25 annual donation, if they can afford it.
Now in its third year of operation, the farm is getting upgrades this week, thanks to a major grant. The Vale Cemetery Association secured $10,000 from the Carlilian Foundation to purchase a shed and fencing for the farm. The foundation
provides capital improvement grants to organizations that benefit the people of Schenectady County.
The shed was delivered Tuesday and installation of the 5-foot-high chain-link perimeter fence began Wednesday. The fence will be locked. Only members will have access. “I would love it if we didn’t need a fence but we lost gardeners last year because of vandalism and theft,” said farm coordinator Cathy Winter. Last year, several hundred onions were planted, but the gardeners were able to harvest only about 40. Out of 70 cabbage plants, only 20 or 30 escaped theft, she said.
“Especially once it got to be September, October, a couple of times, people with grocery bags were picking lots of stuff. They would say, ‘Well, we thought it was for the community.’ The fence will make that clear,” Winter said. Those taking vegetables are people the farm would love to have as members, she noted.
“They know what’s there, they appreciate what’s there, they recognize what’s growing. They know something about gardening or it would be hard to find the food,” she said.
Memberships are still available for this growing season . . . “I think for the survival of this project, in this place, we have to have the community appreciate it,” she said. Bernard McEvoy, vice president of the Vale Cemetery Association, said the garden is a perfect fit for an urban cemetery like Vale, which was designed to serve as a recreation area for the community.
Visit Vale Urban Farm
An open house will be held at the farm,
located near Vale Cemetery’s Brandywine Avenue entrance,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The event will include
garden tours and plant giveaways.
Tuesday August 19, 2014 By Sara Foss
One thing I’ve learned since becoming a gardener: Once people know you have a garden, they want to tell you all about their gardens. Shortly after I wrote a column about all the fresh produce I’m getting from my small community garden, I was contacted by a 66-year-old Colonie resident named Joe Savoie.
About seven years ago, Savoie purchased the vacant lot across the street from his tidy suburban home at auction for $7,000. At that time, the property was wild and overgrown — “a jungle,” Savoie told me. His plan: Clear it and build. But the plan hit a snag. Rather than leave the lot in a state of dishevelment, he decided to start a garden.
Now in its third year, the garden feeds Savoie, his wife and his 28-year-old son, Paul, as well as eight local families. In exchange for $100, these families receive a tantalizing variety of organic vegetables and fruit — peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, broccoli, watermelons, spinach, beans, corn, etc.
I was impressed with Savoie’s large and bountiful garden. But I was also struck by his vision. He is essentially running a small, community-supported agriculture program off Central Avenue, one of the Capital Region’s busiest corridors.
CSAs have become more common in recent years and appeal to people who like the idea of eating fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, but don’t necessarily have the means or desire to maintain a garden. Typically run by farmers, CSAs invite people to purchase shares of the upcoming harvest; once produce becomes available, CSA members will begin receiving weekly packages of food. “Everybody gets a little bit of everything,” Savoie told me, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
Not long after I met Savoie, I visited Vale Urban Farm, a large neighborhood garden in a quiet corner of Schenectady’s Vale Cemetery. The entire garden occupies about two-thirds of an acre. While 10-foot-by-10-foot plots are available to individuals, many of VUF’s volunteers help maintain one large garden and receive free vegetables in exchange for their labor. On the Friday morning I visited, several women worked quietly, weeding and planting fall crops.
Cathy Winter, VUF’s coordinator, told me the garden has drawn “a mix of people. Some know how to garden and some don’t.” One of VUF’s less experienced gardeners is Sue R., 56, who lives nearby.
“They provide everything,” Roberts explained. “If you’re not an experienced gardener, it’s perfect.”… She said she walks through the cemetery regularly, and that on one of her walks she took notice of the work going on in the garden. “I asked what was going on and they told me that the garden was open to the public,” she said. That was all the encouragement Roberts needed. She decided to join.
“I’m saving money,” she said. “Organic vegetables are very expensive. I’m getting organic produce by working for it.”
The VUF … makes high-quality food available to an underserved neighborhood, and it also builds community.
“For anything to be successful on a larger social scale, people have to have a personal reason for doing it,” Winter told me…. Rather than ask members to purchase shares, it asks them to donate time….The projects…both share a spirit of creativity and innovation.
Not everyone would think to turn a vacant lot into a garden, and …even fewer would think to turn it into a CSA…The VUF also reflects a certain “what if?” mentality: What if we took some of Vale Cemetery’s unused land and started a garden there? Would people be willing to help? Thus far, the answer appears to be yes. The VUF has about 30 volunteers and could clearly accommodate more….
As I’ve said before, gardening is not for everyone. But thanks to small, interesting projects such as Savoie’s CSA and the VUF, more people are discovering the pleasures of growing and eating locally grown food. Will we see more of these types of projects in the future? I don’t know. But I’d like to think so.
Reach Gazette columnist Sara Foss at [email protected]. or 395-3193
One thing I’ve learned since becoming a gardener: Once people know you have a garden, they want to tell you all about their gardens. Shortly after I wrote a column about all the fresh produce I’m getting from my small community garden, I was contacted by a 66-year-old Colonie resident named Joe Savoie.
About seven years ago, Savoie purchased the vacant lot across the street from his tidy suburban home at auction for $7,000. At that time, the property was wild and overgrown — “a jungle,” Savoie told me. His plan: Clear it and build. But the plan hit a snag. Rather than leave the lot in a state of dishevelment, he decided to start a garden.
Now in its third year, the garden feeds Savoie, his wife and his 28-year-old son, Paul, as well as eight local families. In exchange for $100, these families receive a tantalizing variety of organic vegetables and fruit — peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, broccoli, watermelons, spinach, beans, corn, etc.
I was impressed with Savoie’s large and bountiful garden. But I was also struck by his vision. He is essentially running a small, community-supported agriculture program off Central Avenue, one of the Capital Region’s busiest corridors.
CSAs have become more common in recent years and appeal to people who like the idea of eating fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, but don’t necessarily have the means or desire to maintain a garden. Typically run by farmers, CSAs invite people to purchase shares of the upcoming harvest; once produce becomes available, CSA members will begin receiving weekly packages of food. “Everybody gets a little bit of everything,” Savoie told me, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
Not long after I met Savoie, I visited Vale Urban Farm, a large neighborhood garden in a quiet corner of Schenectady’s Vale Cemetery. The entire garden occupies about two-thirds of an acre. While 10-foot-by-10-foot plots are available to individuals, many of VUF’s volunteers help maintain one large garden and receive free vegetables in exchange for their labor. On the Friday morning I visited, several women worked quietly, weeding and planting fall crops.
Cathy Winter, VUF’s coordinator, told me the garden has drawn “a mix of people. Some know how to garden and some don’t.” One of VUF’s less experienced gardeners is Sue R., 56, who lives nearby.
“They provide everything,” Roberts explained. “If you’re not an experienced gardener, it’s perfect.”… She said she walks through the cemetery regularly, and that on one of her walks she took notice of the work going on in the garden. “I asked what was going on and they told me that the garden was open to the public,” she said. That was all the encouragement Roberts needed. She decided to join.
“I’m saving money,” she said. “Organic vegetables are very expensive. I’m getting organic produce by working for it.”
The VUF … makes high-quality food available to an underserved neighborhood, and it also builds community.
“For anything to be successful on a larger social scale, people have to have a personal reason for doing it,” Winter told me…. Rather than ask members to purchase shares, it asks them to donate time….The projects…both share a spirit of creativity and innovation.
Not everyone would think to turn a vacant lot into a garden, and …even fewer would think to turn it into a CSA…The VUF also reflects a certain “what if?” mentality: What if we took some of Vale Cemetery’s unused land and started a garden there? Would people be willing to help? Thus far, the answer appears to be yes. The VUF has about 30 volunteers and could clearly accommodate more….
As I’ve said before, gardening is not for everyone. But thanks to small, interesting projects such as Savoie’s CSA and the VUF, more people are discovering the pleasures of growing and eating locally grown food. Will we see more of these types of projects in the future? I don’t know. But I’d like to think so.
Reach Gazette columnist Sara Foss at [email protected]. or 395-3193
Community garden grows in Schenectady's Vale Cemetery
SCHENECTADY GAZETTE Monday, June 2, 2014
By Kelly de la Rocha Gazette Reporter
Vale Urban Farm coordinator Cathy Winter explains the cemetery-based garden's new operating method. In exchange for garden work, members receive a share of what grows there.
SCHENECTADY — A garden plot in Vale Cemetery has been transformed into a community-supported agriculture operation that will provide harvest shares in exchange for garden work. The Vale Urban Farm has an operating model that is likely the first of its kind, said Cathy Winter, its coordinator. People who join the endeavor are asked to contribute eight hours of garden work a month in exchange for a percentage of what’s grown.
Ten-by-ten-foot community garden plots, where members can grow their own food, are also available in exchange for two hours of volunteer work a month in the large CSA garden. Last year, everything the volunteer-tended garden produced was donated to the Schenectady Day Nursery and the City Mission’s meal program.
The Urban Farm’s entire operation takes up about two-thirds of an acre not far from the Brandywine Avenue entrance to the cemetery. Included in that space are 20 community garden plots and the CSA garden. Seven of the 15 CSA shares are still available, as well as 10 of the garden plots.
Organizers are waiting to see how many people sign up for the CSA before they finalize how much to plant, but already there are sugar snap pea plants climbing a net trellis and radishes ready for picking. Also growing is Swiss chard, six different varieties of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, arugula and a few tomato plants. Waiting to go in the ground are about 200 more tomato plants, 100 more cabbage plants, 150 collard plants and 100 pepper plants. Organizers said they plan to use organic growing methods whenever possible. The garden relies solely on volunteers and donations.
The goal for the endeavor is not just to grow vegetables but to create camaraderie, said volunteer John Watrous. He predicted that the garden will provide “a means and a place and a reason for people in the immediate neighborhood to get together and get to know each other and have a common goal.” Several people from neighborhoods surrounding the cemetery have already signed up to participate. Hassim Ali and his wife, Mohani, are two of them.
“We love gardening. As kids we were rice farmers in Guyana,” said Hassim Ali. The couple have tried to garden in their yard but squirrels have sabotaged their efforts. They said they are hopeful that their plot in the cemetery will be more successful.
“This would be nice for the grandkids to come and learn how to plant,” Mohani Ali added.
An unfenced garden in a public space could be a magnet for vandals and thieves, but Winter said there were only minor problems last year. She predicted that this will be a more trouble-free growing season, thanks to the way the garden now operates.
“It has to be something that belongs to the people who live around here, who care about it and have a personal investment in it, because if it’s just nice people coming in and doing volunteer work and giving food to somebody else, why should they care? I think it’s the difference between doing for somebody and doing something with somebody,” she said.
Bernard McEvoy, vice president of the Vale Cemetery Association pointed out video cameras mounted near the garden.
“It’s very safe. You’re under video surveillance and you can’t move around that we can’t see you, and the police come through,” he said.
Volunteer Paro Datt, who is growing vegetables in one of the garden plots this season, said she finds the location peaceful. “You come over here and occupy your mind in gardening, walk around the cemetery,” she said. “You just open up your mind and the stress just vanishes away.”
The deadline for participants to register is Thursday. For more information, visit http://transitionschenectady.weebly.com/the-vale-urban-farm.html or call 377-6312. (from June 2014)
By Kelly de la Rocha Gazette Reporter
Vale Urban Farm coordinator Cathy Winter explains the cemetery-based garden's new operating method. In exchange for garden work, members receive a share of what grows there.
SCHENECTADY — A garden plot in Vale Cemetery has been transformed into a community-supported agriculture operation that will provide harvest shares in exchange for garden work. The Vale Urban Farm has an operating model that is likely the first of its kind, said Cathy Winter, its coordinator. People who join the endeavor are asked to contribute eight hours of garden work a month in exchange for a percentage of what’s grown.
Ten-by-ten-foot community garden plots, where members can grow their own food, are also available in exchange for two hours of volunteer work a month in the large CSA garden. Last year, everything the volunteer-tended garden produced was donated to the Schenectady Day Nursery and the City Mission’s meal program.
The Urban Farm’s entire operation takes up about two-thirds of an acre not far from the Brandywine Avenue entrance to the cemetery. Included in that space are 20 community garden plots and the CSA garden. Seven of the 15 CSA shares are still available, as well as 10 of the garden plots.
Organizers are waiting to see how many people sign up for the CSA before they finalize how much to plant, but already there are sugar snap pea plants climbing a net trellis and radishes ready for picking. Also growing is Swiss chard, six different varieties of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, arugula and a few tomato plants. Waiting to go in the ground are about 200 more tomato plants, 100 more cabbage plants, 150 collard plants and 100 pepper plants. Organizers said they plan to use organic growing methods whenever possible. The garden relies solely on volunteers and donations.
The goal for the endeavor is not just to grow vegetables but to create camaraderie, said volunteer John Watrous. He predicted that the garden will provide “a means and a place and a reason for people in the immediate neighborhood to get together and get to know each other and have a common goal.” Several people from neighborhoods surrounding the cemetery have already signed up to participate. Hassim Ali and his wife, Mohani, are two of them.
“We love gardening. As kids we were rice farmers in Guyana,” said Hassim Ali. The couple have tried to garden in their yard but squirrels have sabotaged their efforts. They said they are hopeful that their plot in the cemetery will be more successful.
“This would be nice for the grandkids to come and learn how to plant,” Mohani Ali added.
An unfenced garden in a public space could be a magnet for vandals and thieves, but Winter said there were only minor problems last year. She predicted that this will be a more trouble-free growing season, thanks to the way the garden now operates.
“It has to be something that belongs to the people who live around here, who care about it and have a personal investment in it, because if it’s just nice people coming in and doing volunteer work and giving food to somebody else, why should they care? I think it’s the difference between doing for somebody and doing something with somebody,” she said.
Bernard McEvoy, vice president of the Vale Cemetery Association pointed out video cameras mounted near the garden.
“It’s very safe. You’re under video surveillance and you can’t move around that we can’t see you, and the police come through,” he said.
Volunteer Paro Datt, who is growing vegetables in one of the garden plots this season, said she finds the location peaceful. “You come over here and occupy your mind in gardening, walk around the cemetery,” she said. “You just open up your mind and the stress just vanishes away.”
The deadline for participants to register is Thursday. For more information, visit http://transitionschenectady.weebly.com/the-vale-urban-farm.html or call 377-6312. (from June 2014)