NeighborWorks® Week 2016: Creating Opportunity to Grow

Saturday, June 11, 2016, was a day full of activities to culminate NeighborWorks Week® 2016! This photo was taken at our Garden Workshop at our NHS campus.

The Seed Saving and Seed Swapping workshop was free, open to the public, and taught by certified Advanced Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk; in partnership with Common Ground, RMA.



Participants learned all the ins and outs of saving seeds from their favorite vegetable crops. The class covered growing, harvesting, and storing seeds, as well as ways to ensure healthy crops from saved seeds.

NeighborWorks® Week 2016: Creating Opportunity to Explore

On June 4th & 5th, the West River Watershed Coalition (which NHS of New Haven is a part of) sponsored two incredible West River hikes. 

NHS staff member, Kathy Fay, managed to score this awesome shot with our NeighborWorks Week signage! 

You can view more photos here.‪

Common Ground Seeding Sale & Farm Festival!

Recap: Community Gardens and Outdoor Education, Fall 2015

Work in our community gardens this autumn was more fun than usual due to the enthusiastic participation of several groups of young volunteers. Youth from the ages of 4-17 have helped clear beds, rake leaves, and plant trees and bulbs in the Ivy Street, Stevens Street, and Davenport Street gardens this October and November. By working with local youth programs, we at NHS hope to instill in neighborhood kids a sense of ownership over their public spaces, and provide young people with safe spaces to explore and learn about their environment.

Many hands make light work, no matter how small the hands are – and gardening offers no end to educational opportunities. The youngest kids, through the Citycology program at Solar Youth, had a blast learning about compost and worms at the Ivy Street garden. Older students from Solar Youth learned about bulb planting. Youth from Squash Haven who planted trees in the Stevens Street garden not only learned about hoop houses and tree planting, but also developed quite a knack for riding in wheelbarrows. Common Ground High School students, on their community service day, raked and composted in the Ivy Street garden, and also repaired a fence on the outside of the garden. Even seasoned environmental studies students were surprised by what they learned. One freshman from the Sound School, while working along the Farmington Canal Trail, admitted that before he and his classmates saw which bulbs we were planting, he had been confused about why anyone would think burying lightbulbs would be a good idea.

One of the best parts of community gardening with students is that no question is too basic to ask. Outside of a classroom, in an environment without grades or rubrics, curiosity trumps embarrassment, and lessons students understood theoretically become much more real. One Sound School student exclaimed, as she raked up leaves by the community wall on Shelton Avenue, 

“Now I know where all the wrappers go when I drop them on the ground at the bus stop! They all blow over here and then I have to pick them up!” 

A sense of responsibility over the cleanliness of her neighborhood? Check.

We are looking forward to more outdoor programming this spring.

Loving Your House #5: Late Autumn/Early Winter Tips for Homeowners

Love Notes from the Director of Design & Construction, H. Dynia

AUTUMN - HOW TO MAKE LEAVES MAGICALLY DISAPPEAR

Why rake and remove leaves?  People don’t like the “messy” look of leaf litter blowing around, which can be slippery when wet, and grass covered with leaves through the winter will negatively affect the health of the lawn.  Leaves are a valuable soil amendment that should not be sent “away”.  Learn to process them into a soil amendment that can make your soil more fertile and biologically healthier.  Placing ground up leaves on your shrub or flower beds will help woody plant materials to endure a tough winter by keeping the root zone warmer and moister.  However, it is better to place the leaf mulch on the plant beds later in the Fall, like now, rather than earlier in the Fall, because the favorable conditions you are creating may cause the buds the plant has set for next spring to open now.  This practice will give the earth worms a head start on converting the leaf mulch into elements the plants can use.  Another advantage is that you are getting your final cut done on your grass, which adds the nitrogen-containing clippings to your leaf mulch.  You will be surprised at how you can reduce a 2 foot high pile of leaves into a 2 – 4 inch layer of leaf mulch instantly.  There are easy ways to do this that save you time and energy.  Instead of collecting, bagging, and “getting rid of” the leaves, consider these strategies:

1.      In General, work from high to low, clean the house gutters first, so you can just throw it
down where you will be raking anyway.  Although sailors hate wind-less conditions, it is easy to deal with leaves when conditions are still.

   

2.      To most easily process your leaves, a mulching mower is best.  A walk-behind power mower of at least 5 HP (very common) that does not discharge leaves to the side enables you to chop up leaves without blowing them all over the lawn.  However, if all you have is a side discharge mower, you can make that work if you plan where you want the leaves to end up.  Set the cutting height lower rather than higher, since the grass may continue to grow some until the real cold sets in. 

 

3.      This process works best if you can work with the weather.  Dry leaves chop up much easier than wet leaves, and are easier to move around. If you know there is a rain storm coming, don’t rake them into piles, they will stay wet for a long time.  Instead, leave them where they fall and let them dry out for a day or two.

4.      You can rake them into a pile, using a wide bamboo rake, and then mow the pile, slicing off a narrow strip on each pass.  After going through the whole pile this way, you can then “cross cut” the pile, in the other direction, to further reduce the bulk. If you are starting with dry, crispy leaves, you will end up with something close to “leaf powder”.  Generally, you will do this on the lawn area somewhere close to the ultimate destination, but it is best to do on a pavement, like a driveway, because then you don’t have to rake out the fine “choppings” from the grass where you processed them.

5.      After the chopping process is done to your satisfaction, rake up you product and place it on shrub, flower, or vegetable garden areas.  A layer 2 -3 inches is plenty.  By the spring, it will be 1 inch or less.  Leave as little of the ground up leaves in the grass as possible because too much of a good thing will affect the soil PH unfavorably for grass growth.  In the spring, you can cultivate the leaf mulch right into the soil or just leave it in place, or cover it with decorative bark mulch.

6.      If there are already fallen leaves on your shrub beds and garden areas, you don’t need to remove them, just place your leaf mulch over them, and the earthworms will take care of the rest.

7.       Following this system will allow you to create the maximum favorable conditions for your plants and soil during the winter, because nature will be working for you (earthworms, moisture, warmth) rather than against you (dry, sterile soil, desiccated plants, frozen root zones).  Then you can apply decorative mulch in the spring, and your landscape will look fresh, and the soil with be healthier.

8.      Care of the mower is important when used in this manner.  The most vulnerable component is the air filter.  This will clog up after a few hours in a dusty leaf pile.  Often it can just be removed and knocked around to get the dirt out enough to keep the engine up to power.  Symptoms of a clogging air filter is a noticeable decline in engine power to the point of it not being able to do anything.  Also, when refueling, do not allow crumbs of leaves to get into the fuel tank.  Carefully brush the dirt away around the fuel tank filler cap before refueling. 

If this article is catching you too late to be of benefit, save it for next year, it will give you time to plan out a strategy and get the equipment you need.  A decent mulching mower as described should cost under $200, and you still may be able to get one on clearance hidden somewhere away for the season.  Your neighbors can benefit from this process, so if they see you at work, take the time to explain what you are doing, and the benefits thereof.  Whole towns and cities can benefit if residents take care of their leaves on site, rather than exporting them”away”.      

WINTER ICE AND SNOW - ROOF

If you have had ice dam damage from ice on your roof in the past, now is the time to think about how to avoid this kind of problem for next winter, because we do not know how challenging or benign the next winter will be.  Here are 3 possible strategies to deal with ice dams:

      1.  If your roof is worn and ready for re-roofing, current building codes require membranes along the lower edges of the roof that greatly reduce leaks from ice dams.

2.  Place heat-producing cables along roof edges and gutters to melt away ice as it forms.  These products are readily available at home centers and hardware stores, but can be challenging to install if you are not comfortable with heights and ladders.  Follow the products instructions for installation and use. They will cost you some electricity to operate. 

3.  Acquire a roof rake and pull off as much snow from the roof as you can, if you can reach it with the extended handle of the roof rake.  Especially concentrate on the eve (lower) areas.  If the sun can reach the roof material, it often can warm it enough to defeat ice build-up.

     

WINTER ICE AND SNOW - PAVEMENTS 

Another casualty of the past winter has been hardscape areas, which may have been damaged by snow plows, snow shovels, ice choppers, and ice melting chemicals.  When using de-icing chemicals on concrete, or concrete pavers, only use products that are labeled as “pavement friendly”.  Sodium Chloride (rock salt) destroys concrete.  Calcium Chloride is less destructive.  Surface damage to limited areas such as steps, porches, etc. can be repaired with high-strength concrete repair and re-surfacing materials, a task within grasp of most homeowners.

Any questions?! Feel free to email us at Admin@NHSofNewHaven.org! 

NHS Works with Yale Sophomores on Ivy Street

written by Theo Wuest

On the morning of Monday, August 24, a group of about ten Yale students arrived at NHS of New Haven's campus. They were about to begin their week of service through Dwight Hall’s FOCUSon New Haven program, which at the end of every summer sends rising sophomores and upperclassmen group leaders to work with local nonprofits and see the city from a different perspective. 

The students who came were led by Lauren Blonde, an architecture major and a friend of NHS, who was returning for a third consecutive year of working with us through FOCUS. The group was set to work in the community garden on Ivy Street for about twenty hours, Monday-Thursday, with many items lined up for them to do during their time.

First off: the garden needed general upkeep. The students, alongside NHS' Community Building & Organizing team, watered, weeded, and picked up trash. There were tables and chairs that needed painting and staining, as well as a broken umbrella pole that needed to be replaced. 

Our largest project was the construction of a fence adjacent to the greenhouse. The space between the greenhouse and the neighboring property is currently unused and full of weeds, wildflowers, and rocks, a waist-high wilderness we needed to weed-whack to traverse. While having the pleasant appearance of a natural meadow, it needed maintenance and was not a good first impression of the garden when entering from the Shelton Avenue gate.

The solution devised by Lauren and CBO director Stephen Cremin-Endes was to use some wooden pallets leftover in the garden to build a fence. We would dig holes, mix concrete, and erect posts cut from spare four-by-fours. We would then attach, vertically, the newly sanded and oiled pallet. When all was said and done, it would look like a slatted fence, running from the corner of the greenhouse to the edge of the property. Eventually, another will be built on the other side of the wildflower garden. One student even used her Girl Scout expertise to lash together a fence with branches and twine to be attached when a hinge was installed.

I, myself, arrived on Tuesday, as the project started in earnest. A few students sawed fence-posts, others dug holes, and others coated the tables with linseed oil. After digging the holes and cutting two four-by-fours, we played around with concrete until the posts were safely set. The rest of the concrete was used for found-object art. 

The next day, we dug more holes for new posts and started to attach pallet to the ones we installed the preceding day. The wood, however, was treated and well-weathered, and it was almost impossible to drill through the four inches, let alone put in a screw. But throughout all of Wednesday and Thursday, with some experimentation, some frustration, some exasperation, some cooperation, and a great deal of physical exertion, the pallet were up. The front fence was close to finished and the part already constructed was sturdy and visually appropriate. A beautiful handmade gate was made with twine and expertise, soon to be attached.

By the time all of our work was completed, it was Thursday, time for the volunteers to take their leave. We took a group photograph and there plenty of friendly chatter as they helped pack up to go. Speaking with them, I found that the most common sentiment among them was gratefulness for or interest in seeing New Haven from a different perspective. The garden, once again, looked clean and healthy.

That evening, all the FOCUS students met for a large dinner at Dwight Hall. Stephen and I were invited, along with representatives of other non-profits, and were served a menagerie of delicious New Haven takeout. But the most important thing was that we were able to thank our volunteers once more for their dedicated service. We enjoyed working with them and hope to see them again soon.

Lincoln-Bassett School Joins the Ivy Street Garden

In the Garden with Lincoln-Bassett School

CB&O staff, alongside Ivy Street gardeners, experienced one of the busiest volunteer events to date! On Tuesday, May 12 and Wednesday, May 13 we had the pleasure of hosting ten different classes of Lincoln-Bassett students, ranging from Kindergarten to 6^th grade. Teachers were a big help as we spent 45 minutes with each class, exploring various activities at the Ivy Street Garden. 

Students were able to rotate through four stations. The first was set up to have the students gather soil from the compost bin and fill up small seedling trays. At the next station students made use of the newly soiled trays and carefully planted carrots, peppers and tomatoes. Others were able to plant seeds directly into a raised bed that has been designated for school students. 

Another station allowed an opportunity for younger students to sit and enjoy story-time as we listened to the timeless tale of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” 

The third station gave older students a chance to show off their raking and teamwork skills as they worked in pairs to gather left-over leaves around the garden, bag them up, and carry the big bags over to the sidewalk curb. 

The fourth and final work station mobilized the students to run around the garden and pick up weeds. This station proved to be surprisingly exciting and fun for all of the students who loved the opportunity to find weeds all over the garden!

It was a pleasure to work alongside students and teachers of Lincoln-Bassett, and we hope to have another fun Day in the Garden again soon! 

 

Thank you to these participating classes: Ms. Stopka's 2nd grade class, Ms. Forsa's 2nd grade class, Ms. Perone's 1st grade class, Ms. Dumont's 3rd grade class, Ms. Clark's Kindergarten class, Ms. Petersen's 6th grade class, Ms. Liguz's 1st grade class, Ms. Slivinski's 1st grade class, Ms. Magalhaes' 5th grade class, and Mr. Messina's 5th grade class!