Community Garden/Flower Farm with an Outdoor Education Program in Ditmas Park, Flatbush

Do you have specific Neighborhood(s) in mind?

Ditmas Park

Which group(s) does your idea focus on? Select as many as apply.

Youth

Older Adults

Public Housing Residents

Justice Impacted People

People with Disabilities

Limited English Speakers

Immigrants/ Migrants

Veterans

LGBTQ+ People

Parents

Unhoused People

Low Income People

Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color

Describe the challenge you want to address:

Ditmas Park, Flatbush has no community garden. Our community is full of families, people of all ages and backgrounds who LOVE and need access to nature but no place locally for folks to engage with plants, flowers and ecology. Ditmas Park and Flatbush would benefit hugely from a community garden/farm that includes art, education and hands on experience, a space that is open to the whole community to learn and get their hands into nature.

What is the solution to the challenge?

I am a small business owner with a bricks and mortar flower shop - Fell Flowers - on Cortelyou road. I have a flower farm and vegetable garden around my home where I grow flowers for the shop and experiment with new varieties. Many neighbors know it because we grow vegetables prominently in the front yard and each year grow tomatoes for neighbors to see and harvest along the sidewalk. They are there for children, unhoused people, anybody who comes past. We propose to transform the farm from a private garden into a working community garden/flower farm and educational resource. Public schools, community groups and socially engaged networks could visit and learn about all aspects of urban farming: sowing seeds, watering, soil improvement, pest management, harvesting. We could offer many different kinds of workshops from flower arranging to construction required on an urban farm. This hands on, local engagement with a real, working, small scale flower farm and garden can be of great benefit and touch many lives. Additionally we will seek to become a bridge between our local neighbors and large, institutional growing/educational spaces like Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Grange and Gotham Greens. Our goal as a community resource will be to provide a safe space for all to engage and work with what we are already doing, and to educate and inspire all who pass through about the positive impact each person can have on their local environment, even without a garden.

Please provide your Zip Code

11226