The Blog

This article in our Earth Week series features the work of Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo.  Written by Jenny Whittaker, Program Coordinator at Grassroots Gardens, Jenny shares their mission of helping people create and sustain community gardens on vacant parcels in the City of Buffalo..

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With the warm weather fast approaching, Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo has been busy gearing up for an exciting growing season.  Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo enables community-led efforts to revitalize the city and enhance quality of life through the creation and maintenance of community gardens that beautify blocks, grow healthy food, and strengthen neighborhood spirit.  In 2011, we had the privilege of supporting community members’ efforts to establish 14 new community gardens across the city.  This year we have 10 new community groups ready to break ground on what are sure to be exciting and transformative new projects.  Working with a total of 77 gardens in neighborhoods all across the city, we see the power of community gardens every day.

This next article in our Earth Week series is on the topic of "Creating Community Storygardens".  Written by Michelle Bennett Stieglitz, of U Community Health Organization, Michelle accentuates the importance and benefits of storygardens.

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Community gardening is an activity which brings many benefits to its participants.  Our local organizations, such as Grassroots Gardens, Massachusetts Avenue Project and others, organize and support the formation and maintenance of gardens as sources of nutritious foods and sustenance for our neighbors in need.  One of the many benefits resulting from community gardening is the ability to create an activity which brings people together for a common cause.  As a result, there is a great opportunity for an important, and often overlooked, requirement for human health and well-being.  That is connection.  Storygardens emphasize this need.

In this article in the Earth Week series, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy tells us how they're green not only because they have parks, but because of their important goal to nurture native species and natural habitats.

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As a park user, you may have seen the signs: Maintained Meadow Area (MMA) in one of our Olmsted landscapes.  To the uninitiated, these areas may appear as overgrown sections of the park that have been simply been left un-mowed.  That isn’t the case; these areas have been designed and intentionally planned and planted.  If you look closer you’ll see that these un-mowed sections of the park aren’t a cluster of weeds, but rather they feature a variety of native plant species and are habitat for a number of birds and butterflies.

This next article in the series is written by Lisa Tucker, publisher of Edible Buffalo magazine and co-founder of Field & Fork Network.  Tucker confirms that Mother Nature has indeed had an affect on local crops, and yet despite the troubled weather Lisa extends an invitation to Field & Fork Network's Seasonal Suppers.

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Come to "Hogs and Cherries" Seasonal Supper Cookout to Learn About Local Foods

Spring is proving itself once again as being a challenge for our local growers.  Two weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures followed by a cold snap, have put tree fruit and grape vines in serious jeopardy.  Apricots, the first of the tree fruit to blossom and some say the most vulnerable, were immediately affected.  Singer Farms has lost about 50% of their apricot crop.  I’ve heard from some of the grape growers that the first buds and blossoms have endured damage, which will adversely affect future harvest.  You will recall last year’s spring season was hampered by inordinate amounts of rain that prevented growers from getting seeds in the ground at the right time, which ultimately shrunk yields and prevented certain crops altogether.