Sunday, October 19: “Know Your Plants” Workshop

With several other volunteers, I’ll be running a plant identification workshop at the Maple Street Community Garden in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. Details below.

Pollinator Bed

Title: Know Your Plants!
Date: Sunday, October 19th
Time: Noon-2pm
Rain Date(s): TBD
Location: Maple Street Community Garden, 237 Maple St, Brooklyn, NY 11225

Join the NYC Pollinator Working Group and Maple Street Community Garden for a fun and educational workshop where you’ll learn how to identify plants using field guides, keys, and the iNaturalist app. Get creative with a plant-themed arts activity, discover simple ways to record and track the plants in your garden, and explore an information table all about native plants, pollinators, and how to support them. Perfect for budding botanists and nature lovers of all ages!

The New York City Pollinator Working Group (NYCPWG) networks and collaborates to conserve beneficial pollinating insects and the resources they need to survive. Our members work on a variety of projects that support pollinator habitat in public and private spaces, provide educational outreach on pollinator protection, and develop advocacy programs and policies around pollinator conservation. Our goal is to be a model for creating pollinator sustainability in urban environments. As a project of the Open Space Institute, Inc., donations to NYCPWG are tax-deductible. Visit us at nycpollinators.org and @nycpollinators.

The Maple Street Community Garden is a multipurpose garden and community space located in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, established in 2012 by residents of the neighborhood. The mission of the Maple Street Community Garden is to foster community and cultivate a peaceful and joyous place to serve everyone. We are dedicated to providing a safe and brave space for community members to gather, regardless of their race, age, religion, educational background, class, sexuality, gender identity, immigration status, disability and access needs, or any other marginalized status. Discriminatory language and behavior is not acceptable. As a community, we will hold each other accountable. Visit us at maplestreetcommunitygarden.org and @maple_street_community_garden.

Google Calendar

iNaturalist Workshops at GrowTogether, 4/22 & 4/23

Eristalis arbustorum (left) and and Syritta pipiens (right), thick-legged fly, on NOID Lamiaceae, 6&B Community Garden, East VIllage, Manhattan, July 2012

It’s a busy season for me this Spring! NEXT WEEK is New York City NYC’s GreenThumb community gardening program annual conference, known as GrowTogether:

Part 2 of the GreenThumb GrowTogether conference will be hosted in-person in community gardens in all five boroughs in celebration of Earth Week. Join us for workshops about growing food, healthy eating, native pollinators, flower arrangement, planting seeds, screen printing garden swag, volunteer projects, and more. All the activities are free and open to the public!

… The theme of this year’s GrowTogether is “Deeply Rooted: Growing Community Connections.” Community gardeners from across New York City have been gathering at the GrowTogether conference each spring since 1984 to celebrate the start of the garden season with a day of learning, networking, and reconnecting with friends. – Ibid.

38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference Part 2 Conference Guide

As noted above, all GrowTogether workshops are open to the public. Please register, as some workshops have limited capacity.

This is my first time participating in GrowTogether. I’ll be giving two different workshops on how to use iNaturalist, Friday in Brooklyn, and Saturday on Staten Island.

Using iNaturalist for Community Gardens and Gardeners

Friday, April 22
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
(Rain Date: Saturday, April 23, same time)
Location: Vernon Cases Community Garden, 42 Vernon Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Description:

iNaturalist is a community/citizen science platform where anyone can record their observations – photos or audio recordings – of any living thing anywhere in the world. Community gardeners and visitors can use iNaturalist to document and keep records about their gardens, such as flowering and fruiting times; identify and keep track of common weeds; and identify insect visitors, whether pests, predators, or pollinators.

In this workshop, we will use iNaturalist “in the field” to make observations of plants and insects and upload them to iNaturalist, creating a record of the biodiversity in a community garden. If you have access to a smartphone, please download the iNaturalist app in advance and bring it to the workshop!

Meet and Greet New York City’s Native Pollinators

Saturday, April 23
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
(Rain Date: Sunday, April 24, same time)
Location: Hill Street Community Garden, Staten Island
Description:

New York City is home to hundreds of species of pollinating insects. While butterflies and bumblebees are easily-spotted inhabitants of our community gardens, meet a few of New York City’s lesser known pollinators—including wasps, flower flies, and specialist bees— during this workshop with Sarah Ward from National Wildlife Federation and Chris Keussling (aka Flatbush Gardener). During a walk through the garden, participants will learn tips and tricks for observing pollinators and welcoming them into our gardens. Participants will also learn how to use the community science app iNaturalist to identify pollinators and contribute valuable data about pollinators in New York City.

Related Content

Torrey Lecture, Wednesday March 30, 2022-03-17

Links

For more information, or to register, for either/both workshop:

38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference Part 2 Conference Guide, Greenthumb News

GreenThumb