All Posts Tagged With: "community gardens"

Recently, we started in earnest to learn all we can about the blogging world, including how to increase our site traffic so we can continue to offer GOforChange to our community and the wider world. Naturally, we enrolled in Upstart Blogger’s 30-Day Blogging Course . We are known mostly within our own networks, where we reliably preach to the converted. But what about people who are just waking up to environmental and economic challenges? With our expertise, wealth of information, online forums, calendar, and marketplace, we are determined to reach a wider audience.

We started GOforChange in early 2008 to help spread the word about the growing sustainability , local food , social justice, and greening movement in the Baltimore area. A blog was the right format to share information about upcoming events, volunteers opportunities, advice, and all the organizations and businesses in our area that are working for a better world. We are always learning about new things — community gardens, energy auditors, local artisans, schools — and the list of topics keeps growing. We continue to believe that reliable information about local resources is valuable to people who want to know how they can make a difference in their daily lives and communities.

As of Day 5 of the course, we have already learned much about social networks, Technorati rankings , Google Analytics, and reaching out to like-minded blogs. We are shifting our posts to offer more advice, musings, and stories from Julie’s work as a green architect and sustainability consultant, and Alyssa’s hands-on artistry in urban gardening, composting, and other DIY projects. Interspersed with posts about Baltimore-area topics, these will have a broad appeal beyond our geographic region. The Upstart Blogger course is something we probably should have taken six months ago, but back then we just didn’t realize how much we don’t know! Stay tuned for updates on our progress.

ISky was created in 2007. With its offices located in Takoma Park, Maryland, 1Sky is helping raise the bar for leadership on climate change action in the context of the 2008 elections and the new Obama Administration. Their goal is to “create bold federal action by 2010 that can reverse global warming,” by “identifying steps our leaders need to take in order to shift our nation away from global warming and toward the prosperity of a green economy.” They have engaged a network of leading scientists and economists to create the 1Sky Solutions and have a growing number of allies working directly with them for this same common goal.
A few solutions are to:
* CREATE 5 MILLION GREEN JOBS in order to conserve 20% of our energy by 2015.
*FREEZE CLIMATE POLLUTION levels now then cut by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
* NO NEW COAL PLANTS that emit global warming pollution; invest in renewable energy.
One of my personal highlights from their site is a list of Climate Matters Video contest winners. My favorite is “This Lawn is Your Lawn” by Roger Doiron which is also a part of a website called EatTheView.org that is petitioning for President Elect Obama to act on climate control and send a message to millions of Americans by planting a garden on the White House lawn. After watching I can’t help but note artist Fritz Haegs project Edible Estates which expressed similar sentiments about the front lawn at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Haeg visited Baltimore this past spring to continue his project on a front lawn in West Baltimore where artists, homeowners and community peoples participated in planting a vegetable garden. Haeg’s visit was also in tandem with the addition of several DIY community lead gardens on abandon lots around the city; Participation Park and Village Green Community Garden in Remington , to name a few that started in 2007. Mayor Sheila Dixon expressed her interest and support of revitalizing grassroots efforts for healthy food = healthy communities by visiting a few gardens Sat. Oct. 18th, which came just three days after she joined Robert F. Kennedy, Jr , the nations forerunner in environmental activism, and 9,000 other delegates at the Baltimore Convention Center for the National Recreation and Park Association Congress and Exposition.

A short email conversation between Alyssa and Roy Skeen from the Village Green Community Garden in Remington.

A : When was the garden started? By?
R : Garden was started in 2007 by Megan Beller and Barb Fischer and myself?
A : How long have you lived in Remington?
R : 8 months
A : Was it something you were wanting to do for a long time?
R : For about a year.
A : Who did and who didn’t have experience in gardening or farming before the project?
R : I had grown food for one season prior.
A : Did you do any soil testing?
R : Yes we did three soil tests.
A : Where were you able to get your top soils from? Continued

The Perennial Nursery Program is a project created by Civic Works and is located at 600 N Port Street, behind the Amazing Grace Church. Since 2001. "Its mission is to provide annual and perennial flowers, vegetable plants, shrubs and trees free of charge to community groups involved in urban greening initiatives." To date, over 35,000 plants have been distributed. Volunteers are always needed and appreciated! Contact Staff.