Nearly 50 people were in attendance on opening day of the Roosevelt Community Garden on Earth Day. Gardeners, teachers, students, volunteers and North Shore Land Alliance staff members boasted bright smiles and dirty hands as they weeded, cleared, raked and planted more than 50 garden beds there.
“We signed up for a garden bed this year so we could be more in control of what we were eating and be more in control of our budget,” said Chris Schilling, a new gardener who was there with his son. “Gardening is also a fun family activity. We’re enjoying picking out the plants for our garden today.”
The garden, which is now in its second season, makes its home at 59 Fulton Ave., on a 10,000-square-foot former house lot owned by Nassau County. Some of the plants and herbs available included Georgia collard, red peppers, plum tomatoes, spinach, peppermint, sage and more. Two wooden storage sheds have been added to the garden this year as well as a six-foot wood perimeter fence and communal garlic bed. Vertical growing for herbs is now available.
In June of 2018, the North Shore Land Alliance in partnership with Nassau County and many volunteers opened the Roosevelt Community Garden, which offers community members an affordable opportunity to grow their own organic produce. The garden is also used as a learning center where students are taught about the connection between agriculture and a healthy lifestyle.
The Land Alliance would like to thank all the volunteers, teachers from The Transition Network, MSC Industrial Supply in Melville, and Ms. Smith-Brown and students from the Roosevelt UFSD R.E.A.L. Program for their help preparing and planting the garden beds. Inch by inch and row by row, this loving community will certainly make this garden grow.
The North Shore Land Alliance, Inc. is a nationally accredited, nonprofit 501(c)(3) land trust founded in 2003 that works to protect and preserve, in perpetuity, the green spaces, farmlands, wetlands, groundwater, and historical sites of Long Island’s north shore for the enhancement of quality of life and benefit of future generations.
—Submitted by the North Shore Land Alliance
