hollenback

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Welcome to the

Hollenback Community Garden

Located at 460 Washington Avenue

Between Gates and Greene

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY

art by gardener John Spinks

Click here for some views of the garden from above!

MAY WORK DAY RAINDATE

Our Sun May 3rd workday was rained out (moment of silence). Though a few hardy souls still met in the rain to bundle up scrap wood for a DSNY pick up on monday. The raindate is for the big workday will be Sat May 9th, 10-11:00 new gardener's orientation, 11-5:00 workday. Please come for a 3 hour time block.

The raindate for the raindate will be Sun May 10th, same times.

Please bring work gloves and hand pruners if you have them. On the workday we'll be

continuing to work on preparing the new compost system. We will be moving 3 of the cyclones of compost from behind the apple tree to temporary holding spot in the back. We'll also be clearing the debris from the new compost area and starting to level the ground in that area. We will be constructing a stone bench in the front shady spot, and planting a native plants garden in that area as well. We will be clearing out junk, trash, rubble, weeds. And, of course, just in case you were thinking this doesn't sound like a real Hollenback workday, we will be moving some serious piles of dirt around.

Becoming a Member in 2009

If you're interested in joining the garden for our 2009 season, please click the link above for more information about getting a plot and how to become a member.

Planting the Seeds of Hollenback

The Hollenback Community Garden began in 1980, through the hard work and dedication of community members who saw possibility in a lot rendered empty by the fire that destroyed the Hollenback Mansion. Brick by brick, and wheel barrow by wheel barrow they cleaned up the site and then seed by seed, they created beauty from destruction.

Who are we?

We are currently about 40 gardeners, each working in individual plots as well as sharing responsibility for communal areas used by the garden membership and the larger community. Our garden is part of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, a coalition of 34 community gardens. To read more, check out our By Laws and Membership Commitment.

What do we do?

☼ The garden is a place for garden members from the community to produce locally grown food

☼ The gardeners preserve a flourishing green oasis for the community (everyone from neighbors to the butterflies, bees and birds) to visit and enjoy, contributing to overall neighborhood beautification. Here are just a few perennials that bloom in the garden

☼ We make all garden decisions democratically at monthly meetings

☼ Hollenback offers several community events every season, including live music, movies, BBQs, garden workshops, and tours

☼ Gardeners strive to deepen and share their gardening knowledge and experience

☼ Beginning next season, our garden hopes to donate our excess produce to those in the community who are struggling with food security

Sustainablility in the Garden

☼Our garden harvests rainwater from a neighboring rooftop, and stores it in a 700 gallon tank. This reduces both our use of potable water and the amount of rainwater that goes into the city’s overworked sewer system. You can find more information on rainwater harvesting in the city at waterresourcesgroup.org To read an informative article from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on rainwater harvesting, check out "Rainwater Harvesting"

☼ Our perspective is that we can provide an alternate system of organic waste management to our community. Organic materials that go to waste in landfills, produce methane gas and other pollutants that can leech into the soil. At Hollenback we seek to enable the natural decompostition process, which is safer for the environment - we seek to harness a valuable resource instead of wasting one. The Hollenback Community Garden is proud to be part of the Fort Greene Compost Project, an expanding network of three gardens that promote solid waste reduction by collecting approximately 500 pounds of household food waste each Saturday from the Fort Greene Park Greenmarket. We combine that collected material with garden plant waste, local brewery waste, local landscaping waste and cafe coffee grounds, to produce valuable soil amendment. The compost we produce is used in our garden and neighborhood tree pits, and by community members. We believe strongly in our composting system, not only for its production of rich, organic fertiziler but for enabling us to do our part in making our community more environmentally viable.

Our compost system has been used as a working educational model by the Master Composting Class from The Lower Eastside Ecology Center, as well as by GreenThumb, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the Queens Botanical Garden and several workshops, other community gardens & public school classes. Our compost has even been featured on Japanese television. To learn more about our compost contact us at the e-mail address below or come by the garden and ask for Charlie Bayrer, our head composter. For more information about composting in NY, check out The New York City Composting Project

Read a NY Times article about food waste, from May 18, 2008. "One Country's Table Scraps, Another Country's Meal

☼ In 2007, we installed a composting toilet in our garden. This unit allows us to provide restroom facilities for visitors and gardeners, without having to depend on the non-sustainable, chemical, and costly involvement of a rented port-o-potty. Our composting toilet processes human waste and converts it into organic compost and fertile soil. Click here for more details on how it works. We hope that the presence of the composting toilet will serve as a further platform for our garden, and our community, to learn more ways to harness every resource we can when it comes to supporting our planet from the strain we place upon it. Our deepest gratitude to the Battery Park City Conservancy and the Park Avenue Building Supply for their time and efforts in helping us succeed in this project. To read a brief history of all the people who came together to bring this toilet to the garden, click here.

The Garden at Work!

The 2007 season saw an unprecedented amount of manual labors of love, from the digging of a 330 cubic foot hole, to the carrying of an 800 pound tub. Rome, much like our composting toilet, was not built in a day. Check it out!

Photos of teamwork, first workday of the 2007 season

Photos of teamwork, composting toilet edition

Highlights of the Summer

Highlights of the 2008 Season

Highlights of the 2007 Season

In Memory

In 2007, we lost a dear friend and a founding member of the garden, Ms. Gertrude Jefferson. We miss you, Gertrude.

Visitors are Welcome!

☼ Any time the front gate is open, please come in for a visit. Stop in, smell and admire the flowers, talk to gardeners, sit and read or just relax in the shade. Bring your family and your sketchbook. Share your knowledge and your questions.

☼ Respect the hard work of all the gardeners by not picking any fruits, vegetables or flowers. Also make sure to let them know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated.

☼ To help you plan a visit, we have regular Garden Open Hours, which are:

Wednesdays: 6pm to 8pm

Saturdays: 4pm to 6pm

Sundays: 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm

Contact Us

☼ To get more information,offer input, inquire about membership, see about holding an event, join our mailing list, find out how you can help, learn about community events, ask a question, or make a request, you can reach the garden coordinators Cara Perkins & Mark Trushkowsky at hollenbackcommunitygarden@yahoo.com