Breathing Life into April

Community Update April 2018

Program Updates

As spring slowly breathes life into the world, we've been busy. March was full of conferences, where we were happy to see many of you at Making Brooklyn Bloom, Just Food, and GrowTogether.

Now, we're itching to get outside. Citywide students are dividing rhizomes and planting seeds in Propagation, while Farm Intensive students are gearing up to start at the Youth Farm.

Meanwhile, many of our advanced students have already started their apprenticeships on farms around the city, while Advanced Animal Husbandry dives into bees, chickens, and larger livestock too! Things certainly are buzzing around here.

Student Reflections

"This class was awesome! It was so thought provoking!..I gained so much from this course. Thank you!"

- Citywide student, Advanced Advocacy

"Phenomenal class, phenomenal way to approach water."

- Citywide student, Soilless Practices

What's Next?

We love that you all love our courses! All of our Spring courses filled up shortly after sending out registration. Due to such high demand, we've added a second Carpentry course, which will meet on Thursdays and Sundays, May 3-13. Registration will be sent out soon.

Stay tuned for summer course registration coming in May, and find course descriptions on our website .

Zooming Out: The Farm Bill

The Farm Bill has arrived! Well, at least the first draft has. The House Agriculture Committee recently released the first draft, giving us a sense of the direction policymakers are heading. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) provides detailed reviews of various components within the draft.

Our friends at the National Young Farmers Coalition have been organizing relentlessly to shape policy that supports beginning farmers . As they begin to understand what the first draft means moving forward, sign up to stay updated on how to take action for a better Farm Bill.

Supporting Our Communities

One of our long-time community partners is scaling up their site! The Hattie Carthan Herban Farm is an educational herb farm guided by the principles of food justice. The community herb farm is part of the Hattie Carthan Food Projects in Central Brooklyn working to promote the use of herbs for holistic individual, communal, and environmental health. They are a grassroots, feminine-led agricultural regeneration project.

Find out more and volunteer or donate to the campaign .

After wrapping up our recent Advanced Advocacy course, three students presented their advocacy campaign to the Shop Healthy Program and the Bronx Health Department along with Karen Washington.