38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference: Day 5

Join us for the fifth day of Part I of this year’s NYC Parks GreenThumb 38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference (bit.ly/GTGT2022). Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the conference will be hybrid this year, and spread out over the course of two weeks. Part I takes place virtually from Saturday, February 19 to Friday, February 25. You can register for the full conference or individual sessions, all free of cost, on Eventbrite at gtgt22-virtual.eventbrite.com . Part 2 will be in community gardens around the city in April 2022 (registration coming soon).

Thursday, February 24th:

Highs and Lows of High and Low Tunnels
Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Claudia Navas (Farm School NYC) and Zachary Tan Strein (Wyckoff House Museum)

Growing in transparent tunnels –high and low– is an ancient practice that extends the growing season, lowers soil erosion, reduces certain pest pressure, improves plant and soil quality, and offers more abundant locally grown, culturally relevant produce to communities that need it most. Whether you are growing under a plastic bottle or a glasshouse, it helps to have the right materials and resources, including grants that can help cover your costs.

– Claudia Navas is a Project Manager at Farm School NYC. She has a background in community education, outreach, and program management. She is currently contributing to Deep Routes: an Afro-Indigenous Culinary Curriculum that aims to highlight Black and Indigenous peoples’ foodways.

Farm School NYC trains local residents in urban agriculture in order to build self-reliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and social, economic, and racial justice issues.

– Zachary Tan Strein is the Garden Manager of the Wyckoff House Museum. The Wyckoff House Museum’s builds cultural and agricultural connections within their community through innovative educational and farm-based programs.

Chase Away Winter Blues by Growing Greens
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Vipin Bharathan (West 123 St Community Garden)

Explore a lightweight low tunnel setup using recycled materials over an 8’x4′ garden bed. This design allows easy setup, removal, aeration, and cooling. The hoops can be moved easily to other beds as the seasons progress. We’ll discuss choice of plants and rotation for winter harvest and speeding up seedlings for spring, summer, and fall.

Vipin Bharathan is a community gardener who has contributed to Liz Christy Garden, 6th Street Botanical Garden and West 123 St Community Garden.

Tomato Heaven Part One: Starting from Seed
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Maureen O’brien (Brooklyn Botanic Garden)

Hard-to-find, heirloom, tomato varieties — like Pole Moneymaker, Amish Paste, and Container Cherry Tomatoes — are luscious globes of food history and chockfull of vitamins. Learn hands-on how to successfully start tomatoes from seed.

Maureen O’Brien is Brooklyn Botanic Garden Community Field Manager. She is a Master Composter, a community gardener and greening activist, and a certificate in horticulture from Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Maureen enjoys growing food, flowers and herbs with her composting husband and family at a farmette in Pennsylvania and at 6/15 Green, a community garden in south Park Slope, Brooklyn.
For a complete schedule with webinar descriptions, please visit our website at bit.ly/GTGT2022 and FAQ page for answers to frequently asked questions. You can register for the full conference or individual sessions, all free of cost! Registration does not guarantee a spot, which will be first-come-first serve at the beginning of each session. All of these sessions will be recorded and available after the conference on our YouTube channel. The keynote address will be available through the end of April.

Todos los seminarios web serán grabados y traducidos al español.
All sessions will be offered with live Spanish language interpretation.