Garden Steward interview by News Gazette
http://www.news-gazette.com/living/2015-12-20/getting-personal-dawn-m-blackman-sr.html
Posted in In the news
Randolph Street Community Garden from Illinois Public Media on Vimeo.
The goal of The Randolph Street Community is to provide local residents, living in a food desert, the opportunity to grow or purchase healthy produce, and to pass on gardening traditions to a new generation of children. The video above shows what we have been doing. We would like to expand this project to include:
1. Addition of a second business component of residential food waste composting.
2. Installation of a green house.
3. Installation of an irrigations system.
4. Acquisition of property in the neighborhood to serve as operations base for programs and collaborative projects between community and university groups.
5. Establish a “Gown to Town” initiative to house, in the community, social justice oriented graduate students and local community organizers to:
-develop trusting relationships with community members
-engage and empower community members through training and education
-conduct research (with community members) that articulates their needs
-develop and implement programs to meet those needs.
The Randolph Street Community Garden is a key site of development for the Champaign community. It is where diverse populations intersect and interact.In 2014 alone, 1,434 volunteer hours were worked. That’s 184 people that came to the garden to help other people grow food, clear their beds, water, share knowledge and learn about one another. Just under 600 people attended planned garden events. People who are black, brown, red, white, and yellow, city residents and university students, church and un-churched, children, men, women, able bodied, disabled, and elders. All participate at the Randolph Street Community garden, where food, fun, and friendship grow and we are building community!
Your donation will help continue and expand this crucial community development work.
For further information, you may contact Dawn Blackman at dawnblackmansr at yahoo dot com.
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It was a great Summer! We added 2 new 4X16 beds and 7 potato towers, and a 20′ by 32′ Shade Structure thanks to the American Academy of Dermatology, Unit 4 School District, and Brandt Concrete. Our 1920’s themed Garden Party was held on the Sunday after Labor Day on Sept. 13th. Banks, Bridgewater and Lewis Fine Arts Academy provided a wonderful jazz concert! Steff and Bill Kurkendal played a mean duet on guitar and base. We are planning for next year already.
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The first strawberries of the season were picked the last week of May!
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After hauling all that compost it was good to get something in the ground.
Everyone wants to water
Everybody has a job.
Our smallest gardener transfers pulled weed to the compost bin.
Another trip to the compost pile
The tree planted by the “Peace and Social Justice Committee in memory of Kewan Carrington. This was the 1st real harvest.
Thanks Amy (Niver Steward at First Christian Farm) we had to compost just one of the pumpkins you gave us last year. It volunteered and yielded 54!
Sauteed collard greens. Our first harvest from the garden!
Planning for the big sale!
We baked all day getting ready for the first sale.
Thanks Dennis (Delhheimer) the starts you grew for us really helped.
We will have a market every Saturday in 2015 too. 10 -2 Church of the Brethren Parking lot.
Four new beds were added. Everyone helped to fill them. Our “job Training Students” from Champaign unit 4 School District had their work cut out for them.
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Garden work day. Are you ready to garden? Come out Saturday May 3, 2014, 10-2 to open the garden. Re-claim or be assigned a plot. Prepare, plant a bed. Help clean common areas, gather winter drops, paint stuff, weed the strawberries, build beds, put up re-purposed awning, Enjoy pot luck. Everyone is welcome! We have 20 bails of straw and compost on site already. If you can transport a wheel barrow please do. Sun block will be provided.
