More Gardens’ Covid-19 Update

Dear Friends and Family of More Gardens,

Our hearts are with you during this time.  We are heartened by the many creative ways our communities are finding to lift each other up, giving each other hope and comfort.  While remaining physically distant from one another, we are connected in our hearts.

More Gardens is working with our communities to make sure the highest wellness of New Yorkers is adhered to during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the Quarantine, we canceled all of our community Spring events and workshops such as the Charshanbe Suri and the Spring Equinox celebrations, though we did have wonderful zoom celebrations with live music.  Thank you to those of you who participated. This meant a lot, especially to the Iranian and Middle Eastern diaspora communities who love sharing our/their New Year celebrations with all of you.

We were thankful to be able to host community garden leaders and Bronx Nature Education leaders in small groups this summer on our new Fern Dragon Farm for farming and nature education activities. Produced planted by children and families was delivered in September and October to families in the South Bronx.

We are working with our beloved garden communities and marvelous staff and interns to create events, programs, and celebrations once the danger passes, and in the meantime are working on ways to connect physically to the earth even in NYC indoors through seed starting and other initiatives.

We also continue to create zoom gatherings so that we can be together to share ideas and even live music, giving some much-needed income to local musicians in our communities.

We are actively working with community gardeners, the Parks Department, and our local, city and state representatives to bring safe and equitable ways of keeping the highest well-being for our communities and the community gardens. 

Here are the GreenThumb Guidelines:

• PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY: GREENTHUMB COMMUNITY GARDENS ON NYC PARKS PROPERTY
  updated September 16, 2020
  
  Community Gardens operating on NYC Parks property may remain open to garden members at the discretion of each licensed garden group. Gardens may also now reopen to members of the public at the discretion of each garden group. Gardens are not required to host public open hours.  

  Garden activities
  Effective 9/10/2020, GreenThumb community garden groups operating on NYC Parks property may host public events with prior written approval from GreenThumb. Attendance at all approved events will be capped at 25 people, or less, depending on the size and layout of the garden. A garden member must remain on-site at all times to ensure observance of public health requirements by all attendees. Garden groups may submit a request to host an event at THIS LINK. Food distribution activities remain permitted as outlined on the GreenThumb website. 

  Review Current COVID-19 Information: Gardeners should review current information and guidelines on COVID-19 on the CDC and DOHMH webpage, especially with regard to populations at risk.

…… MORE ON GREENTHUMB WEBSITE

Please reach out if we can be of help to you, or if you can help us by donations or want to be part of our green care package program for NYC families indoors.

With Much Love and Gratitude,