Rhode Island Feeds

Tomorrow night, Thursday, September 2nd, the Providence City Council will vote on an ordinance to permit residents to keep egg-laying hens in the city. Southside Community Land Trust stands behind this proposal to allow urban chicken-keeping in Providence, believing that access to fresh, locally-raised eggs is beneficial for nutrition, the environment, food safety, and economic self-reliance.

More broadly, SCLT believes that incorporating urban chicken farming into Providence’s local food movement—already strong thanks to thriving community gardens and farmer’s markets and a tradition of culinary arts—would further distinguish the city as both a center for urban food culture and a leader of green initiatives.

Some Providence residents have expressed legitimate concerns about the consequences of allowing their neighbors to raise backyard chickens. SCLT has offered to serve as a community resource on this subject, and we are committed to educating city residents about responsible chicken-rearing. With that in mind, here are some facts about chickens that will hopefully put a few common misconceptions to roost.

Myth: Chickens make noise.

Fact: While it’s true that roosters crow, hens are actually very quiet animals. They do not squawk unless they are afraid, and they go to sleep at night just like other household pets.

Myth: Chickens are dirty and spread disease.

Fact: This fear is understandable given the recent headlines about eggs contaminated with salmonella in the media. However, it is important to remember that those eggs came from an industrial-scale chicken farm. Confined animal feeding operations are much more likely to harbor diseases because they pack a large number of animals into a tight space (one that is often devoid of sunlight or grass). Home-raised eggs, on the other hand, are less likely to contain hazardous bacteria because individual backyard chicken coops with a limited number of hens are more protected from the spread of illness. Backyard chickens do not have to be dosed with antibiotics or synthetic hormones, and their eggs have also been shown to be naturally richer in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E than those from industrial settings.

Myth: Chickens are normally confined to rural areas.

Fact: In reality, more than 65 percent of major U.S. cities, including Portland, New York, Seattle, Denver, Madison, Baltimore, and New Haven have chicken-keeping ordinances on the books.

Myth: Chickens take up a lot of space and consume valuable resources.

Fact: Actually, chickens need surprisingly little room. Poultry associations designate that chickens require only 3 square feet of ranging area per bird. The initial cost of setting up a small coop and pen can be as low as $100, and hens cost very little to feed, especially if their diet is supplemented with weeds, grass clippings, bugs, and kitchen scraps. A single hen can lay about five eggs per week, saving families money on their food budget and providing a high-protein form of energy. The average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get from farm to plate; by raising chickens right here in Providence, citizens will be substantially reducing their carbon footprint.

Myth: Chicken waste is bad for the soil.

Fact: On the contrary! Chicken droppings are extremely high in nitrogen, an important nutrient for plant growth. They can even be added to compost, reducing the need to purchase chemical fertilizers for the lawn and garden.

Myth: Chickens attract pests and predators.

Fact: In point of fact, chickens are an excellent form of pest control. They will dine on cockroaches, tomato horn worms, aphids, grubs, and other unwanted insects. They will even eat small mice. And the presence of chickens does not attract predators any more than does the presence of other domestic animals such as rabbits and cats.

We hope this information is helpful in making up your mind on this issue. The City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening in the Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall (located at 25 Dorrance Street). To identify your ward representative and express your opinion, visit www.providenceri.com/CityCouncil/council-find.php. If you have questions about the ordinance or about urban chicken-keeping, you can contact Leo Pollock, education director for SCLT, at education@southsideclt.org or (401) 273-9419 ext. 28.

You can also learn more about backyard chicken farming by attending “Raising Urban Chickens,” a free workshop offered as part of the “Plant Providence: Growing Food in the City” series. The workshop will be held on Saturday, November 13th at 1 p.m. at City Farm, SCLT’s three-quarter-acre urban farm at W. Clifford and Dudley Streets. SCLT will also be offering another “Raising Urban Chickens” workshop and a hands-on “Build an Inexpensive Chicken Coop” workshop in 2011.

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday to enjoy sunshine, garden visits, and good food at the second annual Open Garden Day and Harvest Potluck! Over 100 people attended the event, which was put together by the Providence Community Gardens Network and Southside Community Land Trust and featured six local gardens spread out across the south side of the city.

The event was a chance to celebrate the harvest of Providence’s community gardens and get a peek inside several of them. The six gardens ranged from recently excavated lawns to gorgeous  green spaces that have been growing strong for 30 years! The tour was come-as-you-please, and several garden coordinators and members were on hand to answer questions about their work. Most people walked from garden to garden, but several came on wheels: new this year was the addition of a riding tour led by Recycle-a-Bike, a local non-profit.

Across the street from the garden at the corner of Peace and Plenty streets, the What Cheer? Brigade and AS220 Youth Studio’s ZuCrewe entertained members of the community from 3-5 p.m. with their brass band and free ice cream. The band eventually moved into the garden and continued the performance there! We are grateful to Community Works Rhode Island and the City of Providence Neighborhood Performing Arts series for sharing their summer celebration with us.

At 5 p.m., people gathered in Potters Avenue Park to eat homemade dishes, sip ginger beer and lemonade, and listen to Liberian songs and the tror sao (a traditional Cambodian instrument) under the shade of the trees. It was a great end to the day. Thanks again to everyone who participated and helped to make the event a success!

The food preservation workshop originally scheduled for today, Wednesday, August 25th, has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, September 1st. The time (6:00 p.m.) and location (the Southside Community Land Trust offices at 109 Somerset Street) will remain the same. We hope you can join us a week from today to learn how to can and freeze your summer harvest to enjoy all year long!

For the latest news about workshops and events related to growing food in the city, visit www.plantprovidence.org or call (401) 273-9419, ext. 27.

Are you a bicyclists interested in community gardens? Take a bicycle tour of six community gardens this Saturday, August 28th!

Recycle-a-Bike, a local non-profit, will be providing a guided bike tour of Open Garden Day. Interested cyclists can meet at The Steel Yard, 27 Sims Ave at 2:45 pm. Then stay at Potters Avenue Park and Garden for a Harvest Potluck!

The August 25th “Food Preservation” Workshop has been postponed.

We are working to reschedule the workshop, and will keep you informed as we decide on a new date.

Thank you for your patience! We’ll do our best to make sure you have guidance and support as you preserve your harvest.

Please visit www.plantprovidence.org or call (401) 273-9419 ext. 32 for more up-to-date information.

Please join the Providence Community Gardens Network and Southside Community Land Trust for the 2nd Annual Open Garden Day and Harvest Potluck!

From 3pm to 5pm, visit six community gardens in South Providence and the West End. Community Gardeners will be on hand to give tours, answer questions, and provide gardening tips.

From 5 to 7pm, come to Potters Avenue Park and Community Garden for a Celebration with food, music, and beautiful surroundings.

Contact Erika Rumbley at gardennetwork[at]southsideclt.org for more information.

Friends of SCLT – We need you next Tuesday, August 24th for our 20th Annual CITY FEST celebration at City Farm!

If you have some free time, please join us and volunteer for this fun event to celebrate the Children’s Garden Program. We need help with:

Set-up from 12pm – 2pm

Activity and Food Stations from 2pm – 5pm

Clean-up from 5pm – 7pm

Contact Chris, Childrens Garden Coordinator, at fiecoat[at]gmail.com, to sign up for a shift! Thank you!

SCLT’s 250+ community gardeners don’t just work hard to keep their individual plots beautiful and productive.  They also join together 3 times each year to improve the gardens as a whole. Each Spring, Summer, and Fall, gardeners work together on a Saturday to clean up trash and weeds, improve garden infastructures, and take care of any other tasks needed in the garden.

On Saturday, July 24th, each of SCLT’s community gardens hosted their summer workday. There were lots of projects to take care of at each garden. At Somerset Community Garden, gardeners made improvements on a shade structure and picnic table in the middle of the garden. Take a look at the photos below.

Many thanks goes to the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund for supporting the Somerset Community Garden Improvements.

Click here to see more photos below:

The Community Growers Collaborative – a business cooperative of 8 of SCLT’s Community Gardeners – is at it again! These talented food growers are pooling their harvest to sell fruits and veggies at the Broad Street Farmers’ Market.

Visit these gardeners every Saturday from 9am – 12pm on Broad Street and Laura Street, in front of the Algonquin House. You can buy a wide variety of delicious, hyper-local food – zucchini, squash blossoms, thai basil, lemongrass, carrots, bok choi, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, bitter melon, and more.

Community Growers’ Collaborative at Broad Street Farmers’ Market

Every Saturday from 9am – 12pm, Broad and Laura Street in South Providence

’til the end of October!

Each Summer, SCLT welcomes interns and volunteers of all ages to learn about growing food at City Farm.

This year, City Farm Steward Rich Pederson and City Farm Apprentice Sean O’Brien are working with two interns from local high schools, and two college interns from around the Northeast. Our high school interns, Princess and Eugenio are working about 10 hours per week. Princess is a student at Providence Career and Technical School in the West End, and Eugenio is a student at the Met School in South Providence.

Two college interns, Sondra and Patricia, are working about 25-30 hours per week, and both are getting school credit for their time at the farm.

All of City Farm’s interns are learning how to make healthy compost, methods for integrated pest management, and planting and harvesting.

Welcome to our class of 2010!

This summer, 200 gardeners from the Providence Community Garden Network pooled their money to make a bulk purchase of Fish Emulsion – lovingly referred to as “Fish Emo” – to use as organic fertilizer.

SCLT’s Community Garden Network Coordinator is delivering the bulk-sized Fish Emo containers to the gardens, where gardeners have agreed to share the fertilizer throughout the season. The gardeners were able to save money and educate one another on the benefits of this organic fertilizer.

Fish Emo is a superstar organic fertilizer used by many of SCLT’s farmers and gardeners. It is made from unused fish waste that has been tried to kill any living microorganisms. Fish Emo is full of the nutrients plants need to grow healthy and strong. It can be used a number of ways. Most commonly, it is diluted with water in a spray bottle and sprayed all over the plant, or it is diluted into a watering can and poured into the roots of plants.

You can purchase a bottle of Fish Emo from the City Farm stand at the Hope Street Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, or the Parade Street Farmers’ Market on Thursdays.

It’s been several weeks now since our latest community garden buildout, but we did want to send a welcome to over 40 families in South Providence who are now members of the Cadillac Drive Park Community Garden.

On May 22nd and 23rd, SCLT partnered with the Providence Parks and Recreation Department, Providence City Councilman Miguel Luna, McCauley Village and Community Works RI to build a new garden at Cadillac Drive Park. Dozens of new gardeners and community members worked together to build new raised beds and fill the beds with soil. Now that the garden is up and running, the gardeners are working together to plan garden days and a summer harvest celebration!

Many thanks to the Providence Parks and Recreation Department for providing the fencing, the water, and the soil for the raised beds.

Click MORE to look at more photos from the garden buildout in May.

Jamie and Renata have fled the coop!

This week ended with our AmeriCorps positions at Southside CLT, leaving behind some beautiful memories, incredible learning experiences, and all around awesome times. We’ve already had a farewell picnic and several teary goodbyes, but are stronger ladies as a result of our time spent here: going out into the world, our food advocacy knowledge and backgrounds honed, we’re ready to continue the work we’re leaving behind at Southside CLT.

Thank you AmeriCorps VISTA for providing us with the opportunity to work at such a great organization, and Southside Community Land Trust for enriching our lives in innumerable ways.

Love,

Jamie+Renata

Last winter, ’09 City Farm Apprentice Than Wood finished up the growing season with Rich Pederson and took time figuring out a life’s direction – and with incredible results. Choosing to invest in the west side’s land and community, Than negotiated with a lot owner on Westminster to start his own version of City Farm: Front Step Farm.

Front Step Farm works in conjunction with Than’s compost pick up service (Farm-in-a-Cart: to learn more, contact farminacart@riseup.net), utilizing the City Farm method of fixing soil by growing its own (compost!). Now part of the Little City Growers Co-op, Than sells his produce – …chard, boc choi, dragon tongue beans, basil… – at Thursday’s Parade Street market.

His accomplishments (and fellow City Farm volunteer, Noah Read) were also recently featured in the Projo.

Than (right) chats with a neighbor at the Little City Growers stand.

Conrgatulations Than! Keep it up. Be sure to stop by and say hello to Than and all the Little City Growers (which includes City Farm) from 3-7pm on Parade Street, in the Armory Park.

The Children’s Garden Program is in full swing and all eight of our local program participants have had the chance to experience the farm firsthand. So far we’ve done farm tours and had a ‘five senses’ scavenger hunt, learned about the parts of plants and different types of soil. We even got to enjoy the fruits of our labor with a Plant Parts Salad. Looking forward, we will be learning about the virtues compost and will be doing some planting of our own in the upcoming lessons.

Mixed Leaf Lettuce

Cherry Tomato

Husk Cherry

Cilantro

Scallion

Ginger Root

Nasturtium (or other edible flower)

The juice of a lemon

Apple Cider Vinegar

Salad Oil

Wash and chop lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cilantro. Dice scallion and ginger root and pull petals from nasturtiums and put all ingredients in large bowl. Juice lemon and add 1-2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar. Whisk in salad oil until dressing reaches desired consistency (usually 3-4 tbsp). Toss salad with dressing and season with salt and pepper for a bright, refreshing taste of summer. Can’t find husk cherries? Substitute raspberries, blueberries or your favorite summer fruit!

Thanks again to NBC-10 and Citizens Bank for honoring Southside Community Land Trust with its Champions in Action Award!

Read more about the announcement here, and take a look at the video below to learn more about SCLT and the Champions in Action award.

Thanks again to NBC-10 and Citizens Bank for honoring Southside Community Land Trust with its Champions in Action Award!

Read more about the announcement here, and take a look at the video below to learn more about SCLT and the Champions in Action award.

We’re THRILLED to announce that Southside Community Land Trust has been chosen for the Champions in Action Award. SCLT is being honored by Citizens Bank and NBC-10 for its work to encourage environmental stewardship and improve the natural environment.

Earlier today, SCLT’s Board, staff, program participants and supporters were joined by Ned Handy, Citizens Bank President, and Steve DelPico of NBC-10 for the Champions in Action award announcement at City Farm in South Providence. After a brief speaking program, the check was presented and everyone celebrated with refreshments, including the first of City Farm’s cherry tomatoes!

Citizens Bank and NBC-10 have teamed up to create the Champions in Action program – a unique initiative designed to reward non-profit organizations who help communities thrive. Each year, they choose four organizations for the Champions in Action award. SCLT is so excited to be a part of such an esteemed group! Many previous Champions in Action winners were in attendance at the announcement today.

Through this wonderful award, SCLT is grateful to recieve a check for $25,000 from the Citizens Bank Foundation, media coverage on NBC-10, and public relations and volunteer support from Citizens Bank and NBC-10.

Many, many thanks to Citizens Bank and NBC-10 for this honor. And thank you to all of the volunteers, supporters, and community partners who, for so many years, have made our work possible!

Look for news coverage of the announcement this evening on NBC-10. You’ll also find brochures profiling SCLT in every Citizens Bank branch in Rhode Island.

Click here to view more photos from the day!

Community Gardens Network Coordinator Erika Rumbley, Community Gardens Coordinator Liza Sutton, and Education Director Leo Pollock wait for the announcement.

Ned Handy, Citizens Bank President, makes the announcementas SCLT’s Executive Director Katherine Brown looks on!

The City Farm harvest crew takes a break to celebrate the award.

As part of an on-going series, we have the pleasure of receiving updates from Chris Fiecoat, this season’s coordinator for The Children’s Garden at City Farm.

The Children’s Garden is a 20 year old program that brings 200 elementary and middle school students to City Farm for place-based, summer-long gardening and education enrichment.

The summer heat is finally upon us as we await the arrival of this year’s participants in our Children’s Garden Program. In the weeks leading up to the program, I’ve been very lucky for the chance to learn about new farming methods and, more importantly, about the active community focused on urban agriculture in Providence.

Groups of students from local community organizations and schools will be joining us in the Children’s Garden as we explore the wonders of growing food, from harvest to plate. Some of our lessons will include: composting and soil health, how plants grow, how to identify insects and birds and ways to use the garden as a creative space. Together, we’ll learn to use our senses and ask curious questions about the natural world.

The Children’s Garden program culminates in our annual block party, City Fest, on August 24. Join us as we celebrate the end of our young gardeners’ growing season with music, games, food and fun.

Chris Fiecoat

Children’s Garden Coordinator ‘10