HPD Land Border

Border between HPD land and PVCG circa 2009

Old Fence

The fence that divided the HPD lot from PVCG. It took 5 of us to get the fence and bed frame that had been incorporated into a tree out.

Bricks

One of the pile of bricks that we eventually were able to make disappear. Most all gardens sit on destroyed buildings, often due to fires that were intentionally set by building owners. Hence, the ground settles and the bricks come up, and up and up.

Our New HPD Land

A lone picnic table on our newly licensed land. In just a few months, we would have a brand new chicken coop funded by the City Chicken Project and built by outside volunteers and garden members.

CityChicken1

Old Feathered Friends

Members of our old chicken flock that now resides at a farm on Long Island.

Pumpkin Patch

Setting up for our annual halloween event where kids get to pick their pumpkins and get them carved. This is EAST HARLEM.

Children's plot

With garden funds, we built an enclosure for school groups to plant. Gardeners took care of the plants in the summer and kids could come back in fall to see their flowers & harvest their veggies. We now use it to grow food to donate to Edible School Yard and Little Sisters of the Assumption.

EdibleSchoolyard

Food grown on HPD land donated food to Edible Schoolyard. Image Credit: Edible Schoolyard

Winter rye field

To amend (make healthy again) the soil, we first planted the pollinator plant field with winter rye, hairy vetch and crimson clover. This is year 1 circa 2013.

Mature Winter Rye

When the winter rye matures, it and the clover and hairy vetch are tilled into the soil to provide added nitrogen and other nutrients.

IMG_4861

Summer field

IMG_4862

Summer field Echinacea and Mountain Mint

IMG_4863

WinterRye

It's beautiful.

Perched Chicken

One of our lovely chicken ladies perched on a fence made from pruned tree limbs that protect the native pollinator plant field.

Secret Egg Stash

Sometimes the hen prefer to lay someplace other than the coop.

Echinacea

We started with a few plants of Echinacea and False Indigo...

Goldenrod

Digger wasp (Solia dubia) on Goldenrod. Thanks to Butterfly Project NYC for the plants.

New York Aster

New York Aster, another one of our native pollinator plant in our field. Thanks to Butterfly Project NYC for the plants.

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan another one of our native pollinator plant in our field. Thanks to Butterfly Project NYC for the plants.

Mourning Doves

An early 'mourning' gathering of mourning doves on the HPD land

Peace under Peach Tree

A quiet, peaceful place to sit under the peach tree.

Chickens & Ratty Cat

The chickens have their local friends.

Roses

Our corner roses. When the evening sun from the West shines on them, they glow. All of 118 street loves them. We'd hate to disappoint and not have them there anymore.

Spent (dead) Echinacea

Echinacea is a great flower for providing birds with seed throughout the winter and they make wonderful dried floral displays after the winter is gone.

Community Compost Bin

Our 3-bin community compost system. Built first in 2011 with grant funds from the Solid Waste Advisory Board and Citizens Committee. Residents from all over the neighborhood give us their food scraps and we divert about 4000 lbs a year from the land fill, promoting NYC's goal of Zero Waste by 2030.

Moth Night

Catching moths with a mercury vapor lamp in Pleasant Village Community Garden

20140816_155300