Elizabeth
Author: corinnefiretto
Cranford
Cherry Tree at Hanson Park
Cherry Tree with watering donut at Hanson Park.
Cranford
Eggplants Are Growing in Our ADA Planter
The plants are doing well in our planter at Hanson Park
New Providence
Students Are Back in School and Busy Checking in on Our Climate-resilient Garden! 🌿
One of the first stops was our young apple tree to see if it produced any fruit this year. Unfortunately, there aren’t any apples on the branches this season—but gardening is a lesson in patience, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a great harvest next year! 🍏✨
On the bright side, our mint is thriving! The garden smells absolutely wonderful right now, and we have an abundance of fresh mint ready to enjoy. It’s wonderful to see the students reconnecting with nature and learning how resilient a garden can be. 🌿 vibrant & hopeful!
Elizabeth
Growing Through Service: August in the Garden
August was a busy month at the Zimmerman Urban Community Garden! We welcomed new volunteers, continued harvesting fresh produce for the JFS food pantry, and wrapped up our summer activities with Backyard Camp.
One of the highlights of the month was welcoming a group of about 20 Diller Teen Fellows visiting from Israel. They joined our interns in the garden for a morning of service, lending a hand with garden maintenance and helping us care for our growing space.
We also welcomed community volunteers who helped with weeding, harvesting, and keeping the garden looking its best. August marked the final week of Backyard Camp as well, bringing our summer activities with the campers to a close after weeks of learning, exploring, and getting their hands in the garden.
Between volunteers, interns, campers, and plenty of summer harvesting, August was another month that showed just how many hands can help a garden and a community grow.
Elizabeth
Our July was packed with new activities, volunteers, and harvests! Various community volunteers have been coming in to help with weeding and harvesting, accomplishing tons of work that helped greatly contribute to the appearance of the garden. This July, we also had a new group, the ‘Backyard Camp’, visiting the garden each week. Our interns organized various interactive and educational activities to complete with the young campers, including a huge ladybug population being released to help naturally fight off some aphids invading our pepper plants, recycled wooden flowerpot painting, and a tour of the food pantry as they helped us harvest many fruits and vegetables each week. This month, we also had one of the largest harvests the garden has ever had: bell peppers, beets, basil, spring onions, poblano peppers, cucumbers, cayenne peppers, eggplant, a variety of lettuce, and tons of cherry tomato, allowing recipients of the food pantry to enjoy tons of fresh produce!
The ‘Diller Teen Fellowship’ also came in July, marking one of our most productive days. The group of teenagers worked alongside our interns to complete a significant amount of work in the garden including re-organizing our hose shed, restoring our picnic area, weeding the entire front of the garden, and harvesting. They were a lovely group to work with, and our interns cannot emphasize enough how wonderful they were. The final harvest of the month included beets, carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, Redleaf & Oakleaf lettuce, eggplant, basil, cherry tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers.
Elizabeth
Growing Through Service: August in the Garden
August was a busy month at the Zimmerman Urban Community Garden! We welcomed new volunteers, continued harvesting fresh produce for the JFS food pantry, and wrapped up our summer activities with Backyard Camp.
One of the highlights of the month was welcoming a group of about 20 Diller Teen Fellows visiting from Israel. They joined our interns in the garden for a morning of service, lending a hand with garden maintenance and helping us care for our growing space.
We also welcomed community volunteers who helped with weeding, harvesting, and keeping the garden looking its best. August marked the final week of Backyard Camp as well, bringing our summer activities with the campers to a close after weeks of learning, exploring, and getting their hands in the garden.
Between volunteers, interns, campers, and plenty of summer harvesting, August was another month that showed just how many hands can help a garden and a community grow.
Clark
Harvest is coming!
| The garden here at the Clark Preschool is in full bloom! We are beginning to harvest tomatoes and peppers! We are so excited for our preschools to see the progress once they return from summer break! |
Elizabeth
Ben’s Blooms
Out last stop for the 2026 tree plantings is Joseph Battin Annex! Awarded with their very first apple tree! We are very excited to see how much the students already love their new tree! The last that we were there these wonderful students named their Apple tree: Applelicious! Thank you so much for giving us a tour of your beautiful garden and we wish you the best of luck on Applelicious 😊
Elizabeth
Trees: Nature’s Gift
This school has a wonderful area to garden and grow trees in! This year they were awarded with a Cherry tree! The students were eager to learn all about how to take care of their new tree! We are very excited to see what the future holds for them! The last that we were there these wonderful students named their Cherry tree: Cherry Sprinkles! We wish Cherry Sprinkles the best of luck 😊
