The PS 29 Children's Garden Is a Reality!

The much-anticipated PS 29 Garden Day on Saturday, March 29th was an enormous success! The PTA extends a gigantic
thank-you to all of the members of the Food & Farming Initiative - a true collective of parents, teachers and administrators - for coming together on a bright, sunny day to build four 4'x24' garden beds for the new PS 29 Children's Garden, which also now has official designation as a GreenThumb Garden! (The GreenThumb program provides materials, technical assistance and educational workshops for the volunteers who manage 600 community gardens around New York City.)

Special thanks go to:

• John Ameroso, Cornell University Cooperative Extension Associate, Emerging Initiatives, for designing the beds and leading the building process;
• Stephanie Manske for securing the lumber (below cost);
• Emmanuelle Chiche and her restaurant, Korhogo 126, on Union St., for the generous donation of the lumber;
• Anne Townsend for successfully writing the Independence Community Foundation grant application;
• Independence Community Foundation for the generous Community Quality of Life grant, which will go towards garden materials;
• PS 41 for tools and seeds;
• Sarah Poten for successfully pushing through our GreenThumb application;
• Kamco Supply Corp. for the discounted lumber;
• Amy Sirot for baking the fabulous muffins for the hungry Garden Day workers;
• PS 29 building manager Anthony Acevedo for being amazing every step of the way;
• Caroline Petersen and Alison Cohen for steering, from the parent side, the many facets of the project;
• Nancy Henry and Tina Reres, our science teachers, for not only an extraordinary job coordinating the many components that went into making the day a reality, but, most importantly, for their upcoming work with our kids in our brand-new garden!
• And, of course, principal Melanie Raneri Woods for having the vision and determination to create a school farm in Brooklyn!