Boswyck Farms » Boswyck Farms

CDSC Workshop with The Brooklyn Food Coalition

sara — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:39:00 +0000

On November 19, 2011, Boswyck Farms lead a Soda Bottle Workshop and “Intro to Hydroponics” lecture at the Child Development Support Corporation (CDSC) in collaboration with the Brooklyn Food Coalition.

Our very own Lee, Alex M., and Chloe were thrilled to have a full house of community members from the Brooklyn Food Coalition at the CDSC, who were interested in learning the basic principles of hydroponics, and were able to get hands on experience creating their very own mini-hydroponic set up via soda bottle.

The workshop was just a part of Boswyck Farm’s commitment to sharing hydroponics with the community through teaching and example.

The range of community members who attended was truly impressive – from children, to teachers, to food justice activists, to senior citizens and even community members from other neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill. We were so happy to see such diversity – reinforcing our belief that hydroponics can be learned and enjoyed by just about anyone.

Boswyck Farm’s work with the CDSC began in February of 2011, when the partnership was formed to provide fresh produce for the food pantry, and give children a unique hands-on learning experience with hydroponics.

Nancy from the Brooklyn Food Coalition provided everyone with a wonderful lunch, including cauliflower-cheddar soup and homemade cornbread. Yum!!

Check out the rest of the photos from the event here!

Boswyck Farms Partners with Fountain House to Build a Grow Room

Joanna — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:06:10 +0000

November 10, 2010
By Joanna

It’s been quite a blast building the grow room at Fountain House, a NYC non-profit dedicated to helping adults with mental illnesses. We’re hoping that this room will supply most–if not all–the greens they need for their cafeteria. The size of the room we have to work in is 165 square feet. To date Lee, our volunteer carpenter Chris and some of the folks at Fountain House have built 4 flood & drain grow beds for greens. They’ve been seeded and we’re looking forward to the first sprouting!

All in all 16 tiered flood & drain systems will be built with a total of 128 square feet of growing space.

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

We’re on Lunch NYC!

Joanna — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:27:16 +0000

October 7, 2010
By Joanna

We’ve been featured on Lunch NYC’s premier episode.

Our segment starts around the 6 minute mark.

This past weekend event: Taste the West Village

Joanna — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:23:05 +0000

September 20, 2010
By Joanna

Yesterday P.S. 41 hosted Taste the West Village. The event was a fundraiser for their green rooftop project. We took part in their “Living Classroom.”

It was a gorgeous day and lots of people came out to eat, drink and be merry. Chloë and I were absolutely in love with a corn dish from Market Table. Lots of other local restaurants, farms and bands joined in on the festivities. Free booze was on hand but we, ever the professionals, didn’t partake. What we did was talk about our various systems. The soda bottle workshop was a little different. Rather than using our usual 2-liter guys, Vicky, the events organizer, arranged for us use bottles from Ito En Tea, one of the sponsors.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and chatted with us. We’ll be at Maker Faire this coming weekend!

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

Cosecha de rábano

Joanna — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:16:30 +0000

August 23, 2010

By Joanna

Who doesn’t love a good radish? (Actually I don’t but that’s a whole other story.) We’ve had our first radish harvest! Some are sweet, some pungent and some right in the middle. Planted a little over a month ago, they grew up to be quite healthy and happy in our flood & drain system. Lee decided the radishes are so good that he’s done another round of planting. These new ones are slated to be part of our hydroponic systems demonstrations and will make their premiere Sunday, September 12, 2010 at Farm City Fair.

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

The Friday Farm Report, a few days late

Joanna — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:45:49 +0000

August 19, 2010

By Joanna

This report is a little late in coming. The beginning of August found us waist-deep in workshops, not to mention planting, harvesting an incredible amount of Fine Verde basil and experimenting with a bucket flood & drain system.

Thanks to Growing Leaders, who are partnered with BK Farmyards this summer, for being the first group to participate in the soda bottle workshop in our space. Up to now we’ve always held our workshops off-site. You showed us that our magical, expandable kitchen table isn’t just for dining. It transforms nicely into a workbench. We’d also like to give a big thanks to Heather Butts for bringing several young adults from her program, H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths.

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

For more information on our educational program contact joanna@boswyckfarms.org.

Thanks for another fabulous workshop

Joanna — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:16:52 +0000

August 2, 2010

By Joanna

We just wanted to say many thanks to everyone who attended this past Sunday’s workshop, Getting Started With Hydroponics. We had people from all walks of life including teachers, architects and even a lactation specialist. Our participants asked great questions and were pros at building drip systems.

If you were at the workshop (or attended earlier ones), please take pictures of the plants growing in your systems and send them to us!

Farm report

Joanna — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:52:41 +0000

July 24, 2010

By Joanna

We’ve had a very busy week at the farm. The heat wave a few weeks back took its toll on our rooftop installation but thanks to Lee’s quick thinking and ability to lug pounds of ice up some steep stairs, everything is back on track. I’m loving the sunflowers which are now enormous. Our cumbers are kicking right along and the Fine Verde basil is busting up out of the NFT system. We also had our first lady bug sighting. Win!

New to the farm this week are our carrots which have just sprouted. Our pea shoots are back. There was a sad turn of events for the peas when it hit 103 degrees on the roof so we’re happy to see them again.

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

Our habanero peppers are going to be famous

Joanna — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:21:55 +0000

July 20, 2010
by Joanna

We met husband and wife team Jason Hait and Ayelet Prizant a few weeks back at the Crown Heights Health Fair. Jason is the owner and Executive Chef at The Pour Gourmet. They were selling some of their amazingly hot sauces, marinades and mustards. Lee and Jason got to talking about peppers and viola! he offered to take the plethora of Habaneros we recently grew off our hands. Jason will be concocting something most delicious with them. We’re desperate for a taste and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s whiped it up. In the meantime, don’t miss out on other Pour Gourmet treats. I’ve got my eye on the Beer-B-Q sauce. I’m betting it’s fabulous on veggie burgers.

[[Show as slideshow] click on an image to watch in the dark using arrow keys]

Swing by for a visit

Joanna — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:25:03 +0000

Summer is here and we know you’re looking for a fun morning or afternoon trip. We’re open for visits year-round but why not schedule one now? You can see our indoor R&D lab and we’ll also take you to our rooftop installation at the Bushwick Starr. Email lee@boswyckfarms.org to set up a time. Hope to see you soon!