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Gov­er­nors Island Adds Sus­tain­able Farm at Pic­nic Point

Jun 25, 2009 3:24 pm
clip_image001Gov­er­nors Island has added a sus­tain­able farm at Pic­nic Point! Added Val­ue has plant­ed a three acre farm on the new­ly cre­at­ed green space. The plants include toma­toes, squash, egg­plant, sun­flow­ers, and much more. The farm uses a drip water­ing sys­tem which uses a frac­tion of the water that sprin­klers use but still keeps the plants hap­py and healthy. Added Val­ue is a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion that pro­motes sus­tain­able devel­op­ment by nur­tur­ing a new gen­er­a­tion of young lead­ers. They work towards this goal by cre­at­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for the youth of South Brook­lyn to expand their knowl­edge base, devel­op new skills and pos­i­tive­ly engage with their com­mu­ni­ty through the oper­a­tion of a social­ly respon­si­ble urban farm­ing enter­prise. We are so hap­py that they have crossed the But­ter­milk to begin farm­ing on Gov­er­nors Island! Added Val­ue staff and vol­un­teers will pro­vide Gov­er­nors Island vis­i­tors with edu­ca­tion­al pro­gram­ming, teach­ing vis­i­tors about sus­tain­able farm­ing. The farm will also be open for ​“farm days” which will allow local children’s groups and camps to vis­it the farm and learn about how it works. In addi­tion, dur­ing the har­vest months, Added Val­ue will oper­ate a farm stand, sell­ing pro­duce grown on Gov­er­nors Island. Pro­duce grown will also be sold to Water Taxi Beach, Gov­er­nors Island’s newest ten­ant. Water Taxi Beach will use the greens and pro­duce in their food con­ces­sion. Ian Mar­vy, direc­tor and co-founder of Added Val­ue, said that they could prob­a­bly expect around $25,000 could be gen­er­at­ed from the farm this year, and in a few years down the line, the farm could steipend 25 stu­dents $1,400 each for their work.
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