Contact: Ben Thacker FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
786_303_4131
1st Annual Grass is not Green Day Promotes Resourcefulness in Sustainable Urban Food Gardening
TROY Academy and City Year Miami join forces Saturday April 10th from 9am-3pm, for a day of working, learning and fun. Roughly 60 middle school volunteers will work side by side with TROY garden team students to cover the school’s lawn with natural mulch, eliminating lawn maintenance costs and creating ideal planting and growing conditions for dozens of species of edible and flowering plants.
Grass is not Green aims to educate the public about viable alternatives to ineffective and inefficient landscaping practices, while promoting healthy habits and communities through sustainable food production methods.
With a 12 month growing season in South Florida, regular tree pruning and chipping ensures a constant source of an otherwise costly resource: mulch. Applying mulch regularly to garden beds and around trees has been shown to improve the health and growth rate of plants while discouraging weed growth, reducing irrigation needs and building up quality soil.
By “slam dunking” the schoolyard with a ten inch layer of wood chips donated by County tree crews, TROY’s already productive garden will be able to expand tremendously. Mounds of mulch are ideal locations to plant warm weather ground cover crops like sweet potato, calabaza pumpkin, ginger, oregano and Malabar spinach, as well as tropical favorites like banana, papaya, sugarcane and pineapple.
In addition to shoveling and spreading mulch, volunteers will rotate through a series of workshops like juicing and smoothies, compost bin design and construction, rain barrel water catchments, saving and planting pineapple tops to grow pineapple plants, and cover crop seed setting. DJ Leo of GUDE Vibes will be on hand as well, providing fun family-oriented entertainment.
TROY Community Academy, located at 3300 NW 27th Avenue, is an alternative High School for at-risk youth in Miami’s inner city. The garden program, now in its second year, has seen success through horticulture therapy. Students who repeatedly fail in traditional classroom settings are often ideal candidates for the garden team, where they learn to respect and nurture living things, while providing their families with much needed nutrition.
For additional information please contact Ben Thacker at 786-303-4131, or visit us on the web at http://www.gardensoftroy.blogspot.com
This is amazing! City Year and Gardens of Troy join forces!
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