Monthly Archives: June 2014

July Job Fairs and Career Events

Don’t let the heat get you down! Here’s a listing of job fairs and career-related events  happening in New York City throughout the month of July:

Upcoming Fairs/Workshops/Events*:

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Free Farm Vegetables!

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Kingsborough students, get free vegetables today! Visit KCC Urban Farm between 11am-2pm  (while supplies last) to get bunches of kale, fennel, collards, lettuce and so much more! If you can’t make it today, we’ll be back on the farm on July 10th distributing more produce. Mark your calendars!

Note: this distribution is open to KCC students, only. If you’re not currently a student, sign up for one of our summer classes or check in for future Continuing Education classes that are held year round.

 

Food Service Upgrade

Whether it’s for you or your employees, Food Service Upgrade will prepare you for the National Servsafe and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Food Protection Certification Exams. This class is part of Northeast Resiliency Consortium programming that trains workers who play critical roles during times of crisis. Call us today to sign up!

Food-Service-Upgrade-Flyer

 

Apply for a Class Bed at KCC Urban Farm

If you’re planning on bringing your class to KCC Urban Farm more than once throughout the semester, consider applying for a class bed!

Class beds are 8’x4′ raised beds at KCC Urban Farm that will be available for research and classes that go beyond what we already offer. Download or fill out the application form below for faculty, staff, and students interested in applying for space. We are looking forward to reading proposals from a variety of disciplines that will help us expand the reach of the Farm in creative and thoughtful ways. 

Applications for class beds for Spring and Summer 2015 semesters are due February 13, 2015. Contact Mara at mara.gittleman@kbcc.cuny.edu with any questions.

Need some ideas? Here are some that have been done in the past!

  • A culinary professor brought his students out nearly every week to watch how the changing season affected the availability of produce. They harvested herbs and vegetables to cook in class.
  • A biology professor brought her students to the class bed in groups of 2-3 for hands-on practice after class
  • A BEH Link class between English and Sociology used a class bed to reinforce ideas learned about Food Systems in class: seeds and seed-saving, access to healthy food, seasonality and local vs. conventional food systems, etc.

Here are some more ideas:

  • Design and implement an experiment! Can we grow more nutritious vegetables than what we can find in supermarkets? How does the biodiversity found on the farm compare to that found around campus? What’s the most effective organic fertilizer? What are some best practices for pest management?
  • Bring your class every other week to plant seeds and carry them through to harvest. While they’re on the farm,  they can observe seasonal changes to harvest, flora, and fauna, or host small group discussions about our food system. At the end of the semester, the students can harvest what they’ve grown and share a meal!

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Life on KCC Urban Farm

At KCC Urban Farm, we farm using organic growing practices. In organic agricultural systems, diversity is the key to a farm’s balanced ecosystem—and key to healthy, nutrient-dense yields. In place of using synthetic pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers, we rely on a variety of soil microbes, insects, plants, animals, weather conditions and farmers to keep our farm growing.

The images in this collection serve to reveal the wide array of activities and life on KCC Urban Farm. From images of microbes to photos of sowing seeds, harvesting crops, turning compost piles, insect eggs and more, these images represent the diversity and cycles of life that define organic agriculture.

Five varieties of greens 

Volunteers preparing seed bed 

KCC Urban Farm beets 

Spring at KCC Urban Farm 

Volunteer clears bed for new planting 

Rainbow of cherry tomatoes 

Urban Farming class 

March early seed planting  

Volunteers compost food scraps 

Harvest time 

KCC Urban Farm cucumbers 

KCC CUlinary Arts class spinach harvest 

KCC Urban Farm crew members 

Morning harvest 

KCC Urban Farm carrots 

Flowers to attract beneficial inscets 

Harlequin bugs 

KCC Urban Farm early summer 

Jalapeno peppers for bottled hot sauce 

Crew member sowing seeds 

Preparing salad greens for KCC Food Pantry donation 

KCC Urban Farm Okra 

Sowing seeds 

KCC Urban Farm workshop 

Young seedling 

Spring on the farm 

Cycle of life 

KCC Urban Farm tomatillos 

Radish bunches in early fall 

KCC Urban Farm kale and collards 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

KCC Urban Farm microbial life 

Flexible Work Arrangements

A report from New York City Comptroller, Scott Stringer, talks about the growing need for, and use of, flexible work arrangements (FWAs) that create alternatives to the traditional 9-to-5 work schedule. Families and Flexibility: Reshaping the Workplace for the 21st Century explains how changing workforce demographics (women who both work and take on the majority of childcare responsibilities, low-wage workers who have less control over their schedules, single-parent workers, workers who care for elderly/disabled family members, etc.) have highlighted the increased need of FWAs. In addition to providing examples of successful work-day restructuring at corporate offices (Aetna saved $78 million in real estate costs in 2012 by introducing FWA), the report also highlights unintended benefits including increased employee satisfaction and morale, and a reduction in overall employee stress/fatigue. You can read the full report here:

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Spend the Summer at KCC Urban Farm!

Would you like to spend the summer at KCC Urban Farm? Sign up for one of our continuing education classes today:

KCC Urban Farm Summer '14 classes

Check out our Continuing Education on the Farm page regularly updated list of available courses at KCC Urban Farm.

To register for any of these classes, call 718.368.5050 of click here.

NYC’s Post-Disaster Housing

As the Northeast Resiliency Consortium begins its roll-out, we’ve made it a point to stay on top of infrastructure and systems developed by NYC to help local residents in the wake of future natural disasters. Earlier this year the New York City Office of Emergency Management unveiled the NYC’s post-disaster housing prototype. The structure includes 3 units (2 3-bedroom units and 1 1-bedroom unit) that each have a kitchen, living space, bathroom, storage space and even a balcony! What’s great is that these units have been created so that they can be assembled on site, allowing residents to stay in their communities and not rebuild too quickly (especially helpful in densely urban areas like NYC when development processes change in the wake of natural disasters). A unit has been constructed in Brooklyn Heights and will be on public display within the next few weeks. Take a look at this timelapse of a one being constructed: