Tag Archives: Food

KCC Urban Farm Produce Distribution

KCC Students! Did you know you can get FREE and FRESH farm produce grown and harvested on campus from KCC Urban Farm? Not only will you get bunches of produce, but you’ll also be able to sample yummy recipes of what you can make with what you take. Distributions happen every Thursday beginning at 11:30 and will continue until everything is gone.

Locations alternate between KCC’s Single Stop (V-231) and KCC Urban Farm (between T8 and T2). This week’s distribution is at Single Stop. Stop by at 11:30, bring your KCC ID, and get ready for fresh, delicious, and healthy food!

NRC Grad on Master Chef!

Do you watch the widely popular cooking competiting, Master Chef? If you’re watching this season, take special note of Shelly Flash. In 2013 she enrolled in our very own Northeast Resiliency Consortium under the Culinary Arts training program. Shelly completed the program and, with 9 banked college credits, immediately enrolled in KCC’s Culinary Arts program.

From a recent KCC press release, Chef Thomas Smyth, Director of KCC’s Culinary Arts program, noted that Shelly was “extremely eager to get started learning. She has a wonderfully effervescent spirit and a unique, undeveloped talent for cooking, which serves her well as a MasterChef contestant. We’re proud of her, and are rooting for her all the way.”

If you’re interested in building or refining your culinary experience, check out KCC’s NRC training program. Participants receive:

Full suite of employment readiness services
Job placement assistance and job retention services
College enrollment assistance
The opportunity to bank college credits
Personal supportive services

We have a few Application Sessions remaining for this summer’s cohort. Sign up to find out more about our exciting program!

Cookshop at Kingsborough

Cookshop at KCC is a collaboration between KCC’s Single Stop and KCC Urban Farm. Intended for students and at least one family member, participants will:

Learn how to cook a nutritional meal with cheap and accessible fresh produce
Learn about budgeting for eating healthy
Leave with all the groceries needed to prepare that day’s recipe

Classes are Monday evenings from 5:00-6:30 and run from June 22nd-July 27th. If you are interested in signing up, contact Hattie Elmore from KCC’s Single Stop either at hattie.elmore@kbcc.cuny.edu or 718.368.5411.

KCC Urban Farm’s New Logo

We are so pleased to introduce KCC Urban Farm’s new logo:

Designed by Farm student aide, Tirrell Alford, the logo features KCC’s iconic MAC building (Marine Aquatic Center…did you know KCC has an aquarium on campus?) and what some might say is the Farm’s most famous produce: carrots. We couldn’t be more pleased!

Science on the Farm

We haven’t spoken much about science on the farm, but we’ve had a number of projects going over the last few years. Last season, KCC Urban Farm ran a small experiment to see how adding minerals to our soil could boost plant nutrition. This year, we plan to expand upon that experiment, so stay tuned for internship opportunities!

The problem:
Soil is made out of minerals (50%), air (23%), water (23%), and organic matter (4%). Because KCC Urban Farm is lucky enough to receive donations of compost from the Department of Sanitation, however, our soil has 30% organic matter! What does this mean for us? For growing our high quality vegetables, it means we have to test our soil for the nutrients plants need to grow.

The solution:
Based on the soil test results, we can add mineral amendments based on what we’re missing.

The experiment:

Student research assistant Adriana Valerio measuring brix in kale leaves

We want to know if our mineral amendments are leading to healthier crops. In 2014, we ran a small experiment on our tomato plants: we amended only half of the plants for each variety of tomato. After a couple of weeks, we measured calcium and brix levels in new and old leaves for all of the tomato plants. We did the same thing a couple of months later. Calcium is important for plant growth – plant cells use it for structure. It’s also a good indicator of nutrient uptake. Brix is a measure of plant sugars – if brix is high, we know our plants have everything they need to thrive.

Continue reading →

KCC Urban Farm in the Community

Want to meet the farmers of KCC Urban Farm? Farm staff will be at two events in March:

March 21, 2015: Making Brooklyn Bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

March 28, 2015: NYCHA Goes Green (location to be announced)

Come talk with Farm Education Manager, Mara Gittleman, and Farm Manager, Silvia Torres, about what goes on at the farm from the students who help the farm run, continuing education classes, produce distributions and culinary arts partnerships. We’ve got it all!

Culinary Arts with NRC

Interested in stepping into the culinary world but not sure where it’ll take you? We’ve got a program for you. Check out what Culinary Arts training with NRC can give you:

If you’re interested in learning more, fill out our quick online survey to see if you qualify; choose an information session date and come meet the NRC team! We’ll help you start your career.

Also, if culinary arts isn’t of interest to you, we also have a great Community Health Worker program. Check us out!

KCC Urban Farm is Hiring!

Are you a full time KCC student? Do you want to work at KCC Urban Farm? Now’s the time to get connected with us. Help with harvesting, propagation, composting, demonstrations and general site maintenance. Read the flyer below for more information. (If you can’t access the flyer, contact Farm Manager Silvia Torres for more info: silvia.torres@kbcc.cuny.edu)

2015 Classes on the Farm

Come grow vegetables with us! This winter and spring KCC Urban Farm will be offering classes to get you on your way to a great 2015 growing season. Register online or at 718-368-5050. For a regularly updated listing of classes at KCC Urban Farm, check our website.

WINTER 2015
Planting Seeds
NHB39, $40
Tues., March 17, 5:30-8:30pm AND Tues., March 31, 5:30-8:30pm

Learn the ins and outs of growing edible crops from seed. This two-day
course will include seed science, pest management, equipment, and
maintenance to successfully carry your crops through the process of
germination. Participants will take home their own seedlings to kick-start their gardens!

SPRING 2015 (registration opens in March)
Intro to Organic Vegetable Gardening
Tuesdays, 5:30-8:30pm, April 28 – June 16.
$100 + $15 materials fee

This course covers all of the basics of urban gardening from soil to seed to table. Learn how to grow edible crops organically, start plants from seed, manage pests, and more at KCC Urban Farm. Students will gain skills in soil conditioning, crop planning, composting, planting, and harvesting to get on their way to producing their own fresh herbs, greens, fruits, and vegetables. This course also covers finding land for gardening in NYC and building a garden from scratch.

Planting Seeds
NHB39, $40 + $5 materials fee
Weds., April 29, 5:30-8:30pm AND Weds., May 13, 5:30-8:30pm

Student Success Story: Maya Stansberry at KCC Urban Farm

If you’ve read any of our recent posts about KCC Urban Farm, you’ve probably seen photos of one of our most dedicated and energetic student aides: Maya Stansberry. Before the holidays I sat down with Maya to talk about her work on the farm and her future plans in urban agriculture.

What is your interest in urban farming and where did it come from?

Growing up, gardening was a pastime that my mother and relatives eagerly shared, and something that I learned to appreciate as well as enjoy. While my family has no professional/educational background with gardening, we always had gardens or small, indoor greenhouses going on somewhere. As a result, and I feel like a hippie saying this, I love being outside and connecting with the earth. There’s something exciting about putting something in the earth and getting something else back.

I wouldn’t say that my interest in urban farming comes from growing up in Baltimore, but more comes from growing up in a family with a southern/country heritage where gardening/farming incidentally runs in the family (my fraternal grandfather, who grew up on a farm, has his own vegetable garden which I helped tend to in my early teens; my maternal grandmother has a vegetable garden at her church; my mom encouraged my siblings and I to attempt to grow things, etc.).