Groundwork Milwaukee has been working hard! April was a very eventful month. We held Health Hub kick-off events, led garden cluster and adopt-a-river clean-ups and grew 638 pounds of food! Scroll down to learn more. Watch for opportunities to get involved! Click the tiles below for program-specific updates or just scroll down to read it all.
health hubs
garden network
Kilbourn garden
maglio farm
shared harvest
urban waters
youth green literacy
HEALTH HUBS
Last month we held Health Hub kick-off events in participating gardens. Kick-offs took place at Scooter’s Garden of Hope, Thurston Woods, Peace Place and Hillside Garden. We were thrilled to have to the opportunity to work with residents to prepare these gardens for the upcoming growing season. We were also proud to facilitate a cooking class in partnership with HeartLove Place at We Got This garden with Chef Martin of Unsalted Life as part of our Health Hub programming. Look for more programming like this in coming months. Check out these great pics we snapped in the Health Hubs!
Scooter’s Garden of Hope
Thurston Woods
Peace Place
Uptown Crossing
We Got This
Health Hub Planting & Cooking Event - May 21st
Join us at Scooters Garden of Hope for an afternoon of planting and cooking fun! We’ll be planting vegetables, herbs, and flowers in community garden beds between 3:00pm and 4:30pm. There’ll be a cooking demonstration from Chef Marvin between 4:30pm-6:00pm. Pre-register to guarantee a plate for the cooking demonstration by calling 414-763-9947 ext. 1009.
No experience required. Come prepared to work outside. We look forward to seeing you there!
Scooters Garden of Hope
2462 N. Buffum Street
May 21st, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Want to participate in Health Hub programming?
If you live near one of our Community Garden Health Hubs and would like to participate in healthy outdoor programming, fill out this form to let us know what types of activities you’d like to see in the gardens. We would love to see you there!
GARDEN NETWORK
Garden Welcome Signs
Over the past couple months, volunteers have created 45 welcome signs for our Milwaukee Grows Garden Network. This project has been a hit with volunteers and garden leaders alike. This month, we began installing them in Groundwork Gardens. Cherry Hill Garden was among the first gardens to receive its new welcome sings. While we were there, we helped prepare the garden for the growing season.
Neighborhood Cluster Clean-Up
In April, we were able to lead our first Neighborhood Cluster Clean-Up. A group of volunteers joined us at four of our gardens in the Midtown and Walnut Hill neighborhoods. We filled 15 bags of debris and got them picked up by the City of Milwaukee’s Project Clean & Green. Thank you volunteers!
More New Gardens!
We have more new gardens to introduce this month! Riverview Community Garden joined the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network and kicked-off their growing season with a work day. We are also very excited to announce that Walnut Way Conservation Corps has joined the network. We look forward to working together toward a greener more equitable Milwaukee!
Milwaukee Seed Library
A Seed library program will be launching soon in Milwaukee. The Seed Library program will be similar to the Little Free Library "take a book, leave a book" model. Gardens are free to start their own seed library, which they can register with the Milwaukee Seed Library, so community members can find seed library locations. A website will be launching soon, but for more information or to register a seed library, please contact milwaukeeseedlibrary@gmail.com
Compost Crusader Discount!
We are excited about a new collaboration with Compost Crusaders! Compost Crusaders is offering discounted compost to gardens or partners affiliated with Groundwork Milwaukee. Compost will be discounted from $35 per yard to $30 per yard for orders of 3 yards or more.
Garden Network Volunteer Opportunities
We’ll be hosting volunteer work days at the below times on a weekly basis. View our sign-up page for specific times and locations.
Walnut Way Campus Lift Up 2021
Come support our newest Garden Network members, Walnut Way Conservation Corps this Thursday, May 13th, 9am-1pm at 2240 N. 17th St. We’ll be building rows of soil, planting seeds and cleaning up the block. Sign up here.
KILBOURN GARDEN
All beds at Kilbourn Garden have been reserved for the 2021 season. Thank you to all our gardeners for registering. We look forward to seeing the fruits and vegetables of your labor!
Maglio Farm
We’re so excited for summer, we wet our plants! April was filled with some incredible volunteer days. We’ll continue to plant all May long. Come join us!
April Harvest
Art at the Maglio Farm
We’re excited to host family-focused events at the garden this May! We’re launching our raised bed youth education garden at the farm. If you have a youth group that’s interested in visiting the farm, email urbanfarm@riverwestfoodpantry.org and we’ll coordinate with you to offer hands-on urban agriculture education for youth.
Workshop: Addressing Insects & Disease in your Home Garden
Join us June 4th for our monthly gardening workshop at the Maglio farm. We’ll cover ecologically conscious ways to address insects and disease in your home garden.
Volunteer Hours
Planting has already begun at the Maglio Farm! Starting this April 6th, we’re officially launching our growing season hours. We’re out at the farm four days a week and need all the help we can get! Our harvest help shift is great for folks who want to support our work, but can’t commit to a full workday. It’s also the most family-friendly activity on the farm!
shared harvest
We’re looking for Fresh Food Connect couriers! Are you interested in picking up donated produce from your fellow Milwaukeeans? We’d ask you to collect once a week and bring the produce to us during one of our specified times. Groundwork then delivers the produce to local food pantries. Learn more on our Shared Harvest page. If your interested, email samson@groundworkmke.org or sing up for an upcoming orientation.
Urban Waters
Adopt-a-River Annual Spring Clean-Up
Groundwork Milwaukee has partnered with Milwaukee Riverkeeper to adopt a section of Lincoln Creek between Hopkins and Sherman. In April, we lead the annual clean-up kickoff! We filled 15 contractor bags with trash, and removed street signs, tires and a car bumper from the creek. A huge thank you to our tremendous volunteers who brought energy and joy to the event. We appreciate you! Thank you to all the community members who stopped to let us know the space was looking great. We look forward to our continuing stewardship of this tributary with Milwaukee Riverkeeper!
Please plan to join in the fun at our next clean-up on June 26th, 9:00am-11:30am (sign-up details yet to be published). Individuals and groups are welcome. Bring everyone you know! Let’s keep our waterways clean.
Friends of Lakeshore State Park Prairie Planting Extravaganza!
The Friends of Lakeshore State Park are happy to see all visitors using the park this spring already! The Friends and donors have provided funding to assist with restoration of Lakeshore’s second largest prairie. Known by DNR staff as Fox Prairie. This area is on the Lake Michigan shoreline and just south of the marina. DNR staff have been busy prepping the site and laying native prairie seed. 1,052 plant plugs have been ordered for the planting. We need your help getting them in the ground, and are looking for 15 volunteers to work alongside the Friends and Groundwork Milwaukee crew for each shift. Sign up for one or multiple plantings!
We will be meeting at Lakeshore’s marina. 3-hr street parking is available near the north entrance on Harbor St. and Clybourn St., or at the south entrance near the Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse. Masks are required when social distancing is not possible, and we will be breaking up into small groups. Participants are encouraged to bring their own hand sanitizer, work gloves and spade or hori hori knife. A limited amount of loaner supplies will be available.
Saturday, May 22nd: 11am-1pm
Saturday, May 22nd: 1pm-3pm
Friday, May 21st: 11am-1pm
Friday, May 21st: 1pm-3pm
If you’re interested in volunteering at one of these plantings, sign up here!
Youth Green Literacy
Our Craig Montessori Green Literacy students have been operating a Mother’s Day Plant Sale internally at the school. They’re selling the plants they grew themselves! Students prepared promotional materials and spread the word at the school. They also priced each plant based on the effort it took to grow, its size, health and decoration. Plants are being sold at the school to staff and parents. Everyone is having a lot of fun with this event!
Today was our last day with our students at Craig. We had a celebration to recognize the students’ hard work. Part of the celebration was a meme-making exercise. Students made memes based on plant-related prompts. This is the one that made us laugh the hardest. They turned Elena into a meme!
