How is it possible that October is already ending?! I guess time flies when you’re working hard. Last month we continued work on the Healing Spaces Initiative, prepared gardens for winter, and harvested more than 1,000 lbs. of fresh produce. We were also emboldened by the good energy that our neighbors brought to our first series of Garden Markets. We’re definitely doing more of those! Last but not least, we welcomed a new Executive Director to our team. Welcome, Young! Read more about what we’ve been up to below.
message from the executive director
health hubs
garden network
Kilbourn garden
maglio farm
shared harvest
urban waters
Green Futures
ground corps
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Greetings, Groundwork Milwaukee supporters! Today marks my sixth week as the new Executive Director here at Groundwork Milwaukee. The priority for nonprofit Executive Directors is fundraising, which is simply convincing people to give money to their agency or cause. We're told to develop something called an "elevator speech" in case we find ourselves in an elevator with Bill Gates or Elon Musk and have 15 seconds to request a donation.
My first week on the job, I was having a hard time coming up with an elevator speech for Groundwork Milwaukee, but then I remembered that old BASF commercial from the '80s and '90s that went, "We don't make the products you buy, we make them better." (Those of you too young to know the BASF ads - you can see them on YouTube.)
Similarly, Groundwork doesn't actually run the 80+ urban gardens in the Milwaukee Grows network - we leave that up to the residents as they meet their neighborhood's unique needs with their talents and leadership styles ... but I'd like to think we do make them better. We help garden leaders navigate the paperwork that comes with growing on city-owned vacant lots. We help with mini-grants, insurance, water access, training, and family-friendly programming. In doing so, we're helping people develop friendships and relationships that make our city less of a city. All of us are social beings looking for connection, and I can't think of a better place to get to know someone than in a community garden, sharing seeds and exchanging recipes. Thank you for your interest in what we do!
Wishing for peace and health for you and your loved ones,
Young Kim
HEALTH HUBS
Garden Markets
In October, as part of our Fall 2021 Health Hubs programming, Groundwork Milwaukee ran a series of three garden markets in which free produce and other nonperishable food items were available to the community. Two garden markets took place at our Health Hub Gardens, Peace Place and Scooters Garden of Hope, while the third took place at the St. Francis of Assisi Church. During the garden markets, visitors could also enjoy a preservation workshop, cooking demonstrations, cider pressing, and art activities for the kids. In total, over 150 people attended our garden markets across the three dates. Thank you to all of the attendees and partners who made the garden markets possible!
Scooters Garden Market
St. Francis Assisi Garden Market
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
Historic Walnut Hill
The Groundwork Milwaukee team supported the Historic Walnut Hill Community Garden at 3118 W. Brown Street to prepare their garden for winter. Together with gardeners, we collected debris and trash, supported harvesting greens and peppers, and winterized garden beds. Shout out to Angela Pruitt, the garden leader of Historic Walnut Hill Community Garden, for dedicating her time and energy to caring for this valuable community space!
Bumblebee Haven
Bumblebee Haven Community Garden held their end of year social gathering and invited Groundwork staff, Elena and Samson to join! We’ll be publishing a Community Spotlight on this amazing garden soon. Check it out to learn more about what Bumblebee Haven gardeners are doing to inspire their neighbors to take action around vacant lots in their neighborhood.
Office Hours
Office Hours! Huge shout out to the volunteers who have assisted in office hours this fall! We truly cannot do the work in the field without these behind the scenes activities. If you’re new to Groundwork Milwaukee, but interested in getting involved, this is a great weekly opportunity to familiarize yourself with staff and to support with fun painting, organizing and cleaning projects! A big thank you to Marquette students, Maya and Mac, who have been consistent supporters of these projects. Thanks, also, to the group of Marquette students who supported us during their fall break. Check out our new and improved annex space, all ready for winter indoor projects like bench construction, little library building and of course, painting! We couldn’t have done this without our volunteers.
Volunteer
We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opportunities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.
KILBOURN GARDEN
Activities at Kilbourn Community Garden are wrapping up for the season. The remainder of the year will be focused on infrastructure repair in preparation for the 2022 gardening season. To keep up to date on news at Kilbourn for 2022, please periodically visit the Kilbourn Garden page on our website.
Volunteer
There will be end of season volunteer days at Kilbourn. They should be set soon. Circle back to us if you’re interested in helping prepare the garden for the off-season.
Maglio Farm
September had another huge harvest at the Maglio Farm. More than 1,100 lbs. of fresh produce was harvested and donated to local food pantries. Now, we’re gearing up for winter at the farm! The plastic endwalls have been reinstalled sealing the inside of the hoop houses creating their own little micro climates. The hoop houses can get 20-30 degrees warmer than the outside air when the sun is out. It’s always summer at the Maglio Farm.
Volunteer
If you’re interested in supporting the Maglio Farm, follow the link below to see available work opportunities. We’re planning to grow all winter long, but we’ll need your help. This work depends heavily on volunteers. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy toward healthy eating and food sovereignty in Milwaukee!
shared harvest
Fruit Gleaning
Thanks to all the volunteers who supported this year’s Shared Harvest fruit picking outings. With your help, we rescued 1,144 lbs. of local fruit! There are big plans in store for gleaning next season. Stay tuned over the winter to learn more and get involved!
Register a Fruit Tree
Did you know we’ll harvest your fruit as well as your veggies! Register a fruit tree with us today and we’ll organize a crew of volunteers to come save those cherries, apples and pears from going to waste. We’ll rescue your fruit and bring it to a local food pantry. Register your tree at the link below.
Urban Waters
Water School
Over the past month, some of Groundwork’s programs staff have participated in Milwaukee Water Commons’ Water School. Water School provides local organizations opportunities to experience Milwaukee’s waterways through recreation (boat rides, art walks, etc.) and then share their experiences in the form of projects, events or collaborative projects. Our team attended an art walk at one of the largest green spaces in the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network, KRIC Peoples Park, and took a tour of the Community Sailing Center. Thank you Milwaukee Water Commons for providing these valuable water-centric experiences!
GREEN FUTURES
New Horizons
Groundwork Milwaukee’s partnership with the New Horizons School in Shorewood is in full swing for the fall! In October, the New Horizons students assisted with work and learned about composting and seed saving at the Hilltop Community Garden. In addition, they learned about the back-end work to achieve what we do in the field by assisting us with various tasks at our office such as putting together little libraries and signs as well as organizing equipment and tools.
Lloyd Barbee Montessori
Through the Big Green grant, many schools are investing in outdoor learning experiences to foster students’ wellbeing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lloyd Barbee Montessori called on us to support their school’s garden. We worked with them to build four raised beds. Unique stamped tiles were added to the beds giving the garden a unique sense of place. There were plenty of weeds, but we took care of them with help from the staff and students. All activities involved student participation. The students were particularly interested in using the drill and learning techniques to pull out stubborn weeds!
GROUND CORPS
This month, Ground Corps has kept up with bioswale maintenance along Sherman Boulevard and continued progress on the Healing Spaces Initiative. Pathways for most of the Healing Spaces have already been excavated with gravel installed. We’re near completion at Tranquility on the Beerline Trail near Townsend and Holton. All Peoples Community Garden is also nearing completion. Along with all of this work, we set aside time to explore careers in green infrastructure. Members of our team attended the One Water Career Fair hosted by Employ Milwaukee. At the fair, Ground Corps members explored their options for continuing to a career in green jobs once the Groundwork season has ended.
