Spring Planting with Union Hill Garden Project

Help ring in the planting season! We'll be adding some apple trees to our community orchard, planting tulips, onions, and garlic, and mulching some of the garden beds. Garden tools & gloves, water, and free snacks provided. Please bring your own water bottle and wear sturdy shoes. No gardening knowledge necessary - come and join Union Hill kids & residents, RVA community members, and VCU students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the fun!

So far we have planted 2 apricot trees, 2 cherry trees, and fig, peach, plum, and pear trees, as well as 15 blueberry bushes at this location. Two more apple trees are at 22ND and Venable. Come and check out our beautiful gardens - the bulbs and fruit trees are just starting to bloom!

Planting dates so far - meet at 871 N 22ND ST:

TODAY!

Saturday, February 23

1-4pm

Saturday, March 2

1-4pm

Share Some Sunshine Every Sunday in Union Hill

The Union Hill Garden Project is going strong in it's 3rd year. We are planting we've planted a community orchard with apricot, peach, pear, plum, and fig trees. Next to come are apple and cherry trees! What we need most right now is your help in the garden! Bring your kids, bring your friends, bring you organization or community service group for a fun day in the fresh air with a shovel in your hand and the sun on your back.

No gardening skills are necessary! We'll teach you everything you need to know, and provide gloves, tools, water and snacks. Bring a water bottle if you have one, wear sturdy shoes (runners are great), and bring $5 if you want to share Rachel's homemade pizza with fresh ingredients from her garden for lunch.

When: 11am-4pm
October 7th
October 14th
October 21st
November 4th

Where: Meet at Rachel's house, 871 N 22ND St., Richmond, VA, 23223

One Amazing Week of Workshops and Events!

Will you be here for Spring Break? Check out this amazing line-up of events! All *events qualify for service learning hours.


Tomorrow, March 10, 10:30am-1:30pm
Volunteer Seed Starting Party*
http://www.facebook.com/events/259192114163144/

Tomorrow, March 10, 2:00pm-4:30pm
Union Hill Garden Project*
http://www.facebook.com/events/366208203410582/

March 15, 10:30am-1:30pm
Self-Watering Planter Workshop
http://www.facebook.com/events/386595511351781/

March 17, 1pm-5pm
Irish Green Potluck
http://www.facebook.com/events/366108970086473/

March 18, 10:30-1:30pm
Drip Irrigation and Hay Bale Gardening Workshop
http://www.facebook.com/events/283968331673751/

March 18, 2:00pm-4:30pm
Union Hill Garden Project*
http://www.facebook.com/events/259042017512111/

Join our Planting Family this Saturday

Wear study shoes and bring a water bottle if you have one. We have garden tools and gloves to share - no gardening experience required! Free snacks and water provided, free pedometer or trowel with flower bulbs for all volunteers. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA!

Union Hill Garden Planting

Saturday, November 5th

2-4pm

Meet at N 20th and O St.

Directions

Saturdays are Perfect for Planting in Union Hill

All students who attend will have the choice of taking home a garden trowel with flowers to plant, or a pedometer, so you can beautify your home and stay healthy!

Time	Sunday, October 23 · 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location	Corner of O St. and N 20TH St
More Info	Join us and the local residents and kids this week planting flowers to beautify RVA! Directions to the event: http://green-unity.blogspot.com/2011/03/which-way-to-neighborhood-clean-up.html Bring study shoes, and a water bottle if you have them. We will have gloves and garden tools to share. Free snacks and water provided. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA!

Green Unity Wants to Help You Learn Worm Composting

Last chance - register by 5pm tomorrow (Thursday) to attend this workshop:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ6BQ83

Tricycle Gardens will also teach us general composting skills, and will demonstrate their own self-watering planter design, so you can make your own. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn new skills and support our Union Hill Community Garden Project!

Time	Monday, October 17 · 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Location	Courtend Ballroom B, Larrick Center, MCV Campus 900 Turpin St. Richmond, VA
More Info	To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ6BQ83 Learn how to compost with worms with Tricycle Gardens and Green Unity. Worm composting is great for small spaces indoors, as it gives off little to no odor. Perfect for dorm and apartment dwellers with no access to a yard. When combined with recycling, worm composting can reduce the amount of household waste going to the landfill by up to 80%. Participants will take home their own worm composting kit, so they can try it at home! All proceeds from this event go to support the Union Hill Community Garden Project. Admission is guaranteed for the first 20 students to register. Limited additional space is available for VCU faculty & staff, as well as Richmond community members. Workshop cost: $20 per person Student discounted cost: $15 per person Payment can be made at the event through cash or check

Plant Up Some Happiness in Union Hill

All students who attend will have the choice of taking home a garden trowel with flowers to plant, or a pedometer, so you can beautify your home and stay healthy!

Time	Saturday, October 15 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Location	Corner of O St. & N 20TH St Richmond, VA
More Info	Join us and the local residents and kids this week planting flowers to beautify RVA! Directions to the event: http://green-unity.blogspot.com/2011/03/which-way-to-neighborhood-clean-up.html Bring study shoes, gloves, a small shovel (trowel) & a large shovel, hoe, or pick ax if you have them. We will have extra garden tools to share. Free snacks & water provided. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA!

More photos from the last planting event:

Come Garden with us in Union Hill!

We're still on for today - see you at 2pm at O & N 20th


Union Hill Community Garden Project

Time	Saturday, September 24 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Location	Meet at corner of O St. and N 20th St. Richmond, Virginia
More Info	Join us and the local residents and kids this week planting flowers to beautify RVA, and vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, lettuce) too! Bring study shoes, gloves, a small shovel (trowel) & a large shovel, hoe, or pick ax if you have them. We will have extra garden tools to share. Free snacks & water provided. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA! Thanks to all of our loyal gardeners for their help every week, and to Tricycle Gardens, Stacey Moulds, Mechanicsville Home Depot, Central Richmond Lowes, and VCU Office of Sustainability for their generous donations to help support this project! Also thanks to Cynthia Oliver for the use of her land to plant the apple trees!

Next Union Hill Community Garden Planting Wednesday, September 7th

Update: This event has been rescheduled for tomorrow because of rain.

Time	Thursday, September 8 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location	Corner of O St. & N 22ND St Richmond, VA Map & Directions
More Info	Join us and the local residents and kids this week planting flowers to beautify RVA, and hopefully some cool crops (broccoli, cabbage, lettuce) too! We're meeting at the old spot on the corner of O St. & N 22ND St. Bring study shoes, gloves, a small shovel (trowel) & a large shovel, hoe, or pick ax if you have them. We will have extra garden tools to share. Free snacks & water provided. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA! Thanks to all of our loyal gardeners for their help every week, and to Tricycle Gardens, Stacey Moulds, Mechanicsville Home Depot, Central Richmond Lowes, and VCU Office of Sustainability for their generous donations to help support this project! Also thanks to Cynthia Oliver for the use of her land to plant the apple trees!

Our Apple Trees Survived Hurrican Irene!

I survived Irene!

Many thanks to all of our great volunteers that helped us plant 2 new community apple trees and spruce up a tree well at 22ND and Venable. I went to check on them yesterday morning and they were a little loose in the ground, but I tamped them back down and they should be good as new! I hope that our neighbors in Union Hill and VCU escaped without harm as well. Electricity is up at N 22ND St., but our cable and internet is currently down.

Our next planting event on September 6th, 6pm-8pm, back at our usual meeting spot on the corner of O St. and N 20th. This will be our last weekday evening session for a while - with the cooling temperatures we'll be able to move our future events back to Saturdays, 2-4pm. I'm looking forward to seeing you all at our upcoming events! In the meantime, enjoy these new pictures from our latest planting efforts. The rest of the pictures can be found on Picasa.

Union Hill Community Garden Planting August 18th

Time	Thursday, August 18 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location	New meeting spot - Corner of 22ND & Venable Richmond, VA
More Info	Join us and the local residents and kids this week planting apple & apricot trees and flowers. We are meeting at a different location this week - corner of 22ND and Venable - at the site where we'll be planting the trees. Bring study shoes, gloves, a small shovel (trowel) & a large shovel or hoe if you have them. We will have extra garden tools to share. Free snacks & water provided. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA! Thanks to all of our loyal gardeners for their help every week, and to Tricycle Gardens, Stacey Moulds, Mechanicsville Home Depot, and Central Richmond Lowes for their generous donations to help support this project! Also thanks to Cynthia Oliver for the use of her land to plant the trees!

Union Hill Community Garden Planting

Our last event planting flower bulbs and vegetables was a huge success, so we're continuing our efforts for at least the next two Mondays, June 20 & 27, 5-7:30pm to plant some more veggies and flowers! A regular planting schedule for the rest of the summer will be announced shortly. We'll be meeting at the corner of 20th & O St. again, so come on out - no gardening experience necessary. Wear sturdy shoes & bring your own water bottle, gloves, watering can, trowel, large shovel, hoe, and pick ax if you have them (this soil's tough!). There will be a limited amount of extra gloves and garden tools for those without them. We will have free snacks & water to share with everyone for helping to beautify RVA!

If you aren't able to make it and would still like to help by making a donation or lending items to this ongoing project, we are in need of the following items:

• Garden top soil, complete with fertilizer, peat, and all the other goodies
• Coffee grounds - you can pick them up for free at your local Starbucks and arrange to drop them off for us (email mcv.greenunity@gmail.com)
• Garden gloves (kid and adult sizes)
• Garden tools (trowels, shovels, hoes, pick axes, etc.)
• Watering cans (both adult and kid sized) to give to local residents to help them keep their new gardens watered
• Bark mulch, straw, or hay
• Plant stakes (4-8' length)
• Wheel barrows & garden carts
• Garden twine (jute or other biodegradable variety)
• Easy to grow garden seeds (e.g. marigolds, peas, beans, radishes, etc.)
• Items to help the kids make signs for their gardens: permanent colored markers, plastic corrugated "for sale" or other signs that are blank on one side, sign stakes

Union Hill Flower Bulb Planting

Join us and the local residents and kids in planting flower bulbs in Union Hill.

When: Monday, June 13th, 5-7pm
Where: Meet at corner of O St. & 20th St.
Bring: Study shoes, gloves, a small shovel (trowel) & a large shovel or hoe if you have them. We will have a limited number of extra garden tools to share.

Free snacks & water provided. If you have any extra plants you aren't using that are drought tolerant & low maintenance, feel free to bring them to plant! This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA!