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

Learn to Garden with Green Unity & MCV-C Green Affairs Team

Learning soil amendment & mulching techniques

Basic Gardening Workshop
10a-4p, Sat, Sept 23rd
Everyone Welcome!
Cost: Free!

Want to learn more about gardening? Anything from composting to weed and pest control, this day is for you! All are welcome to attend this free workshop that will give you the basic skills you need for starting a garden. Learn about building soil quality, prepping ground for planting, planting, care of plants, integrated planting, pest management techniques and more. We will plant cold weather crops such as mustard & collard greens, Broccoli, Lettuce, Garlic, Onions, and Celery.

Meet us out at the VCU Community Garden for a day of fun gardening. We'll start at the site (900 Turpin St right off of the corner of Leigh and 9th St.) and spend a while there and then head on our way up to Rachel's house in Church Hill (871 N 22ND ST) for more at her lovely backyard garden.

Wear sturdy, closed-toed shoes and clothes you don't mind getting dirty. There will be water available, however, please try to bring your own reusable bottle to lower our contribution to the landfill. Please bring $5 for pizza if you are staying for lunch.

Other upcoming workshops include:

10a-1p, Sat, Sept 29th - Rain Barrel Workshop - $60, participants take home rain barrel

1:30pm, Sat, Sept 29th - Vermiculture & Yard Composting Workshop - $30, participants take home worm compost bin. $20 if participants bring their own rubber made-type bin (non-transparent only)

10a-1p, Sat, Oct 6th - Self-Watering Planter Workshop - $30, participants take home their own self-watering planter.

Union Hill Garden Project Returns!

Help low income families plant their own vegetable and flower gardens to provide nutritious low-cost food and to beautify the neighborhood. Learn basic gardening skills and meet members of a community that we serve at VCU Medical Center. We are planting fruit trees and flowers in a 'community orchard', maintaining existing garden spaces, and planting family vegetable and flower gardens.


This activity qualifies for service learning hours, and may qualify for LINK hours. Please bring $5 if you want to share the Pizzas for lunch.

The next Garden Event is scheduled for:

Saturday, September 15th
10am-2pm
Meet at 871 N 22ND St

Volunteers with our pear tree and a large amount of trash we picked up!

Special thank you to all of wonderful volunteers, the neighborhood residents and kids that help out, and Barnes and Noble for providing generous funds to support this project.

Student Reps for Needed for Green Affairs Team

MCV Campus Green Affairs Team

Want to make your residence, unit, department, program, school greener? We are looking for green affairs representatives from all schools and programs to get involved with sustainability educational outreach and community service projects. Our first meeting is:

5:30pm, Wednesday, September 5th

MCV-C SGA Office

3rd Floor, Hunton Student Center

We will discuss some ways you can get involved:

·         Learn how to get recycling in your area of the school

·         Participate/organize clean-ups in the nearby neighborhood of Union Hill/Church Hill

·         Help low-income households in Union Hill plant their own vegetable and flower gardens

·         Help organize electronics recycling events on MCV Campus

·         Help maintain and grow crops for food banks at the new VCU Community Garden

·         Participate/organize Eco-Tables with hospital staff from the VCUHS Eco-Sustainability Group

·         Serve on the VCU Sustainability Committee

·         Help organize a Green Lunch with a guest speaker of your choice on a topic related to health & environment

·         Work with the VCUHS Eco-Sustainability group on educational outreach helping the general public learn about the links between health and envrionment

·         Have your own green ideas? We can help you make it a reality!

Get Your Garden on In Union Hill

Come and garden in Union Hill with us! In the morning we'll start at 10:30am in Rachel's large garden where she'll teach you basic organic gardening skills. We'll plant sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and learn organic pest & weed control techniques, water conserving techniques and more!

After a quick break for lunch (bring $5 to chip in for pizza) we'll work on the Union Hill Community Gardens to re-mulch and care for the apple trees and blueberry bushes we planted last October. We'll also plant flowers and Spring bulbs to help attract pollinator insects.

Coming from Monroe Park Campus? Meet at 10am at the Cabell Library bus stop to bus or bike over together.

Sell Your Textbooks at Barnes & Noble & Support Green Unity

Green Unity will be collecting electronics and other hard to recycle items at the Barnes & Noble textbook buyback event next week:

10am-4pm
Tuesday, May 8th - Thursday, May 10th
Shafer Dining Hall Location

We'll also be selling our fantastic Green Unity Water Bottles, Rain Barrels, Green Unity T-shirts (now in grey, black, and new chocolate brown color), as well as unveiling our new worm composting bins and larger rolling compost bins to help raise funds for our community outreach efforts. We will also be giving away free trees, compliments of the Arbor Day Foundation and VCU Goes Green.

Barnes and Noble is make this a green event by doing away with almost all of their paper advertising, and supporting the use of reusable bags by giving away this fantastic tote. Not only that, but for every textbook you sell back to them, they will donate one vegetable plant to support our Union Hill Community Garden Project, where we help plant vegetable and flower gardens for low-income families, so that they can have access to cheap, organic, nutritious food.

We hope you'll also join us this Thursday, 10:30am-1:30pm for another Union Hill Community Garden Project. We'll be meeting at 871 N 22ND ST to maintain our wonderful apple trees we planted last year, and hopefully plant some new trees and flowers to beautify the neighborhood and provide much-needed shade in this high pedestrian traffic neighborhood.

Trees & Veggies for Union Hill this Week!

Take a break from studying and get some fresh air and volunteer hours in beautiful Union Hill. Help us plant vegetable and flower gardens for low-income families, help us maintain the existing apple tree and blueberry gardens, and help us plant more trees in Union Hill (generously donated by Arbor Day Foundation).

No gardening experience necessary. We provide the tools, and gloves. Wear sturdy shoes and bring your own hat, sunscreen, and water bottle if you have one. All volunteers will receive flower bulbs or a small tree to take home for free.

Meet at Rachel's place - 871 N 22ND ST
1pm-3:30pm, Wednesday, May 2nd
10:30am-1pm, Thursday, May 3rd

Meet 1/2 hour early at the Cabell Library bookstore campus connector bus stop to bus or bike over together.

Thanks to MCV & VCU Alumni Associations, MCV-C SGA, Stranges Nursery, Yardworks, VCU Facilities Management,, and VCU Barnes and Noble Bookstores - without your help this project would not be possible!