Category: Gardening

We are excited to be expanding Tiny Fields in Cleveland this year to up to 15 spots! The Tiny Fields Project distributes boulevard vegetable garden kits to Cleveland Neighborhood residents on a pay-what-you-can model (up to $30). Each kit includes enough seeds and seedlings to plant a boulevard or alley with a variety of vegetables, a guide to vegetable gardening, and help to till and install new beds. Families participating then follow along using social media and learn throughout the season. It’s a great opportunity to learn to garden, beautify your neighborhood, and grow your own food!

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The Cleveland Neighborhood Garden, located on the corner of Vincent and Lowry Avenues, serves as a gathering space for Cleveland residents and neighbors to grow nutritious food and connect with one another. The garden is run by a group of volunteers who meet monthly to plan activities and improvements and serve as liaisons with the community. Any and everyone is welcome to join and help us grow – not just gardeners.

We have Garden Work Days scheduled for Saturday, April 9 and Saturday, April 23 from 10 am – 2 pm. We will be spending our time preparing the neighborhood garden for our 3rd growing season. If you plan on attending, wear sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty. We will be laying down paths and soil, shaping garden beds and doing general construction. If you are able, please bring a dish to share for our potluck style lunch on these days. RSVP and questions can be directed to eric@clevelandneighborhood.org or via phone (612) 217-2652.

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We have some great things that have been happening in the garden this year, and look forward to what 2016 has in store! Here’s a brief update:

• Workshops: This fall, we hosted a few workshops on a variety of topics, such as fermentation and growing mushrooms. We plan to continue with these next year, and hope to have Cleveland residents teach some of the things they know as it relates to food, nutrition, cooking, and all things in between!
• Garden Task Force: We are always looking for new members to join our garden task force. This is an opportunity for residents to have a voice and guide our mission and purpose. Sign-up for Garden Updates by here.
• Step Up: We plan on hiring a couple of Step Up interns for the 2016 growing and harvest season. They will a HUGE help in planting, watering, composting, and helping our veggies grow.
• Conservation Corps: The MN Pollution Control Agency has teamed up with the Conservation Corps to offer a great opportunity for our GreenCorps member to host a youth group in early summer. The application process has just begun, and if our site is chosen, they will make some infrastructure improvements to the garden.
• SeedMoney grant: The SeedMoney grant closed with $150 donated! Thank you to all of those who made a pledge! We will wait for further notice if we are among those that receive an additional amount to help us buy supplies.
• What’s the buzz: Bees are coming to the garden in 2016 thanks to Cleveland resident Frank! Someone representing CNA may soon be knocking on your door to tell you a little bit more about why bees and to get your approval.
• Door-to-Door: Also, going door-to-door will soon be a small group of people led by our GreenCorps member and Outreach specialist from Project Sweetie Pie. They are going to be spreading the word about the garden and other local food opportunities and asking you to get involved. If you want to help door knock, let us know!

We have big plans for the Cleveland Community Garden in 2016 and you can help us get there. Our Garden Task Force is raising funds for a SeedMoney Challenge Grant to cover the cost of tools for our community garden.  We only have 30 days to raise $400, and if we succeed, SeedMoney will match it! Here’s where you can donate and here is some more info about the garden project:

The Cleveland Neighborhood Community Garden opened in spring 2015 with the purpose of being a catalyst for economic development and community engagement in an area of the Twin Cities that has been recognized as a food desert.  We strive to achieve this goal by collaborating with local businesses, educational institutions, and youth organizations to offer hands-on education to help food insecure youth and families to better understand and provide access to food and nutrition and gain skills that empower them to be positive contributors to a healthier neighborhood.

Anyone is welcome to plant, cultivate, and harvest fresh, organic produce from the garden at no cost.  We only ask that they volunteer their time in the garden to help with maintenance and attend educational workshops when they are able.  Workshop curriculum has included composting, recycling, gardening basics, and health/nutrition.  We have a number of goals as we move into 2016.  We will continue growing food for residents residing in North Minneapolis and hope to create a surplus in which we are able to donate to local food shelves.  We have committed to be one of the principle sites for a newly formed composting cooperative.  This cooperative aims to educate local business in organics recycling and to provide employment opportunities.  Our garden is also a member of a group of local community gardens that is working in collaboration to obtain a green house.  The green house will be a site utilized for gardening and economic education, and projects to grow produce and create products in order to partner with local businesses and restaurants to create buy back produce.

Join us tonight, Tuesday, October 13, to make your very own kimchi inspired fermentation. This workshop is part of our Gardening Night Series that takes place every Tuesday evening. We will meet in the Community Garden (Vincent & Lowry) at 5 pm to pick our greens for our jars and then walk over to CNA’s office (@ Lucy Laney) to chop, dice, and ferment! Workshop ends around 7 pm. We will provide all the materials; however, we encourage you to bring any left over vegetables that you may have from your own garden if you have an overabundance, or are looking to ferment something you have grown at home. For more info, you can contact our GreenCorps Member,Eric Wilson at eric@clevelandneighborhood.org.

RSVP Today!

We are pleased to let you know about this year’s Rain garden Project, a partnership between Cleveland Neighborhood Association and Metro Blooms. Metro Blooms is a non-profit organization that has worked for 30 years to strengthen communities by promoting environmentally sound landscaping that beautifies neighborhoods and protects our environment. Up to fifteen rain gardens will be installed in the Cleveland Neighborhood. The Raingarden Project will also involve workshops to help educate residential and commercial property owners on how to help keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean by simple changes in yard care choices. The workshops are designed to move participants quickly from an overview of healthy yard care practices to a completed raingarden design for their property with one-on-one assistance from Metro Blooms landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners. The Cleveland Neighborhood specific workshop is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th from 1pm-4pm and is FREE. Complete workshop details are outlined below.

 Register now. Some locations fill up fast. The $10-15 workshops will be offered from March through June:

Whether you are an experienced gardener or have never tried gardening before, these eco-friendly gardening workshops will help you learn how to:

• Capture rainwater on site with raingardens.
• Redirect your downspouts and install a rain barrel.
• Plan your own garden with one-on-one assistance from landscape designers and Hennepin County Master Gardeners.
• Use beautiful native plants in your garden landscape.
• Adopt healthy yard care practices for you and for our clean waters.

Participants are also eligible for a low-cost onsite consultation and raingarden design rendering from a landscape design professional.

To register fill out the form below or call 612.588.1155