Happy Earth Day! Celebrate spring and our natural world by getting involved with local food justice work at Cultivating Community. This is our busiest time of year, and we are getting into the swing of the growing season. This week, community garden registration is underway, we’re potting up seedlings at the farm, school gardens are waking up with spring planting, and our staff is working hand in hand with our partners to fight for our local food system and the rights and safety of immigrant and marginalized farmers.
Thank you to all of the donors who’ve given to our Spring fundraising campaign so far! Coming together and sharing food is an act of resistance and resilience. With so many essential programs getting cut, the work that we are doing together to build community is more important than ever, and your support makes it possible.
We have raised $11,150 toward our $40,000 goal. Please donate if you are able!
|
|
Common Share Community Garden Rebuild This Saturday, 4/26
|
|
|
Volunteers needed! As part of our work to manage and rebuild the City of Portland’s community gardens, we are hosting a raised bed building workshop at the Common Share Community Garden. The Common Share is a collectively farmed garden nestled within Portland’s Eastern Prom. Help us transform this in-ground garden with beautiful and functional raised beds before the growing season begins!
- This is a free drop-in event – come for as long as you’d like. Whether you are an experienced builder or just curious about gardening, this workshop led by Fresh Food Gardens is designed to be informative and enjoyable for everyone.
- Instruction from 10-11 am; bed building from 11 am – 2 pm.
- Free meal! Lunch, snacks, gloves, and water are provided.
- Get outside, meet your neighbors and fellow garden lovers, and learn about building and maintaining raised garden beds.
Let us know you are coming, sign up HERE.
While this project is being funded by a USDA National Resource Conservation Service grant, the funds remain frozen. A huge thank you to the City and their staff for stepping up to keep the project moving forward.
|
|
Help Us ‘Wake Up’ Boyd St. Urban Farm
|
|
|
Our spring Youth Leadership Intensive cohort invites you to help “wake up” the Boyd St. Urban Farm for the growing season! At this work party, your presence will give youth interns the chance to practice their leadership skills, work on garden projects, clean up neighborhood green spaces, and connect as a community. All of the produce grown by the youth is “open harvest”, and anyone from the neighborhood is welcome to pick, supporting local food security and fresh food access.
Join us Thursday, May 1st, from 4-6 pm at the Boyd St. Urban Farm at 2 Boyd St in Portland. Please RSVP here if you plan to attend!
We encourage you to bring your own work gloves to make yourself more comfortable, but we have plenty to share. We’ll provide dinner, snacks, water, and tools for everyone.
|
|
You’re Invited!
Celebrate Community Farms
|
|
|
Come celebrate Cultivating Community’s farms and gardens! Join us May 31st from 3-6 pm at Allagash Brewing Company’s Cellar space in Portland, ME.
- Free and family-friendly – all are welcome!
- Live music from Baba Ly and friend
- Raffle with prizes from local businesses and artists
- Snacks from our farms and gardens
- Friends who share a love of local, fresh food
- Allagash beverages, cash bar, and the exciting release of a special wild gleaned peach beer made with peaches from our very own Boyd Street Urban Farm!
|
|
|
Let’s gather and celebrate the small joys of the growing season and building connections through food.
For more than 15 years, Cultivating Community has supported immigrant families who farm through our Community Farms Program (formerly NASAP), by providing land access, culturally familiar seedlings, SNAP/WIC match, and technical support and training. Hundreds of farmers and thousands of neighbors have benefited from this grassroots work. Times are hard, and funding is uncertain, but we have deep roots and our commitment to community farming is stronger than ever. Come what may, this season our two farms will support more than 50 immigrant farming families growing over $500,000 worth of fresh, culturally familiar produce.
Thank you to our long-time partner and supporter, Allagash Brewing Company, for hosting, and to all of the volunteers and local businesses contributing their time and resources. See you there!
|
|
Budget Advocacy: School Partnership Success
|
|
|
This is the first year that we have reached all 3,000+ PPS elementary students with hands-on experiential learning! With the support from the Sewall Foundation, we were able to partner with 9 Portland Public Schools, piloting stipended school garden coordinators so that students have thriving school gardens and learning opportunities that spark curiosity and a love for the natural world.
With cuts made to STEM, educators like the Environmental Literacy Teachers and the school garden coordinators are filling gaps and giving students the opportunity to explore STEM, Wabanaki Studies, and other grade level curriculum in the outdoor classroom.
As Portland Public Schools finalizes a challenging 2025-26 budget, we are advocating for students to continue to get these opportunities. Want to support our students? Write a letter or send a testimony to our district leaders and share WHY outdoor experiences are fundamental to student success. To testify, you can attend the upcoming City Council meeting, encouraging them to pass the school budget (We’ll be there!) or email the School Board at schoolboard@portlandschools.org and City Councilors at council@portlandmaine.gov.
Want to read or learn more about the program and how it affects students’ weekly and daily learning? Check out this Maine DOE article about the success of the program at Lyseth Elementary School.
|
|
Partner Spotlight
Garbage to Gardens
|
|
This week, Portland’s Community Gardens got a compost donation from the awesome folks at Garbage to Gardens!
Founded in Portland in 2012, Garbage to Gardens is the city’s official composting partner. You can check out a list of neighborhood bins on Office and Sustainability‘s website. Food scraps collected from curbside composting participants, food waste drop-off sites, and local businesses and institutions, including Portland schools, are brought to local area farms and facilities for composting. Thanks friends!
|
|
|
Our work is possible thanks to the support of our community. Please contribute if you are able. Volunteer time and in-kind donations are always welcome. Thank you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
