Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It's My Park Day! POSTPONED!!!


Join our volunteers and friends at Lentol Garden from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 25, 2008 for It's My Park Day!

Shucks! Due to rain and other nasty weather predictions, It's My Park Day! at Lentol Garden has been postponed! The rain date in November 8, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In the mean time, feast your eyes on the beautiful flyers designed by Jackie G., our intrepid Friends of Lentol Garden volunteer designer/gardener/multitasking busy-bee. Thanks Jackie!

Becoming a Member of Lentol Garden

Unless you become a member of Friends of Lentol Garden, the volunteer organization charged with managing the garden, access to the space is limited to when the garden's gates are open. Sadly, New York City Parks and Recreation requires that a volunteer from Friends of Lentol to be present for the public-at-large to gain entrance into this wonderful neighborhood treasure.

Fortunately, it's easy and fun to join Friends of Lentol Garden! Simply shoot an email to: lentolgarden@gmail.com to set up a meeting with one of our current volunteers. From there, we will take you through a few simple steps that will result in your full-fledged membership.

Though the details are still being worked out within our membership committee, it looks like the process will resemble this:
1. An annual $50 membership fee to pay for operating expenses.
2. A monthly time commitment on Sundays from 1-4 p.m., March 1 through November 15, to keep the gates open.
3. Participation in our bi-annual park clean-up event, coinciding with "It's My Park Day," held city-wide during the spring and fall.

What will this get you?
1. A key to the gate! With a key, you can come and enjoy the park at your own leisure.
2. Gardening privileges! A reserved spot on our horticulture team gives you the opportunity to play in the dirt, propose new projects and beautify the space.
3. An invitation to participate in the collective, crowd-sourced administration process of the garden through our GoogleGroups account.
4. Invitations to member events like cocktail parties, pot-lucks and happy hours.
5. The oppurtunity to become part of Lentol Garden's oversight team.

If you would like to simply play in the dirt without actually joining the garden, it's as simple as showing up any Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to volunteer your labor. A member will provide you tools and directions and you'll be on your way!

We are always exploring new ways of making Lentol Garden an important part of the community. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or requests, feel free to leave a comment on the blog or email us diectly! Thanks!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Photos and more!

Hello curious spectators, today we have some spankin' new photos to show off along with our update.

First, the business: Last Sunday a few folks got together and made some wonderful, hand-painted signs to inform neighbors and community members that Lentol Garden is active, thriving and SEEKING VOLUNTEERS!!!! That's right, we're officially starting phase one of our ambitious plan to breath new life into the garden. This first phase, which we will be implementing over the winter months while the garden hibernates, consists of four parts in no particular order:

a. recruiting and organizing volunteers
b. researching and planning a vision for the garden
c. coordinating and facilitating fund raising activities
d. researching and networking community resources



Now the fun stuff:
I walked around the garden yesterday with my camera and made a few photos.

I know, this one is a little too creepy to start with, but there is something hauntingly beautiful about his photo. This poor house fly picked the florets of a broccoli plant to live out his final days, and there he remains, lost to eternity.

Click on the photo to see all the gallery from October 3, 2008!