View Events and Volunteer Opportunities Calendar

Upcoming Events

NYC Parks Winter Jam 2012
Saturday, February 4 from 11:00 am to 4:00pm
Prospect Park, Brooklyn: Long Meadow by the Picnic House (Enter at 3rd St. & Prospect Park W.)
C4B will be setting up a table in the Green Zone, an area at this fun-filled winter event for environment-related organizations. Stop by and say hello between snowy, sporty activities!

Herbal Medicinals Workshop
Date and time TBD, February
Check back with us soon for details on an upcoming workshop with Kristy and Emily, local herbalists. It’s going to be spectacular!

Kristy Bredin is an herbalist and wellness coach practicing in the traditions of her many teachers, including Robin Rose Bennett, Margi Flint, and Tom Brown, Jr. She is committed to integrating a sense of sacredness and gratitude in everything she does and aspires to live with love, passion, and beauty and honor the earth, the creator, and future generations through her work.

Kristy brings together this varied wisdom and experience to help connect others to the earth and a simple, balanced way of living. As a result, she helps bring vitality and healing to the lands and the people with whom she works. She is currently offering discounted counseling and reiki sessions as she prepares to continue her medicine and healing studies and immerse herself in a simple lifestyle and the cycles and rhythms of the earth out in Washington State next spring.

Newkirk Cares Collaborative Workdays

The Newkirk Cares Collaborative and Compost for Brooklyn invite interested neighbors to mark their calendars for several upcoming Newkirk Avenue beautification workdays. See you on the following Sundays: March 18, April 15, May 13, and June 24. More specifics to follow. Questions? Email newkirk.collaborative@gmail.com

The Newkirk Cares Collaborative was founded by our neighbors, Brooklyn natives, and passionate urban planning students Lyna and Oksana. In partnership with Compost for Brooklyn, they were recently awarded a Love Your Block grant from the Citizens Committee for NYC to beautifyNewkirk Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Parkway. They will be leading one community workday a month, beginning in March and culminating in June, to transform this avenue into a greener, greater public space. Look out for more updates soon!

New CSA! Parkville Farmshare

Recent Events

Workshop: Herbs to Warm Your Heart and Bones: Plants for Love and Winter Warmth
Saturday, November 5, 11:00am to 1:00pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.

Learn about kitchen herbs and other plants to help heal your heart and improve circulation for the coming winter cold. In addition to discussing a variety of plants that help bring heat to the body, we will focus on two specific heart/love medicines that work on physical, energetic, and spiritual levels. Basic medicine making principles will also be reviewed. Bring a 4 oz or smaller jar with lid to make a medicinal preparation using one of these herbs. $4 suggested donation for additional supplies. Please RSVP  if you’ll be there so we don’t run out of materials!

Kristy Bredin is an herbalist and wellness coach practicing in the traditions of her many teachers, including Robin Rose Bennett, Margi Flint, and Tom Brown, Jr. She is committed to integrating a sense of sacredness and gratitude in everything she does and aspires to live with love, passion, and beauty and honor the earth, the creator, and future generations through her work.

Kristy brings together this varied wisdom and experience to help connect others to the earth and a simple, balanced way of living. As a result, she helps bring vitality and healing to the lands and the people with whom she works. She is currently offering discounted counseling and reiki sessions as she prepares to continue her medicine and healing studies and immerse herself in a simple lifestyle and the cycles and rhythms of the earth out in Washington State next spring.

Pumpkin Smash and Sprouting Workshop
Sunday, November 6, 2:00 to 5:00pm with special workshop between 3:00 and 4:00pm in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Ready to get rid of your halloween jack o’ lanterns? Bring them to the garden on Sunday afternoon and smash them to smithereens! We’ll provide the tools and a place to dump the remnants (you guessed it–the compost bins). Special addition: Between 3:00 and 4:00, Denise Lekowski will be in the garden sharing her expertise on sprouting with anyone who comes by the garden. Don’t miss it!

Brooklyn Shade Tree Guard Clinic
Sunday, November 6, from 2:00 to to 4:30pm starting at the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Marc Dreyfus of Brooklyn Shade will lead a workshop on buliding guards to protect our street trees. The Tree Guard Building Clinic is a 2 hour class including a presentation on the environmental and health benefits of trees and proper tree care, and then participants design, measure, and construct an affordable tree guard for a young neighborhood tree. All students have a chance to measure, cut, and assemble the guard under the supervision of the clinic instructors. After class, everyone goes home with a material list, plans, and instructions on how to build their own wooden tree guard. RSVP if possible, please!

Sifting Party Hosted by Beekman Compost’s Youth Crew
Friday, November 11, at 3:30pm in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Join Beekman Compost’s Youth Crew for the last and crucial step of the compostin process: Sifting. Food scraps go in, black gold comes out… but not before we sift it! Stop on by.

Planting and Native Species Workshop with Kate Grace Mitchell
Sunday, November 13, at 3:00pm in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Learn about native plants and plants some too! Come to the garden for an afternoon of education and hands-on-gardening.

Project LeafDrop
Sunday, November 20, 2:00 to 5:00pm in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Bring your yard and sidewalk leaves to us instead of sending them to the landfill–they are valuable “browns” (carbon-rich material) that balance the food scraps in the compost bins and keep things from getting smelly.

Special Event! TrashTalk: A Discussion on the Future of Organic Waste
Thursday, December 8, from 7:30 to 9:30pm, with tours of the garden beginning at 5:30.  Location to be determined
Join us and four industry experts for a moderated panel and interactive discussion on large- and small- scale opportunities to reduce organic waste and its impact on the environment. More information coming soon!
Panelists:
David Buckel, Red Hook Community Farm
Kendall Christiansen, Gaia Strategies
Tristam Coffin, Whole Foods
Maurice LaBonne, North Shore Long Island Health System
Moderated by Miriam Garron

Garden Sing-Along with Steve! 

Thursday, October 27 at 3:30pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.

Join us at Compost for Brooklyn to sing about the environment with Steve and neighbors of all ages!

Steve Mayone is a Berklee College of Music alumnus who has played with the children’s environmental music group Earthtunes for more than a decade, and is a frequent musical guest of local libraries and schools. In addition to his work with children, Steve has been a singer/songwriter for 30 years and has released 4 dCD’s (Bedroom Rockstar, Unfortunate Son, Understories and Long Play Record). His songs and instrumentals have been heard on television and in independent films, as well as covered by other artists. As a multi-instrumentalist, Steve has performed and toured with some of the best: Levon Helm, Kate Taylor, Dave Mattacks, Jimmy Ryan, Bow Thayer, Kris Delmhorst and Todd Thibaud.

Help Represent C4B at NYC Parks’ Pumpkin Festival

Saturday, October 29, from 9:00am to 3:00pm, Central Park Bandshell–Enter at 72nd Street (Manhattan)

Join NYC Parks for Pumpkin Festival, New York City’s annual celebration of the fall harvest season in leafy Central Park, and help C4B teach people about composting and collect food scraps. Please RSVP if you can join us to help out! compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com

Nature Journaling for Kids

Saturday, October 22 at 2:00 pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Maria Newsom-Fahey will be leading a nature journaling workshop for kids aged 7 and up in the garden. Bring a notebook with unruled paper, and get ready for a scavenger hunt, drawing, and other urban nature-discovery activities!

Composting at MillionTreesNYC Marine Park Planting

Saturday, October 22, from 8:00am to 1:00pm, Marine Park, Brooklyn

Join Compost for Brooklyn’s Compost Manager, Abbe, to collect food waste at the MillionTreesNYC planting in Marine Park. Please RSVP if you can join us to help out! compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com

Interested in volunteering with Compost for Brooklyn?

Come to an orientation this Sunday, October 16th at 3pm to learn more about composting, C4B, and how YOU can get involved!

Learn Composting Basics with NYC Compost Project

Wednesday, October 12, 5:30 to 8:30pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.

Join us to learn the science of decomposition and how you can improve your compost system from the NYC Compost Project’s Luke Halligan. The workshop will begin at Compost for Brooklyn, and then move to Whisk Bakery Cafe. Questions? compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com

Sunday Sifting Party!

Sunday, October 9, 1:00 to 5:00 pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Food scraps go into a bin, and a few weeks later, a rich organic fertilizer called compost comes out, right? Wait–we missed a step: Sifting! Come join other volunteers to help bring the “black gold” through this last step of the process. No experience necessary, and we provide gloves! Questions? compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com

Workshop: Make your own medicinals
Sunday, October 2, 2:00 to 4:00pm, in the C4B garden at Newkirk Ave and East 8th St.
Herbalist Kristy Bredin will show us how to make simple, food-based herbal medicine preparations with local plants as well as about the medicinal, energetic, and nourishing properties of the plants we will work with. Please bring a notebook, and either the following supplies or a $4 donation for us to cover extras. Supplies: 4 oz or smaller jar (preferably wide mouth with plastic lid; baby food jars can work), apple cider vinegar, and, if you have some handy, scissors and/or a paring knife. Please RSVP if you’ll be there so we don’t run out of materials! compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com

Garden workday
Thursday, September 29, 3:00 to 7:00pm
Get to work in the garden! There’s lots to be done. We will meet in the garden at East 8th Street and Newkirk Avenue in Kensington. All are welcome.

Workshop: Make your own laundry detergent
Sunday, September 25, 2:30 to 4:00pm
Eli Colasante, composter extraordinaire at Sarah Lawrence College and recent C4B interviewee will lead an interactive workshop on homemade cleaning products and detergent. Join us at the garden on Sunday, September 25th from 2:30 to 4:00pm to make your own batch of detergent to take home and try out! Suggested $4 donation for materials.

Workshop: Nature journaling for kids
Saturday, September 24, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Maria Newsom-Fahey will be leading a nature journaling workshop for kids aged 7 and up in the garden on September 24th from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Bring a notebook with unruled paper (or $4 for supplies), and get ready for a scavenger hunt, drawing, and other urban nature-discovery activities! Rain date: October 22.

Daffodil Planting and Brooklyn Shade Talk
Thursday September 22, 2:00 to 5:00pm
We have hundreds of daffodil bulbs waiting to be planted in tree beds around Kensington, and Marc from Brooklyn Shade will be talking to attendees about their work with NYC trees and the relationship between a healthy canopy and healthy local ecosystem. Join us in the garden at Newkirk and East 8th Street in Kensington, Brooklyn, on Thursday, September 22, from 2:00 to 5:00pm for an afternoon of informative discussion and productive planting. See you there!

Compass Green will visit Compost for Brooklyn on Sunday, July 10th!

Please join us in the garden at Newkirk Avenue and East 8th Street to learn more about this exciting project.

About the Project

Compass Green is a fully functional greenhouse on the back of an 18ft box truck that runs on waste vegetable oil.  We offer presentations, workshops, and greenhouse tours to raise awareness on the world food situation and teach simple practical skills for a sustainable future. It is the first mobile greenhouse ever constructed to be run entirely on renewable energy.
Scheduled stops will be made at schools, universities, after school programs, summer camps, farms, markets, community centers, and cultural events nationwide. The workshops and presentations will focus on Bio-intensive methods of sustainable farming and solutions to the worldwide impending food crisis with an emphasis on growing one’s own food. The workshops and presentations will include tours of our greenhouse, where we will explain the techniques and technologies we used and how they can be applied in different environments.  Our presentations will be adapted for different ages, socioeconomic groups, and climates.
Biointensive agriculture is one of the most sustainable and well-researched systems of farming available today. Biointensive nourishes plant life in a variety of ways, starting at the pivotal intersection of sun, soil, water and air. By preparing the soil 24 inches deep through “double-digging,” one encourages root growth, aerates the soil, and improves water retention.  Soil fertility is maintained by growing carbon-rich compost crops (grains, etc.) and through proper composting techniques, which allow microbial life to flourish around the plant’s roots, improving yields and plant health.
With an ever-increasing population and an alarming decrease in farmable soil, it is important to share practical solutions to turn our situation of agricultural scarcity into one of abundance. By inspiring more local agriculture, Compass Green is the perfect vehicle to do this!