Schenectady Urban Farms

11/28/2024

The Urban Farms enable members to connect with their environment, promoting health and building community relationships. With your help, we can continue empowering members like Donna!

Donna is a passionate supporter of our Community Compost project. Without a yard, she actively uses the compost system at Fehr Ave Farm to pursue her passion for composting.

“The beautiful system at Fehr Ave Farm gets it done with a lot less manual labor!”

Support your neighbors like Donna this GivingTuesday! Donate or volunteer to help connect people to healthy lifestyle resources in your community.

Donate online between Now and December 3rd!

Visit our GivingTuesday Campaign:
🔗 https://secure.qgiv.com/for/iuoubp

To volunteer:
🔗 https://sycamorecollab.org/volunteer
✉️ [email protected]
📞 518-374-2683 x 103

11/25/2024

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that supports communities worldwide. Join us in connecting neighbors to resources for healthy eating and community building!

You don’t need to wait for Tuesday, December 3rd, to support your community! You can start today by volunteering or donating to help alleviate program costs.
Help us reach our $1,600 goal!

Our Urban Farms bring fresh produce directly to the community while promoting sustainable agriculture. By creating green spaces for growing fruits and vegetables, the farms empower members to engage with their environment, fostering both health and community connection.

$30 - Equips community members with handheld farming tools
$80 - Ensures sufficient irrigation for the farms
$150 - Supplies a season of seeds for one of our farms

Donate online between Now and December 3rd!
Visit our GivingTuesday Campaign:
🔗 https://secure.qgiv.com/for/iuoubp
To volunteer:
🔗 https://sycamorecollab.org/volunteer
✉️ [email protected]
📞 518-374-2683 x 103.

10/30/2024

Harvesting raspberries from our fall bearing bushes at the Vale location. 😋

09/23/2024

The 2024 summer season at our Urban Farms was one of growth, sustainability, and community! “The 2024 growing season at Fehr Urban Farm has been one of steady growth and adaptation...” - Jeremiah, Farm Operations Coordinator.

Our harvest was plentiful, bringing many bright colors to the farms this summer. Fehr Ave Farm harvested eggplant, yellow squash, corn, rhubarb, hazelnut, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, and more – even three kinds of tomatoes!

Our Vale Urban Farm grew cucumbers, watermelon, zucchini, leeks, elderberry, strawberries, grapes, Swiss chard, hot peppers, sweet peppers, raspberries, and lots more. We also grew a wide variety of culinary and medicinal herbs!

This summer, our farms welcomed many community members from all over Schenectady and the Capital Region! We’ve hosted six farm events, including two open houses, five potlucks, and numerous Herbal Nights for farm members. About thirteen large groups volunteered at our farms, and with the help of compost members, we’ve diverted more than 2,850 lbs. of organic material from landfills!

The beekeepers have been busy this summer, tending to fourteen active hives and collecting an impressive ten and a half gallons of honey! This sweet bounty has been shared with the community, with some even being set aside for medicinal purposes!

Last but certainly not least, meet Betty! At our Fehr Ave Farm, different programs came together to build Bountiful Betty, the Barrier Breaker, who’s passionate about her work at Sycamore Collaborative and ensuring community members have access to necessary resources. Stop by and see her at Mabee Farm’s Autumn Glow Festival, and don’t forget to give Betty a vote!

To vote for Bountiful Betty,
🔗https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdiZy2oqAG.../viewform...
To learn more about our Urban Farms or to become a member,
🔗https://sycamorecollab.org/your-farms

09/13/2024

In addition to the food, the ponies, the music, each year we collect donations at Carrot Festival targeted to the specific needs of a few organizations. CDTA donates a bus to help us with collections and to deliver the supplies after the festival is over. If you can, bring items to the festival and we'll help you load them on the bus, Below is a list of this year's organizations and their requests:

Schenectady Living Room – Crisis Services - Serves as an alternative to the Emergency Room for individuals in a Mental Health Crisis. Services include Crisis Assessment, Crisis Diversion, Peer Support, Health Screening, Referrals and Linkages. Please make sure nothing is in cloth pouches/containers and everything is clean
-Menstrual products
-Hygiene products (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc.

The Comfort Cart - is designed to help patients feel more comfortable while staying at the hospital. The cart goes onto the nursing units 2-3 times a week with a volunteer handing out goodies and lots of smiles. The cart has been a HUGE hit with patients.
Emory boards, hairbrushes, hair ties, small packs of tissues,
reading eyeglasses, gum, candy, small puzzles, crossword
puzzle books, books, playing cards... (Dollar Store works well )

SAFE, Inc The vision is to end youth homelessness, and exploitation, and provide a safe environment within our community where youth can grow into healthy self-sufficient adults.New items!
adult-sized socks and underwear, sports bras, deodorant,
soap bars, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

NISKAYUNA, N.Y (NEWS10) – Preparations are underway for the 46th annual Carrot Festival on Sunday, September 15. The Niskayuna event is rooted in tradition. Thousands attend the annual festiv…

06/03/2024

May 18th was 518 Day of Giving, a time for giving back to our Capital Region Community through volunteering and donations! To celebrate, Fehr Ave. Farm hosted a wonderful group of volunteers who rolled up their sleeves for a day of planting, weeding, and learning about our community compost initiatives! 🌱

Visit our 2024 518 Day Photo Album to see how Fehr Ave. Farm is progressing so far this season! 🍅
518 Day of Giving United Way of the Greater Capital Region

04/16/2024

We are excited to introduce our newest edition to the Farms team, our Compost Coordinator, Yarold!

04/02/2024

The community compost is open again! We would love to have you become a community compost member! Look through the benefits below; registration required.

There are two locations available at this time for compost drop off:
Sustainable Living Center, Central Park
Fehr Avenue Urban Farm, Central Park
Additional locations coming soon!

Here are some of the benefits of joining:
-One-time donation of just $15 to join (fee waiver available)!
-24/7 access to drop off location- drop when it's convenient for you!
-No compost maintenance work for you!
-New in 2024: compost giveback days- receive finished compost made from you and your neighbor's food scraps!
-Meet like-minded locals at events just for community compost members!
-Two drop location options in Central Park!

Register at https://tinyurl.com/CommunityCompost2024

04/01/2024

It’s that time of year again! - Our beloved Schenectady Urban Farms are opening for the season! This isn’t just about growing vegetables; it’s about growing connections, friendships, and a stronger community. Let’s come together, sow some seeds of joy, and cultivate a greener, more united neighborhood. 🌱✨

Interested in becoming a Farms Member?
For More Information: sycamorecollab.org/your-farms

Fehr Ave Farm
Saturday, April 13th
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Vale Farm
Sunday, April 14th
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
#518

02/20/2024

Our first seeds of the season are up! Our farmers planted leek and onion seeds two weeks ago and they sprouted last week. This week we will be starting brassicas!
This is our second year starting some of our seeds in our office. We repurposed a baker rack by adding lights and surrounding it with a mylar type material to keep the space bright and warm. Thanks to Hassleer, farmer for Cornell Cooperative Extension Schenectady’s Sustainable Living Center for the idea. It really takes a village!

02/14/2024

Happy Valentine’s Day! We are cooking up our Six Nations Strawberry beans for lunch today in our community kitchen during our member hours.The beans in the heart are our seed beans for planting this year. We love our beautiful beans and they offer us sustenance during the cold winter months. Hope your day is as delicious as it is beautiful!

02/12/2024

Thank you to all who attended the 2024 Schenectady Seed Share!

Guests were able to pick from a vast variety of different seeds such as sweet peppers, corn, kale and sugar snap peas, courtesy of Schenectady Urban Farms and our wonderful community partners! There was also taste testing beans, pickles, sauce and more, all using ingredients from the Schenectady Urban Farms! Don't forget Farmer Leah's Lavender Lemonade! Between taste testing and seed sharing, informational sessions led by our community partners shared knowledge of backyard composting, sugaring, and more!

01/24/2024

Thank you to all who joined us for Schenectady Urban Farm’s Open House! Visitors learned about raising egg-laying hens, beekeeping, and growing herbs and veggies in the city of Schenectady!

🌱 Want to make memories like these? Join us for the 2024 Schenectady Urban Farms Seed Share for an evening of sharing seeds, stories, and local gardening information! Sessions include Backyard Composting, Backyard Sugaring, and more! 🌱

Enjoy samples of food made from locally grown vegetables. Enter to win a backyard composter and food scraps bin!

For more information and to register, visit https://sicm.salsalabs.org/2024SeedShareSignUp

01/18/2024

Come visit us and hear about beekeeping and raising hens and veggies and herbs in Schenectady! We’re hear until 7 at 839 Albany St!

01/11/2024

Third Annual Seed Share coming Saturday, February 3, 12-3!

Farming work really is year-round! One thing we have been working on is cleaning and sorting the dry beans we grew this year. Some of those include: Black beans, Jacob Cattle beans (pictured with Farmer Jeremiah,) Six Nations Strawberry beans and Haudenosaunee Skunk beans. With all the rain it was a hard year for dry beans. We grow them and let them dry on the vine and then harvest before the frost. Beans build the soil and provide a terrific source of protein that can be enjoyed in the wi winter. We are grateful for the harvest we do have.

We will be sharing some of these beans for you to grow at our Third Annual Seed Share! And, we'll be cooking some up for folks to try. Join us Saturday, February 3 from 12-3 at 837 Albany St. Snow date: Saturday, Feb 10, 12-3.
Registration info coming.....

01/08/2024

The Schenectady Urban Farm's Open House is coming up soon!

Interested in learning about community farming in Schenectady? Come, meet SiCM farms' staff and members, and taste locally grown food. Learn about opportunities to grow food, flowers, and herbs; raise and tend to the chickens and honeybees; and see how to get the best healthy soil through composting. The Schenectady Urban Farm's Open House will be on Thursday, January 18th, from 5pm to 7pm at our food pantry, 839 Albany St. For more information about the SUF Open House contact Melissa, our Farm Outreach Coordinator, at [email protected]