In the last week, we have ironed out some important details for our garden. This summer, we are planning and offering a summer program for Englewood youth. Joseph designed a cute flyer to help with recruiting Urban Development Ambassadors for The 59th Street Garden.

The residents in Englewood are an integral part of our garden for the summer and beyond. By providing opportunities for youth to engage with the creation of the garden and learn about the history of their neighborhood, we are growing civically engaged and invested members of Englewood. Our tentative start date for programming is the week of June 17th.

Last weekend, Joseph recruited student volunteers from the University to help with preparing our plot of land for the garden. Christian Gaona, a friend and peer from the MPP program, came out to help with landscaping and fence installation. Our most pressing was the installation of a fence to secure the garden and landscaping to analyze the land’s property lines.

Joseph coordinated with his awesome mom, Monica Ashford, to have a donation of mulch delivered to the garden. His mom is an avid gardener with a wealth of knowledge. She has been a huge help and will continue to support us with our garden. Tree Cutters Experts, a local tree cutter, generously donated mulch to us.

We have made some revisions to our budget as we get a better idea of our material costs of creating and maintaining the garden. We are currently hard at work and moving forward. There is more to do and updates to come!