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sclt@southsideclt.org

Community Gardens Program: Sleuthing with Citizen Scientists

08/07/2026 sam shepherd City Farm, Community Garden

A citizen scientist examines soil while their partner records their findings at a BioBlitz at City Farm, 2026

What lives in an urban garden? More than most people expect. Since 2025, SCLT has partnered with 15 Minute Field Trips and the Rhode Island Natural History Survey on a rolling BioBlitz series, spending mornings at SCLT gardens with community scientists documenting every plant, animal, and fungus they can find. The project is planned to run for ten years, visiting a different garden in the SCLT network each year to create a big picture view of what shares our natural spaces.

The first year brought the series to Peace & Plenty Community Garden on Peace Street in Providence, where five sessions across 2025 and 2026 turned up 405 distinct species across the garden’s 0.39 acres. Among the more striking finds: a species of bee, the Pugnacious Leafcutter Bee, previously unrecorded in Rhode Island. Two Robberfly species new to the site were discovered, along with two species of Woolcarder Bee and a rare sighting of the Golden Northern Bumblebee on blossoming sweet peas. The fifth and final Peace & Plenty session in June drew 26 participants, including gardeners, neighbors, and family members, who together logged 205 verified species in a single morning. A teenager who had never been to a BioBlitz before identified a beetle species that had not been recorded previously at the garden.

This season, the series has moved to City Farm, SCLT’s urban production and demonstration farm at 168 West Clifford Street in Providence. The first session in April turned up 223 living things across seven categories. The July session added roughly that many more. One final session remains: October 4, from 11am to 2pm, open to all ages and experience levels. Register at bit.ly/CFBioblitz.

The findings from every session are logged on iNaturalist and contribute to the Rhode Island Natural History Survey’s statewide biodiversity database, building a growing picture of what urban green spaces actually support. The answer, it turns out, is a lot.

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Workforce Development Program: Marking a Decade

08/07/2026 sam shepherd Somerset Hayward Farm, Youth Program

Youth Staff practice urban farm management at SCLT’s South Providence Youth Enterprise Farm

This summer, 19 young people are earning wages working at farms in Providence and Pawtucket/Central Falls, planting, harvesting, field-tripping, networking, and building professional experience that outgrows the season. The Youth Workforce Development program, now in its tenth year, has been a cornerstone of our work since long before it had a name.

The 2026 season is supported by the Governor’s Workforce Board, a partner that has helped sustain the program since its earliest formal years, and by Bloom Rhode Island, whose Violet Grant, the largest single gift in the funder’s history, subsidizes four Youth Staff positions at Galego Community Farm. There, participants are designing and installing native pollinator meadows and cut-flower gardens building portfolios in green industry careers. Additional support comes from several local foundations, financial institutions, and private donors whose aligned investment makes this work possible.

The program runs through mid-August, and numbers from 2025 show the impact is deep: 92% of Youth Staff rated their experience as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent,‘ and 60% are returned for this season.

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Farmer Services Program: Entering a New Chapter

08/07/2026 sam shepherd Farmland Access, Urban Edge Farm

Urban Edge Farm Food Hub takes shape among existing farm infrastructure

At Good Earth Farm in Cranston, the Garden Center & Farmers Co-Op is open, bursting with the colors and flavors of summer. Farmer-run and stocked with seasonal edible and ornamental annuals and perennials, the Co-Op is open Thursday through Sunday and welcomes anyone looking to grow. While you’re there, stop next door at Sanctuary Herbs for locally-crafted teas, tinctures, and culinary herbs.

Less than two miles up the road, a milestone years in the making is fast approaching. The Urban Edge Farm Food Hub, a post-harvest handling, storage, and distribution facility, is on track for full operation by the end of the year. Walk-in coolers, a commercial freezer, and space for future chopping, canning, and dehydrating equipment will fundamentally expand what farmers in SCLT’s network can do with the food they grow, providing the tools to store, process, and distribute harvests to more Rhode Islanders.

When the program started in 2016, we moved 3,500 pounds of fresh produce from local farmers to local eaters. In 2025, SCLT’s South Providence Healthy Food Hub saw the movement of 60,000 pounds of locally grown produce from farms to nutrition insecure neighbors. The Urban Edge Farm Food Hub will take this to a whole new scale.

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Healthy Food Access Program: Fighting Nutrition Insecurity

08/07/2026 sam shepherd Aggregation, Food Justice, healthy food access, Retail Partner

Produce distributed for free to seniors at an Elmwood community event, July 2026

One in three Rhode Island households does not have reliable access to enough food. When fresh, affordable produce is scarce, the consequences reach far beyond the dinner table. In Providence County, rates of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes each exceed the national average with direct ties to diet. Getting fresh food to the people who need it most is, at its core, a health intervention.

Since 2016, SCLT’s Healthy Food Access program has built one of the most direct responses to nutrition insecurity in the state, and it begins long before the harvest. SCLT staff and partners work with farmers across every stage of their operation, from land access and production planning to food safety training, business development, and market connections, so that when produce is ready, it moves quickly and predictably to the people who need it most. In 2025, that meant 60,000 pounds of locally grown food distributed across the state at no cost to recipients, through free farm stands and partnerships with community organizations, generating $350,000 in income for farmers who grew it.

Seasonal Food Access Associate Farah Figuereo

This season, Healthy Food Access Program Manager Kakeena Castro brought that work to a new venue, forging a partnership with Urban Greens Co-op Market, South Providence’s community-owned grocery at 93 Cranston Street, to bring network-grown produce to co-op shoppers from July through November, traveling less than 10 miles from field to shelf. Supporting the program through the season is Farah Figuereo, who joined the team in early July as SCLT’s Seasonal Food Access Associate.

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With Hope & Gratitude: Checking in with SCLT | August 2026

08/07/2026 sam shepherd Southside Community Land Trust

Dear Friends,

The growing season is well underway in Rhode Island and with it comes one of our favorite times of the year: farmers market season. At markets across the area, small-scale growers from SCLT’s network are bringing fresh, hyperlocal and seasonal produce directly to their neighbors week after week. This year, SCLT-network farmers and gardeners are selling at seven markets across Providence, Pawtucket, and Cranston, from the Hope Street Farmers Market, the largest in the state, to neighborhood spots like the Sankofa World Market, Broad Street, and the Central Falls Farmers Market. Stop by and meet the people who grew your food. Read more about the farmers selling at each of these seasonal markets here.

We’re also celebrating a recent legislative win that has been a long time coming: on June 19, Governor McKee signed the Small and Urban Farm Success Act into law. Modeled after the tax relief enjoyed by larger rural farms in the state for decades, this law extends property, income, and farm equipment exemptions to small and urban farms. For the farmers we work with, that means money that was going to taxes can now go back into the ground, into equipment, into seeds, into the work of growing more food for more people. SCLT played a central role in developing the bill’s language, and we are proud to have collaborated with powerhouse advocates to see it become law after years of persistence.

We are also more than halfway to our 2026 Annual Fund goal. As of this writing, supporters like you have raised $344,498 toward our $500,000 target. Those dollars fund the work we’re committed to: 19 youth staff hired this summer for paid workforce training, nearly 400 community gardeners tending plots across a network of 25 gardens and urban farms, 68 small-scale farmers supported at three peri-urban farm sites, and more than 26,000 nutrition-insecure Rhode Islanders reached with fresh food. We have a long second half ahead, and every gift moves us forward. You may contribute to these efforts with a gift to Southside. Please visit southsideclt.org/donate.

Thank you for reading, and for your continued support of this work.

With hope and gratitude,

Rochelle & Margaret

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Farmers, Experts, Friends: Good Earth Farm Garden Center & Farmer Co-Op

06/03/2026 sam shepherd Good Earth Farm

At 1800 Scituate Avenue in Cranston, on the grounds of SCLT’s 20-acre Good Earth Farm, three farmers run a garden center unlike anything you’ll find at a big box store. The Good Earth Farm Garden Center & Farmer Co-Op is managed collaboratively by Nayeema Eusuf of Geek Gardens, Phillip Yang of Phillip’s Farm, and Christina Dedora of Sanctuary Herbs of Providence, who grows the herbs and botanicals that go into her teas and culinary mixes in eyesight of where they’re processed and sold. These are people who have grown what they’re selling, know every variety by name, and can tell you exactly how it will perform in a Rhode Island summer.

The current herb selection alone is worth the trip: chocolate mint, peppermint, spearmint, applemint, lavender, multiple varieties of thyme and basil, culantro, epazote, holy basil/tulsi, pineapple sage, catnip, lemon balm, upright and trailing rosemary, Mexican mint marigold, bee balm, Roman chamomile, fennel, dill, and more. Beyond herbs, the co-op carries houseplants, perennials, fruit and vegetable starts, and an ever-changing selection of plants grown specifically for this region’s climate and conditions. Whatever your growing situation, there’s someone on site who can help you figure out what will actually thrive.

While you’re there, visit Sanctuary Herbs’ shop for herbal teas, culinary seasonings, and botanical products made almost entirely from ingredients grown within a mile of where you’re standing. It’s as local as it gets.

The Good Earth Farm Garden Center & Farmer Co-Op is open Thursday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm (5pm on Saturdays).

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Last Call: SCLT Accepting Applications for Food Access Associate Role

06/03/2026 sam shepherd Aggregation, SCLT jobs, VeggieRx

Every week during the growing season, SCLT’s Healthy Food Access program moves hundreds of shares of fresh, locally grown produce from SCLT-network farmers to the Rhode Islanders who need it most. That work happens through two interconnected programs: our Produce Aggregation Program, which partners with community organizations like Amos House, Project Weber/Renew, Youth Pride Inc., and the West End Community Center to deliver fresh produce directly to their clients, and VeggieRx, a food-as-medicine model through which healthcare providers prescribe locally grown vegetables to patients as part of their care. In a state where 38% of households face food insecurity, rising to 55% among Latino households and 47% among Black households, this program is doing essential work.

The person SCLT hires as Seasonal Food Access Associate will be in the middle of all of it: coordinating with farmers, supporting deliveries, and helping the program run smoothly through the 2026 growing season. The position runs July through mid-November, up to 25 hours per week, at $20 to $23 per hour. Bilingual candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

SCLT is wrapping up the search for the right candidate. To apply, click the position description link above to learn more, then send a resume and cover letter to Kakeena Castro, Healthy Food Access Program Manager, at kakeena@southsideclt.org. Please include “Seasonal Food Access Associate” in the subject line. Resumes submitted without a cover letter will not be reviewed.

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Outdoor Market Season Is Here: Where to Find SCLT Farmers

06/03/2026 sam shepherd City Farm, Farmers Market

Farmers Charlotte, Blia, Chai, and Christina, representing Charlotte’s Farm, Wilson Community Farm, Daily Farm, and Sanctuary Herbs of Providence

Every spring, farmers and market gardeners in SCLT’s network load up their vehicles and head to farmers markets across the state, bringing with them the fruits of months of planning, planting, and tending. This is a varied group: some farm on plots at SCLT-managed properties like Urban Edge Farm and Good Earth Farm in Cranston, while others grow in urban community garden plots across Providence. What these farmers share is a commitment to growing fresh, nutritious, and culturally familiar produce for the communities around them, and a connection to SCLT’s 45-year-old network of land, resources, and technical support. When you shop with SCLT-network farmers and market gardeners, your food dollars go directly to the small-scale producers who stock Rhode Island’s local food system with fresh produce grown close to home.

City Farm, SCLT’s own urban production and demonstration farm and the longest-operating farm of its kind in the state, also sells at farmers markets. Proceeds from City Farm’s market sales support SCLT programming year-round.

Here’s where to find SCLT-network farmers and market gardeners in 2026.

 

Armory Park Farmers Market

Thursdays | 3-7pm

June 4 – October 29, 2026

Dexter Training Grounds | Providence, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Charlotte’s Farm, City Farm, Teo’s Products, Marie’s Farm, Seraphina’s Farm, Natural Foods, Ada’s Farm, Zera’s Farm, Greenleaf Farm, Loffa Farm

Managed by Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Armory Park Farmers Market is one of the anchor events of Providence’s summer food scene, drawing a wide mix of vendors and a loyal neighborhood crowd to the Dexter Training Grounds each Thursday evening. Throughout the season, FFRI hosts rotating special events including Kids’ Days with activities for all ages, live theater performances, live music, and food trucks. Follow FFRI on social media for the latest schedule of events and vendor updates.

Broad Street Farmers Market

Saturdays | 8am-12pm

June 6 – October 31, 2026

807 Broad St | Providence, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Purple Corn Farm, Annie’s Farm, Chia’s Farm, Potters Farm

One of Providence’s most culturally diverse markets, the Broad Street Farmers Market is run by FFRI and serves a neighborhood that reflects the full breadth of Providence’s immigrant and multilingual communities. SCLT-network farmers bring specialty and culturally familiar produce alongside the season’s staples. Like all FFRI markets, SNAP/EBT, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers are accepted, and Bonus Bucks doubles SNAP dollar for dollar on fresh fruits and vegetables. Special events rotate throughout the season, so follow FFRI for updates.

Central Falls Farmers Market

Tuesdays | 3-6pm

July 7 – October 27, 2026

621 Dexter St | Central Falls, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Wilson Community Farm, Teo’s Products

Held at Children’s Friend in Central Falls, this FFRI market serves one of the most densely populated and food-insecure communities in New England. SCLT-network farmers are a core part of what makes fresh, locally grown produce accessible here each week. SNAP/EBT, WIC, and Senior FMNP vouchers accepted, with Bonus Bucks available. Check FFRI’s social media for special events throughout the season.

Sankofa World Market

Wednesdays | 2-6pm

May 6 – October 28, 2026

275 Elmwood Ave | Providence, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Purple Corn Farm, Kia, Wilson Community Farm, Daily Farm, Loffa Farm, Teo’s Products, Basil Farm

The Sankofa World Market, a program of West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, is one of Providence’s most distinctive farmers markets, built explicitly around food, culture, and community in the West End. The market highlights specialty crops from its diverse mix of growers, including bitter ball, bitter melon, sweet potato greens, bitter leaf, luffa, Asian corn, amaranth, water spinach, and long beans. Weekly live music and cooking demonstrations round out the experience. SNAP/EBT and WIC accepted.

Hope Street Farmers Market

Saturdays | 9am-1pm

May 2 – October 31, 2026

1015 Hope St | Providence, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Charlotte’s Farm, City Farm, Sanctuary Herbs of Providence, Wilson Community Farm, Daily Farm, Greenleaf Farm

The largest farmers market in Rhode Island and a past USA Today top-10 farmers market in the country, the Hope Street Farmers Market is a farmer-run cooperative created and managed by the farmers and food artisans who sell there. Set in Lippitt Memorial Park where Hope Street meets Blackstone Boulevard, the market features live acoustic music every Saturday, making it as much a community gathering as a weekly shopping trip. The Providence Artisans Market runs concurrently at the southern end of the park through the end of October. Several vendors accept pre-orders for quick pickup; check the Hope Street Farmers Market website for details.

Garden City Center Farmers Market

Sundays | 10am-2pm

June 7 – October 18, 2026

100 Midway Rd | Cranston, RI

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Marie’s Farm

Operated in partnership with Rhode Island Night Market, the Garden City Center Farmers Market transforms the gazebo green into a vibrant open-air market each Sunday. The lineup includes locally grown produce, pantry staples, handmade goods, and seasonal favorites, with live music from 11am-2pm every week. The market is part of the RI Grown program, and admission is free.

Pawtuxet Village Farmers Market

Saturdays | 9am-noon

May 3 – October 25, 2026

60 Rhodes Place | Cranston, RI 02905

SCLT Network Farmers you’ll find: Daily Farm, Pak Express

One of the oldest farmers markets in Rhode Island, the Pawtuxet Village Farmers Market has been a Saturday morning tradition at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet for decades. Part of the West Bay Land Trust, the market offers fresh produce alongside prepared foods from local makers in a scenic riverside setting.

 

Seven markets spread across the area from May through October, and SCLT-network farmers and market gardeners will be at them, tables piled high with fresh, seasonal vegetables, herbs, and farm products. Make a habit of stopping by, getting to know the people who grew what you’re buying, and spending your food dollars close to home. The 2026 growing season is just getting started!

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Bloom Rhode Island Awards Largest-Ever Gift to SCLT

06/03/2026 sam shepherd Southside Community Land Trust

Youth Staff at Galego Community Farm, Summer 2025

Galego Community Farm has been part of SCLT’s work in Pawtucket for more than a decade. Tucked into a 161-unit affordable housing development where nearly half of residents live below the poverty line, the farm sits on land that has long held potential to be something more: a genuine gathering place, a green refuge, a site that signals to the people who live there that their neighborhood is worth investing in. This spring, SCLT received the funding to start making that real.

In March, Bloom Rhode Island announced a $50,000 Violet Grant award to SCLT, the largest single gift the initiative has ever made. Named after Rhode Island’s state flower, the Violet Grant was created to support high-profile planting projects that bring joy and beauty to Rhode Island’s cities. Bloom Rhode Island Program Manager Kevin Essington described the award this way: “Southside Community Land Trust has improved food access for thousands of people, using urban properties to grow food and build community. We are thrilled to expand this work to joyful cut-flowers, bringing bursts of natural beauty into people’s homes while lifting up local young people.”

The funding will support a significant transformation of Galego Community Farm’s landscape. Plans include native flowering and pollinator meadows, expanded cut-flower gardens, educational signage, and intentional gathering spaces with regular open hours for residents of Galego Court and the surrounding neighborhood. The expansion builds on what SCLT has already learned from working at the site. “People from Galego Court like to hang out here but not garden as much,” said Chandelle Wilson, SCLT’s Youth & Education Program Manager. “We learned last year that flowers attract our neighbors into the garden, not just here but at our farms in the Southside of Providence.”

Galego will continue to operate as a production and demonstration farm, where youth from SCLT’s Workforce Development program and the Green Changemakers, a joint program of SCLT and Groundwork RI, learn and work alongside experienced farmers. As part of this Bloom project, four young people from SCLT’s Workforce Development program will participate in the design and implementation of the new landscape plans, earning competitive wages while building portfolios and developing skills in green industry careers.

There is a lot of work ahead. The landscape transformation at Galego is a multi-phase project, and this summer marks the beginning of a new phase. SCLT will share updates on the progress, the people doing the work, and the space as it takes shape.

We are grateful to Bloom Rhode Island for this investment in the community at Galego Court, and we look forward to the neighbors, the young people, and the flowers doing the rest.

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$3 Million for Farmland Preservation Included in RI Budget

06/03/2026 sam shepherd Farmland Access, Food Justice

Rhode Island’s farmland is the most expensive in the country. While the United States farm real estate value averaged $4,350 per acre in 2025, Rhode Island’s average sits at $22,500, according to the USDA’s 2025 Land Values Summary. That disparity, along with our small size, puts Rhode Island farmland under constant and intensifying pressure from development. The farmers who work the land, particularly new and beginning farmers, face barriers to land access that are unlike anywhere else in the nation.

Against that backdrop, and in a budget year that arrived with a structural deficit and little apparent appetite for conservation spending, advocates won something meaningful. Recently, the House Finance Committee approved a revised Green Bond totaling $55 million, up from Governor McKee’s proposed $50 million, with $3 million designated for farmland preservation and $3 million for open space acquisition. According to ecoRI News, Speaker Blazejewski told reporters: “Our caucus spoke over and over again about making the Green Bond greener. And we did just that.” The bond heads to a full House vote expected on June 5, before going to voters in November.

The Rhode Island Land Trust Council coordinated much of the advocacy effort, and SCLT was among the organizations that showed up to make the case. Executive Director Margaret DeVos and Properties & Farms Manager Matthew Tracy both provided testimony in support of the legislation. American Farmland Trust‘s New England program also testified, citing projections that Rhode Island stands to lose 8,100 acres of farmland by 2040 under current development trends, representing a 13.7% loss in farm output and 600 jobs. The Agricultural Land Preservation Commission, which has permanently protected 129 farms and roughly 8,252 acres since 1985, will be among the primary beneficiaries of the new funding.

Farmland preservation is not the only legislative priority SCLT has been working on this session. SCLT played an essential role in authoring the Urban & Small Farm Success Act (H7242/S2827), and continues to work alongside partners including the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and other stakeholders to advocate for its passage. The legislation would extend equitable access to state agricultural tax programs and support to farms under five acres, a threshold that currently excludes much of Rhode Island’s urban and small-scale farming community. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee, and SCLT will continue pushing for its passage with both state legislators and the small farmer community across Rhode Island.

There are two ways Rhode Islanders can help carry this work forward. When the Green Bond appears on the November ballot, a yes vote will put the $3 million for farmland preservation to work protecting the working lands that feed this state. And the Urban & Small Farm Success Act still needs to clear the Senate. SCLT will be sharing specific opportunities to advocate for the bill in the weeks ahead, including ways to connect directly with state legislators. Follow SCLT on social media and keep an eye on your inbox for updates on how to get involved: Instagram | Facebook

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Southside Community Land Trust
404 Broad Street
Providence, RI 02907
sclt@southsideclt.org
Tel: (401) 273-9419
Fax: (401) 273-5712

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©Southside Community Land Trust is a nonprofit organization in the State of Rhode Island.