City Farm

SCLT Announces Exciting 2024 Workshop Series

06/20/2024 admin 404 Broad, City Farm, Community Garden, Cranston, Food Justice, Good Earth Farm

All workshops are free | Registration is required | All materials provided to registered attendees Click the links below, or check out our Upcoming Events page for more information on each workshop.

Southside Community Land Trust is gearing up for an enriching summer and fall with the announcement of our 2024 workshop series. The series, featuring seven diverse workshops, kicks off Saturday, June 22, and runs through November 15. These free events offer a unique blend of gardening, art, and food justice education, catering to both families and adults.

The series begins with a Container Gardening Workshop on June 22, perfect for urban dwellers and those with limited space. Participants will create their own container gardens to take home, learning essential skills from SCLT’s Director of Special Projects and Master Gardener, Tarshire Battle. As summer progresses, attendees can look forward to EcoArt workshops, including Cyanoprinting at City Farm on July 25 and Landscape with Tape at Good Earth Farm on August 23.

For those interested in food preservation, an Introduction to Canning workshop is scheduled for August 14. This hands-on session will guide participants through the process of making and canning tomato sauce. The workshop will be co-hosted by Tarshire Battle and Andraly Horn, an organic farmer at Open fArms Retreat.

As autumn approaches, SCLT continues to offer creative opportunities with Mixed Media and Papermaking workshops in September and October, respectively. The series concludes with a thought-provoking Food Justice Workshop on November 15, exploring the historical context and contemporary issues surrounding food justice in Rhode Island.

These events not only offer practical skills and creative outlets but also promote environmental sustainability and community engagement. Whether you’re a gardening enthusiast, an aspiring artist, or someone passionate about food justice, SCLT’s 2024 workshop series promises something for everyone.

Thank you, 401 Gives Donors!

04/03/2024 admin 404 Broad, Apprenticeship, City Farm, Youth Program

SCLT received $31,117 across two days of the United Way’s 401 Gives fundraiser this year. The funds will support our agricultural, arts, and cultural educational programs for children, plus our workforce development program for youth and emerging adults. Each year, SCLT employs approximately 50 youth, aged 14 to 24, from Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls. These Youth Staff and Food System Interns are exposed to career opportunities in agriculture and related sciences, experience hands-on training from culinary skills to environmental stewardship, and engage with a supportive professional development track.

United Way of RI reports that 597 nonprofit and community organizations across the state received $3.8 million, a new record for 401 Gives in 2024. Moreover, 20% more donors participated this year over last. Thank you for this much-needed support! If you meant to give but missed the event, your generosity is always welcome here.

RI’s small & urban farmers paying outsized taxes for decades

03/16/2024 admin 404 Broad, Aggregation, City Farm, Food Justice, Good Earth Farm, healthy food access, Southside Community Land Trust, urban agriculture, Urban Edge Farm

The Small & Urban Farms Success bill was introduced to the RI House and Senate earlier this year by 10 State Representatives and was heard by the RI House and Senate this spring. Championed by a coalition of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, SCLT, and a network of farmers, including Open Farms Retreat‘s Andraly Horn and Sienna Viette, this legislation has the power to level the playing field by creating tax relief programs for small and urban farms that are similar to the programs that have been available for more than 30 years to larger, rural farms in our state.

RI’s current tax programs don’t meet the food or economic needs of our communities, and they don’t match our coalition’s commitment to equity. These programs need an update so that more Rhode Islanders can eat fresh, healthy, and affordable food grown right here in our tiny state, where the cost of agricultural land keeps going up, and the size of farms keeps going down.

Hear from several small and urban farmers on what this change would mean for the future of their farm businesses and the resiliency of our local food system:

2023 market season resumes at Armory Park

06/08/2023 admin City Farm, Farmers Market, healthy food access

To the delight of shoppers and growers alike, farmers market season is underway in Rhode Island. Exciting new vendors, featured popups, and family-friendly fun comes to the Armory Park Market this year, one of the longest continually operating markets in the area.

Now open every Thursday from June 1 through October 26, 3pm to 7pm at 85 Parade Street in Providence, the market’s evening hours, ample parking, and vendor variety make it a convenient one-stop shop. New to the market this year are cheese, ice cream, and bread vendors. Special guests make appearances throughout the market season, from resource organizations to performers. Of course, perennial vendors like SCLT’s City Farm, are glad to return to this established market.

For more than 25 years, “Armory Market has been representative of the diversity of the neighborhood, from vendors to patrons. And it doesn’t get more hyper-local than this!” City Farm Steward and longtime market vendor Rich Pederson says. Standing at City Farm, less than a mile from Armory Park, Rich and a small team of SCLT staff, interns, and volunteers carefully handle bunches of apple mint, sage, green garlic, and lettuce they harvested from the grounds within the last two hours. SCLT’s Ellen Asermely, who has dual-duty as Youth Education Coordinator and City Farm assistant, adds that the overall experience draws her to this market. “It’s afternoons in a beautiful park, with food trucks and music and good vibes.”

Be sure to visit the Armory Park Market to get a taste of the new flavors!

Creative partnerships are helping to reduce hunger in RI

04/24/2022 admin City Farm, Food Justice, healthy food access, Urban Edge Farm

SCLT and other local organizations with overlapping missions have been collaborating in new and creative ways, especially since the start of the pandemic, to support our state’s one in four BIPOC families that still cannot meet their basic food needs.

Hope Street Farmers Market Reopens!

05/01/2020 admin City Farm, Farmers Market, Pawtucket

While Providence parks are closed, the market will be held in the outdoor courtyard at Hope Artiste Village (1005 Main St., Pawtucket) rather than at Lippitt Park.

Yes, it’s happening!

04/24/2020 admin City Farm, Community Garden, Plant Sale, Southside Community Land Trust

Right now, City Farm staff are in the greenhouse seeding thousands of your favorite vegetable, herb and fruit starts to be ready for the 2020 Plant Sale.

Lessons in urban agriculture at City Farm

07/08/2019 admin City Farm, healthy food access, SCLT in the News, urban agriculture

(This article was written by Andrea Feldman and appeared in JWU’s Culinary Now blog)

A group of 15 students from Johnson & Wales University’s Providence Campus, Regis College (Weston, Mass.) and Universidad de Congreso (Mendoza, Argentina) recently toured the Southside Community Land Trust’s City Farm as part of their research into food security and food access.

SCLT, City Farm, Providence, urban agriculture

City Farm gets its first all-female crew

04/26/2019 admin Apprenticeship, City Farm, Plant Sale, urban agriculture

On the heels of ordering a dazzling variety of seeds for the 2019 season (20,000 alone for the Rare & Unusual Plant Sale), the next order of business for City Farm’s Steward, Rich Pederson is hiring the crew to carry out the work.

2019 farm apprentices sought, SCLT apprenticeship program

Farm Apprentices Sought for 2019 Season

01/25/2019 admin Apprenticeship, City Farm

SCLT is looking for five full-time apprentices for the 2019 season to work on local farms. Apprentices will acquire in-depth farm skills from farm mentors, and participate in farm tours, classes and network-building opportunities.

SCLT Announces Exciting 2024 Workshop Series

Thank you, 401 Gives Donors!

RI’s small & urban farmers paying outsized taxes for decades

2023 market season resumes at Armory Park

Creative partnerships are helping to reduce hunger in RI

SCLT and other local organizations with overlapping missions have been collaborating in new and creative ways, especially since the start of the pandemic, to support our state’s one in four BIPOC families that still cannot meet their basic food needs.

Hope Street Farmers Market Reopens!

Yes, it’s happening!

Lessons in urban agriculture at City Farm

City Farm gets its first all-female crew

Farm Apprentices Sought for 2019 Season

Upcoming Events

City Farm @ Armory Park Market

City Farm @ Hope Street Market

City Farm @ Armory Park Market

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Farm Apprentices Sought for 2019 Season