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Good Earth Farm

SCLT Announces Exciting 2024 Workshop Series

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.

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SCLT’s farmer-run Garden Center now open

SCLT’s The Good Earth Farm & Garden Center is now open. Visitors are invited to the farmer-run Garden Center, Friday through Sunday, 10am to 2pm, at 1800 Scituate Ave in Cranston, where Blue Skys Farm, Geek Garden, Philip Farm, Serenity Farm, and Somi Farm sell hyper-local, affordable, and culturally familiar produce, garden supplies, and wellness goods.

Still looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Visit the Garden Center for greenhouse-grown houseplants, from monstera to jade, plus decorative hanging baskets and cut flowers. New this year, the Garden Center features herbal teas, culinary seasonings, and other fine products from Sanctuary Herbs of Providence.

In addition to cool weather crops like bok choy, kale, and spinach, plus plant starts including strawberry and raspberry, asparagus, and a variety of herbs, the Garden Center now has organic fertilizers and compost, seed potatoes, and Coast of Main premium potting mix available. Everyone knows: healthy plants start with healthy soil!

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

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:

 

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Record number of farmers win state-funded LASA grants

On Tues., Feb. 21, the RI Department of Environmental Management announced the winners of the Local Agriculture and Seafood Act grant program’s (LASA) 2022 funding cycle.

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Farms across RI got hands-on help from AmeriCorps crew

If you’re a homeowner, you know there’s always something needing to be repaired, rebuilt or replaced. If you run a land trust with 25 properties spread over 77 acres, that to-do list can seem endless.

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Two grants from American Farmland Trust will benefit RI farmers

This spring, the American Farmland Trust awarded SCLT a $5,000 grant toward the purchase of The Good Earth Farm in Cranston and awarded a $5,000 grant to farmers Teo and Margarita Martinez, whose business is located at Urban Edge Farm.

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Cranston farm purchase opens up land for more growers

It’s official! As of July 2, 2021, SCLT became the new owner of the Good Earth Farm, located at 1800 Scituate Avenue in Hope, RI. The 20-acre property includes a barn, three heated greenhouses, two high tunnels and a small retail operation.

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Partnership expands possibilities for farmers in Western Cranston

Starting last year, SCLT staff began nurturing a business relationship with the owners of The Good Earth Organic Farm and Gardening Center, in rural Western Cranston.

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