Cultivating Community

Let's get out and VOTE!

Your vote and your voice matter on local and national issues. We can't move backwards on social justice, healthcare, the climate crisis, how your tax dollars are spent, and so many other issues that are at stake. Bug your friends to vote, make a plan, drop off that absentee ballot, read up on the races and how they will impact your community, and VOTE.

Check out Vote.org or https://iwillvote.com/ to find your local polling place or the League of Women Voters election breakdown on candidates and ballot measures - https://www.lwv.org/elections.

Maine also has same day voter registration, so don't let anything prevent you from casting your vote!!

See you at the polls 🫶🏻

Culinary Crew kicked off last week and the students baked a delicious vegetable ziti with blueberry muffins 🍝🫐

Culinary Crew students bake meals once a week for families and friends in our Kennedy Park neighborhood.
The students get to learn and explore new cooking and baking skills while also engaging in group challenges and activities. Thank you to for allowing us to use your kitchen to cook with our students.

Only 12 students a year get to participate in this very competitive program and we are excited to be welcoming this years students.

Want to learn more about our youth programming? Check out the link in our bio or our website for more info! 💚

Don't let this warm spell fool you, frost has already arrived in the gardens! ❄️

Now is the time to start cleaning out your garden beds, planting garlic, lasagna layering, and preparing the soil for winter. If you're a Portland Community Gardener make sure you have completed your end of season checklist.

Happy Harvest season and Happy Fall. We are already looking forward to another gardening season in the spring 🌱

With the celebration and recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day this past Monday, we want to uplift all the wonderful curriculum that is taking place in the PPS district and in school gardens!

Portland Public schools has collaborated with Wabanaki tribes and experts over the past several years to reconfigure a curriculum that puts Wabanaki studies at the core and it's officially being implemented into students learning everyday.

We are excited to work with teachers, educators, students, and community members to make sure indigenous history isn't forgotten and that students know and continue to learn about the contributions indigenous people have made and continue to make in our understanding of the world around us.

We want to extend a huge thank you to , the Host Committee, sponsors, donors and everyone else who came out for Barn Fest on Sunday. We had so much fun celebrating the barn with you all and are incredibly grateful for the community we are surrounded by. 

We are very excited to share that FLT has reached their fundraising goals for the barn restoration project and they couldn't have done it without you. Restoring the barn is essential to the work we do at the farm and will truly improve the experience for the farmers and community gardeners at Hurricane Valley farm. We can’t thank FLT enough for their support and for putting on this event.

With their fundraising goal being met we are sad to announce that this is the end of the Barn Fest era,  but we at Cultivating Community are looking forward to more community events at the farm. Stay tuned for other ways to celebrate the farm with us very soon! 💚

PC:

We were very excited to have received a donation of 10 beautiful blueberry bushes from our friends over at .roots! These blueberry bushes are 2-3 years old, and will be planted out at Valley Street and Payson Park Community Gardens this month by our wonderful volunteers to be used by community gardeners.

We are so grateful to partners like ReGenerative Roots for helping make our community beautiful 🫐💙

‼️ Attention all City of Portland Community Gardeners ‼️

Join us for the end of season Fall Harvest Potluck Party!
We will be gathering Thursday, October 3rd from 5-7pm at the East End School Garden. The garden is located right on North Street next to the community garden.

Let's come together to celebrate the end of another beautiful growing season. If you are able, please bring a dish to share and join us for "garden olympics", Photo booth fun, seed swaps, and more!

Please be on the lookout for the fall garden cleanup form in your emails as well. You can also find them located in the garden sheds.

We hope to see you there 🧡

Join us and the for another exciting Barn Fest fundraiser to help save the 100-year-old barn at Hurricane Valley Farm. Bring the whole family and come celebrate the harvest season with friends!

While this is a free event and registration isn't required it does help us plan for how many people might attend. The registration link can be found in our bio.

At Barn Fest, you can enjoy live music by Back Woods Road, sample farm treats, sip a local craft beverage by the fire, and check out one of the local food trucks for an easy dinner. This is a rain-or-shine event but there will be a big tent in case of passing showers.

There will be lots of farm fun and activities for all ages including crafts, games, goats, s'mores, and more!

Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour Hurricane Valley Farm and the iconic white barn, while learning more about the farm's role in Cultivating Community's New American Sustainable Agriculture Project and our partnership with the Falmouth Land Trust to increase food and land access here in Cumberland County.

Bring the whole family! We hope to see you there 🚜🌾🌽

VOLUNTEER ALERT

TODAY Tuesday, Sept 17th 3:30 - 6:30 pm
AND
Saturday, Oct 5th 10 - 1 pm
at
Hurricane Valley Farm in Falmouth

Fall is in the air and that means Barn Fest is right around the corner. Come help us get the working barn to all spiffed up and ready to host a party! Barn Fest is Falmouth Land Trust's annual event to raise funds to restore the historic barn at our community farm and we are SO close to the repairs being complete.

Join us TODAY Tuesday, Sept 17th, 3:30 - 6:30 pm or on Saturday, Oct 5th 10 - 1 pm. Come ready to w**d, throw debris away, sweep, set up tables, and so much more.

The barn is located at 459 Gray Rd, Falmouth, ME 04105. Please bring a water bottle, and wear closed-toed shoes and clothes you don't mind getting dirty, we will provide tools, gloves, and snacks.

Interested in lending a hand? Email us which day we should expect you and how many friends you're bringing to [email protected] if you have any question give us a call at 207-747-7836.

We hope to see you there!

Our Community Gardens are a labor of love - Join us in continuing to cultivate safe and healthy growing spaces for our community!

Tomorrow we will be hosting our last garden rebuild workshop of the season and you don't want to miss it. We will be meeting at the Payson Park Community Garden from 10am-2pm. We will have tools, gardening gloves, and snacks but please feel free to bring anything of your own along with you.

We hope to see you there! The link to register can be found in our bio. 💚

Meet our new Ending Hunger Corps Americorps Vista Prisca Hermene! Prisca will be serving with us here at Cultivating Community and with our friends over at . Read below to learn a bit more about Prisca and what excites her about entering into this new role.

"I'm privileged to say I'll begin my service with RetreeUs and Cultivating Community this August. I am Congolese-American, and I have spent the last twelve years of my life in the famous state of Idaho. I was born in DR Congo, taking my first breath from the 'Second Lungs of the Earth. I look forward to advancing environmental education, and food security for various communities in Maine. I was fortunate enough to graduate with a Bachelor's degree in History and International Political Economy. This summer, I had the joy of working with MobilizeGreen, in partnership with the Youth Conservation Corps and the Forest Service. Previous to my work with MobilizeGreen, I worked as a Linguistic Support Specialist at Garfield Elementary Community School in Boise, ID. At Garfield, I facilitated cross-cultural connections through interpretive services, and parental engagement with refugee families of the central African region. Through my service as an AmeriCorps Basic Needs Coordinator for Boise State University (BSU), I assisted the Student Outreach Department in resource referrals for students, ensuring food security, and other student basic needs were met. I look forward to sharing my various experiences with everyone in my Vista position, as I learn and grow from the vital work of RetreeUs and Cultivating Community!"

We are so excited to have Prisca as part of our team! 👏👏

Not quite ready for summer or the gardening season to come to a close? Join us this Saturday the 7th for our last garden rebuild of the season!

We will be at the Payson Park Community Garden this Saturday, September 7th from 10am-2pm. A garden bed building workshop will take place from 10am-11am led by Roberto Rodriguez from . Drop in anytime to help out. Events like this help us in supporting people in our community access safe and healthy growing spaces.

Garden gloves, tools, and snacks will be provided but please feel free to bring your own along with you. We hope to see you there! The form to register can be found in our bio. 👩‍🌾🤲🌱🌷

We wanted to wish everyone an official happy first day of school here in Portland!

We are so excited to get out into the school gardens with you all this school year and learn about plants and local foods together 🫶🏻

Hello! Due to the weather, we unfortunately have to cancel our final Pop Up Picnic of the season! Thank you so much to the sponsors, partners, and attendees! We will see you next season!

We are so thankful for all the volunteers who came out last Thursday to help us rebuild part of the Boyd Street Urban Garden. This space is feeling so much more vibrant and we can't wait to use these beds next spring with our Youth participants to grow food for our Kennedy Park neighbors!

Haven't been able to join us for a garden bed workshop yet? There's still time to join us on September 7th at the Payson Park Community Garden from 10am-2pm. Link to sign up can be found in our bio!

We hope to see you there! 🌻

Our Boyd Street urban garden is cared for by our youth participants during the summer so that friends and neighbors in the Kennedy park neighborhood and beyond can access fresh and local produce.

Want to help keep this space thriving? There's still time to join us tomorrow from 10am - 2pm for our second garden bed building workshop. The space is cleared and ready for some much needed tlc.

Link to register can be found in our bio. We hope to see you there! 🪚🌻

Due to the weather we will be rescheduling todays pop up picnic to next Monday the 2nd at 5:30.

We hope to see you next Monday at the Boyd Street Community Garden! 💚

Want to learn how to build raised garden beds and support your community in creating safe and healthy growing spaces?

There's still time to sign up for one of our raised bed workshops coming up soon!

✨Thursday, August 22nd at the Boyd Street Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

✨Saturday, September 7th at the Payson Park Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

Link to register can be found in our bio!

We can't thank those enough who came out yesterday to help rebuild the EECS School Garden! What an Amazing transformation 💚

We are so excited to get these new garden beds filled with soil and ready for the students when they get back to school after summer vacation.

Did you miss yesterday workshop and still want to learn how to build raised garden beds? Join one of our other two workshops coming up soon:

✨Thursday, August 22nd at the Boyd Street Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

✨Saturday, September 7th at the Payson Park Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

Link to register can be found in our bio! 🥒🥕🍅

It's a beautiful day to build a new garden!

The East End School garden has been cleared, leveled and prepped with a brand new fabric barrier. Join us this afternoon anytime between 1 and 6pm to help revitalize this beautiful space and build brand new raised beds to fill with new soil.

Help us continue to create safe and healthy growing spaces for our schools and community. We hope to see you there, the link to register can be found in our bio. 🪚🍅🌻

Volunteers needed!!

Want to learn more about how to build raised garden beds and help build additional growing spaces in your community?

Join us, Fresh Food Gardens, the City of Portland Sustainability Office, and the City of Portland, Maine, for our raised bed workshop series over the next few weeks!

✨ This Thursday, August 9th at East End Community School: drop in 1pm - 6pm/workshop from 1pm -2pm

✨Thursday, August 22nd at the Boyd Street Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

✨Saturday, September 7th at the Payson Park Community Garden: drop in 10am - 2pm/workshop from 10am - 11am

Link to register can be found in our bio! 🥒🥕🍅

The fields at Hurricane Valley Farm and Packard Little Field Farm are flourishing with lots of different vibrant vegetables. Pictured here is Hibiba Noor on of our farmers in her field surrounded by Amaranth, Roselle, African Spinach, and African Eggplant!

Looking for some fresh and local crops? Keep an eye out for our farm stand schedule which will be coming very soon so you can stop by one of the markets!

Do you wanna help us in supporting experiential learning opportunities for over 3,000 elementary aged students in the Portland Public School District?

Our summer campaign is officially in full swing and we are so thrilled for the support we have received thus far from our community!

We are excited to announce that we have teamed up with the Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) and the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation to ask for your help in supporting the new School Garden Initiative.

From now through August, FPPS will be DOUBLING YOUR donations up to $5,000! We can’t thank them and you enough for your generosity and support.

Link to for more information and to donate towards this School Garden Initiative can be found in our bio.

PPS School Gardens must survive for students to thrive!
💚