At home in Buffalo.

A balanced take on Buffalo's situation.

Spring Schedule

We have our first intern. Karen has professional experience as an environmental scientist and planner in Buffalo and the Boston area. She is currently working to complete a Phase I environmental analysis of the farm property. Thanks Karen!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the last work day. We had 15 people show up and we removed 3 tons of rubble in about 2 hours. Phenomenal!!

I hope spring fever is catching. I know I have got it bad. We are getting things ready for the season. We will be planting about a quarter-acre this year and working to clear and maintain the rest of the property. Starting this Saturday, April 12th, we will be working every Saturday beginning at 9am. On May 3rd we will plant 40+ street trees around the entire block in collaboration with Re-Tree WNY's spring planting.

We need a chipper for mulching the many dying trees and the overgrowth that needs to be cleared for crop beds. If you have a chipper that you can lend to the project please contact me via email (rod@queencityfarm.org) or phone (207-9327).

This weekend. Wear boots and bring gloves if you have them. We need to pick up trash and move tree branches for making some beds.

QCF Volunteer Opportunity

This Saturday, March 1st at 9:00 am we will be cleaning out what will be the temporary headquarters for QCF. Meet at 195 Glenwood Avenue (one block north of Utica on the back side of the Engel Mansion). If you have them, bring work gloves, a dust mask and a square tip shovel. We'll bring coffee and donuts for those who like to indulge from time to time. See you there!

The winter has been eventful for QCF. We started the cold season by receiving our incorporation papers from New York State. We are now an official charitable corporation. We are working on the 501(c)3 tax exempt status from the IRS.

Our second major event of the winter was the purchase of our first parcel on the farm property. This parcel came with a house at the City of Buffalo's tax sale last fall. We received the deed and will soon begin renovations on the house. We are also planning our first planting season on this parcel. We will share details as they become available but plan on a few work days to clear trees and brush from the property.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

QCF, CAO and Urban Tree Nurseries

I am proud to announce that Queen City Farm is teaming up with the Community Action Organization's Environmental Justice Office to establish an urban tree nursery at the CAO Headquarters at 70 Harvard Place and we need your help! Tomorrow, October 12th at 1:00 we need you to assemble at 70 Harvard and lend a hand to plant saplings that we will nurture to maturity so that they can be transplanted throughout the city in parks and on streets. This is the first site in an innovative program that utilizes Buffalo resources and talent to produce the trees we need to fully recover from the October Storm.

Also, QCF friend and board member George Winfield will make an attempt to set the world record for gravedigging. George will work throughout the day on October 31st to make a powerful statement for peace and justice in our communities, our nation, and our world. You are invited to spread the word and show your support by showing up while he digs a standard size grave by hand. Please contact we with and questions or contributions to this event and I will put you in touch with George.

Thank you all for your support and we will see you tomorrow to plant some baby trees.

Boarding the Engel/Amigone House

We had a fantastic day boarding up the Engel/Amigone house and erecting a sign for 50 Women with a Vision. We had about 15 volunteers come out to paint, cut and hang boards to protect the Engel/Amigone house this winter. We also painted over the graffiti on the front of the house. Special thanks to Michael Gainer and Buffalo ReUse for their support on this project.

The midday rain stopped us from finishing the entire house so watch for details on our next event to finish the job. Meanwhile, check out more pictures from the day at Buffalo ReUse's Flickr page.

From the Engel/Amigone House we went over to Woodlawn and Jefferson to erect a sign for 50 Women with a Vision's Jefferson Community Cultural Art Park. You have to stop by and check out the vision these phenomenal women have for this corner. We are proud to have been a small part of the effort and look forward to a continued relationship with this exciting organization.

This Saturday, Collaborative Work Day!

This Saturday, October 6th, beginning at 10 a.m., Queen City Farm will team up with Buffalo ReUse and Fifty Women with a Vision to work for stronger neighborhoods and we need your help. We'll be heading to the future home of the farm, 194 East Utica to board up and secure the Engel/Amigone House for the winter. We'll be painting, beautifying, and boarding. Bring your artistic and kinesthetic talents and lend a hand. Murals and board ups, a great way to start the weekend.

At 1 p.m. we'll take a stroll down Utica and help Fifty Women with a Vision kick-off their exciting new Cultural Art Park. Their vision is to create an outdoor cultural museum that celebrates cultural diversity and they need help erecting their sign to increase their visibility in the community. The park is going to be located on the corner of Jefferson and Woodlawn, anyone with a vision is welcome to join us.

We'll see you there.

Farming the Concrete Jungle

Farming the Concrete Jungle

This article was forwarded by a QCF supporter and volunteer. Thanks Hank! It outlines the urban ag movement and highlights a lot of what we are planning and why we are jumping in with both feet. Don't miss the reference to our friends on the west side at MAP.

A brief update: We have been working diligently on planning and drafting our proposal to present to the city. We hope to bring these efforts to a close in the near future and move toward some work on the farm. I'll keep you posted. For now, check out this great article.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3297/farming_the_concrete_jungle/

Grace and peace.