We are keeping ourselves busy preparing for our 6th season in Greater Boston prison gardens! The New Garden Society is looking for next year’s crop of Volunteer Garden Educators to work with our incarcerated students, and continue the positive transformation of landscapes and lives in our community. Please send us your application to join us as a Volunteer Educator by February 18, 2019 or connect with us at one of these events!
Prison Garden Workshop at NOFA/Mass Winter Conference
Saturday, January 12, 2019 | 9 - 10:30 AM | Worcester State University, 486 Chandler St, Worcester, Massachusetts 01602
Prison Gardens: Strategies for Therapy and Job Training
Prison gardens are proliferating across the US. Join TNGS Co-Founder and Director, Renee Portanova, to learn the ins and outs of developing and implementing horticulture programs in state prison yards. The workshop is open to those who are interested in therapeutic horticulture and vocational training. We’ll provide sample curriculum, best practices and approaches to providing garden training on a minimal budget. For more info on attending the conference, visit here.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Monday, January 21, 2019 | 11 AM - 4 PM | 25 Evans Way, Boston, MA 02115
Join a hands-on planting project led by our Co-Founder and Director, Erika Rumbley, and learn more about The New Garden Society's work providing horticulture training for incarcerated students in the Greater Boston area. Craft a care package for families served by the Elizabeth Stone House, a local organization partnering with adult and child survivors of domestic violence and related trauma to achieve safety, stability, and overall well-being. Excerpts of Dr. King’s speeches will play every hour in the Courtyard. Museum admission will be free, and entrance is based on the museum’s capacity.
Please consider bringing donations of new toiletries and gardening supplies for our service projects (travel sized preferred):
toothbrushes
toothpaste
tampons & pads
lotions
soap
hand sanitizer
deodorant
baby wipes (full size or travel size packages)
gardening hand tools - plastic only
new men’s cotton gardening gloves
Open House & Call for Volunteer Garden Educators
Monday, February 11, 2019 | 5 - 8 PM | Crystal Spring Farm, 76 Everett Skinner Road, Plainville, MA 02672 | Snow date, February 18
Would you like to share your horticultural and agricultural know-how with our incarcerated community? If you are intrigued by the idea of teaching once a month in a prison garden in 2019, please swing by to meet with our team of Educators and find out if the experience is for you. Educators will give short presentations on the position and their experiences in the prison gardens at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30pm. Learn about how you can join the team as a full-season Educator or a one-time Presenter. There will be plenty of time for any questions and to mix and mingle with the TNGS crew. Refreshments provided! You can also read the full Volunteer Educator job description here.
Feel free to contact TNGS if you have questions or can't make the event: email info@thenewgardensociety.org or call (857) 203-0585.