Gardens / Gardening Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on garden-gardening.
From the Blogs
From Uncertainty to Action: What You Can Do About Climate Change
- May 17, 2015
The Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN) is sponsoring its first conference, a time for community members from across New England concerned about climate change to come together. The conference will focus on a Jewish response to climate change, ideas for action, and how climate change is fundamentally a social justice issue. It will provide organized opportunities to connect with others interested in working together. Summery of the conference: Panel exploring what Judaism adds to our understanding and ability to respond to climate change Two rounds of workshops, ...
Eden Village is hiring farm educator apprentices for 2015 growing season!
- January 26, 2015
Eden Village Camp is Hiring! Submit Your Application About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff ...
“Farm the Land Grow the Spirit Summer 2015″
- January 5, 2015
- 1 comment
flgs_2015 This ia a free opportunity for young adults 19-29 to come together in an interfaith setting for Jews, Christians and Muslims to live, farm and study together from June 1st - July 23rd 2015 at the Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY, with time for mentoring and vocational discernment. It is a Multifaith, Peace, Justice and Earthcare program. We seek students who are grounded in their religious tradition, serious about spriiuality and the state of the planet, and open to learnig and living in an intentional community setting. This is our 6th ...
Start-Up Moshav: Growing our Demonstration Garden in Berkeley, California
- December 2, 2014
Young Urban Moshav provides a community engagement approach to creating the local Jewish Community Center's new educational garden.
The MAP: Sukkot (and Shmita) Resources and Events
- October 3, 2014
SUKKOT AND SHMITA RESOURCES AND EVENTS contributed by all the organizations and initiatives on “the Map” http://jewcology.org/map-of-initiatives/ Here’s a quick bit of Sukkot Torah to start us off: “The four species of the lulav represent the four types of ecosystems in the land of Israel: desert (date palm), hills (myrtle), river corridors (willow), and sh’feilah, the lowlands (etrog). Each species has to be fresh, with the very tips intact – they can’t be dried out, because they hold the water of last year’s rain. Together, they make a kind of map ...
A Green Opportunity to Share Love with Israel – Steven’s Garden
- September 23, 2014
- 3 comments
Memorial community garden founded by Tzeddekes Tamar Bittelman z"l in Tzvat reaches its “chai” birthday and new generations.
Earth Etude for Elul 16- The Compost Bin in Our Hearts
- September 11, 2014
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by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen My compost bins are so much more than just a place where compost happens. The area beside the three wire and wood bins is place where I often feel my father’s spirit – he was raised on a farm, and though he became a professional, gardening was in his blood, and he spent much of his spare time in his garden and his orchard. Yet, it is not just the reminders of my father or the sense of his hovering spirit that gives meaning to my compost bins. They are symbolic of so much – which may be more the truer reason that I think ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10- Topsy Turvy Bus
- September 4, 2014
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by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein The world seems a little topsy turvy these days. A plane missing. 223 girls kidnapped in Nigeria. 3 teen agers kidnapped and murdered in Israel. A plane shot out of the sky. Israel in Gaza. Rockets in Israel. Too many children killed in the streets of Chicago. Too many deaths. When does it stop? In the Fox River Valley, Illinois, after a punishing winter of epic proportions, it is nice to be outside. Six congregations, part of the nascent Prairie Jewish Coalition, sponsored the Topsy Turvy bus. What is a ...
Greening Your High Holidays
- September 2, 2014
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are right around the corner. There are a number of things you can do as a way to resolve to be more environmentally aware this new year. Use local and organic ingredients in your meals: The healthiest foods for the holiday are foods that are grown locally without any pesticides. Food purchased from local farmers or that you grow yourself will be fresher and have a higher nutritional content than food flown in from hundreds of miles or more away. If you are planning to serve the traditional snack of apples and honey, consider that ...
Earth Etudes for Elul – An Introduction and Etude 1
- August 26, 2014
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This evening the month of Elul begins, the month that leads us up to the first day of the new year, Rosh HaShanah 5775. The sun rises and sets, again and again, and with each cycle we get a day older, with each cycle the world brings pain and joy, anger and delight, frustration and calm, fear and trust. Soon those days will have added up, and we will be a year older than the last time we ate apples and honey together. We ask: How have I changed? What have I done? What do I wish I had done? What do I hope to do in the future? How has the world changed? How did I...
Green Your Home
- July 3, 2014
By David Krantz. Maybe Kermit was wrong — maybe it actually is easy to be green. Or, at the very least, it is pretty easy to start being green. There are many projects that you can do that will not just green your home, but will keep the green in your pocket, too. Plant a garden There’s no better summer treat than fresh fruits and vegetables grown in your own backyard. And no plot of land is too small for a garden, even if that garden is only a few potted cherry-tomato plants on your windowsill. Plant trees As long as you’re planting, ...
Get Your Hands Dirty at the Nevatim-Sprouts Conference!
- May 5, 2014
Nature-Based Workshops for Educators in Jewish Preschools, Day Schools and Synagogues Reisterstown, MD – May 5, 2014 -- Pearlstone Center is holding its 4th annual Nevatim-Sprouts Conference, Sunday, July 13th through Wednesday July 16th. This professional development conference brings together early childhood, day school, and religious school educators from around the country for training in Jewish garden and environmental education. Participants learn the basics of educational garden design, share lesson plans and Jewish, environmental curricula, tour the ...
Earth Day Every Day – Join a Webinar!
- April 23, 2014
Tuesday April 22nd marked the 44th annual Earth Day! What will you do this year to protect our planet? Join the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the RAC) in commemorating Earth Day with an online information session on how to successfully create a green “culture” in your congregation. How do we make our environmental efforts an integral part of the culture of our congregational communities? How do we align our actions with our Jewish beliefs of environmental stewardship? Our synagogues have the potential to model environmental behavior and ...
Land Banks Are the Future of Urban Gardening in Major Cities
- December 18, 2013
Written by Tali Smookler, Repair the World Fellow-Philadelphia A major opportunity for urban garden growth lies in the estimated 40,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia. This has the area equivalent of 2,700 football fields. They attract crime, and make it harder to create healthier neighborhoods. Financially, vacant lots are costly, with the city spending $20 million on maintenance alone. Furthermore, the lots decrease home equity by $3.6 billion, while the city is owed $70 million in delinquent taxes from the lots. And yet, these spaces have the potential to instead be ...
Honoring the Vera Lieber Memorial Garden
- November 5, 2013
My local Orthodox Jewish day school, the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, has been on a green roll. It’s especially inspiring because it doesn’t seem like just one person has been pushing it. It’s more like a group of people slowly came to the same conclusion, that there should be more environmental awareness, and they have all be acting on their own to bring green consciousness to the school and the students. For all of these actions, the school was recognized this year with a Bethesda Magazine Green Award. It’s the kind of thing ...
The Urban Adamah Fellowship Now Accepting 2014 Applications
- October 17, 2013
Connect to Something Bigger: Earth, Community, Social Justice, Jewish Spirituality The Urban Adamah Fellowship, based in Berkeley, CA, is a three-month residential training program for young adults (ages 21–31) that combines urban organic farming, social justice training and progressive Jewish learning and living within the setting of an intentional community. Through the operation of Urban Adamah’s one-acre organic farm and internships with social justice organizations, fellows gain significant skills, training and experience in all aspects of ...
Making Dance Green
- August 13, 2013
By Stacey Menchel Kussell, director of Renewal: A Film About Art and Ecology Contemporary ballet and environmentalism are not topics that often go hand-in-hand. That is until you meet Israel’s Vertigo Dance Company. The dance group’s unique approach to ecological activism is the inspiration for my new film Renewal. Dance is one of Israel’s most impressive art forms, and it engages people worldwide regardless of language. Renewal is an opportunity for new audiences to learn about a unique and powerful aspect of Israeli culture, and gain new ...
Earth Etude for 3 Elul – Paying Attention to Roots
- August 7, 2013
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by Maxine Lyons Being a passionate gardener, I have been tending several gardens in my yard as well as many flower pots on our large deck so my hands are in dirt quite often these days. I have been transplanting yellow primroses, succulents, day lilies and sunflowers, focusing on the integrity of the roots, noticing how each root system is different. For example, some plants require a full root for transplanting while others need a partial root to survive. Succulents do not need roots at all; pieces can be immersed in dirt and re-establish their roots in ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2 – Elul Writing Project
- August 6, 2013
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by Molly Bajgot We’re nearing a time when the Earth will not provide as bountifully as it has in the past. In exchange for a loss of resources, I believe the Earth is pleading for us humans to return to ourselves, our deep souls, so we recognize a bounty that lives within us. Could this lead to the feeling of fertility in the human spirit, we may extend the times of plenty. Answering this call is not easy. We cannot stop deadlines so we may each have the time return to ourselves as a form of resiliency. It’s a necessary evil to take this time. We may ...
The Pearlstone Apprenticeship Experience
- May 20, 2013
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The opportunity to live and work in an immersive Jewish community first drew me to the Pearlstone Center in the winter of 2012. When a few months later conversation about creating a seven month immersive experience began to percolate I was ecstatic about the opportunity to be a part of making it come to life. Today Pearlstone’s Integrated Sustainability Apprenticeship is seven weeks into its inaugural season, and hosts eight fantastic apprentices who are transforming our farm, retreat center and the broader Jewish community whom we have the pleasure of ...
