Composting at Brunswick Garden
Brunswick Community Garden is proud to offer a comprehensive composting program for its members. Members have 24/7 access to drop off their food scraps whenever most convenient for them. We accept fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, as well as seasonal items like pumpkins and corn stalks. Collected material is mixed, formed into a pile and managed by the Brunswick compost team throughout the decomposition process. After 3 - 6 months the pile is screened and the resulting compost is made available for use in the garden. Creating this rich, organic material closes the circle on food recycling, removing organic matter from the waste stream, to be used locally for the benefit of the community.
Composting harnesses the natural process of decomposition by utilizing microorganisms that are already present in the environment. At Brunswick, we leverage an aerobic form of composting, were microbes consume oxygen as they undergo their biological processes, breaking down the organic matter. The compost team manages the levels of moisture, oxygen and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio to keep the compost pile in balance. By creating optimal conditions for the microbes to flourish, we are able to turn food waste into healthy soil.
Last year Brunswick Community Garden took in over 800 pounds of compostable material and we want to see that number grow!
Become a member this season and help us curb greenhouse gas emissions, reduce our solid waste, and start rebuilding the soil in Jersey City.
BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ
Our resident Bee Keeper is Mufti Ahmed, a Hamilton Park resident and a happy honey bee beekeeper.
2018 is the first year his hives have been living in the Brunswick Community Garden, a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Mufti started everything from scratch while consulting with a professional beekeeper along the way.
The honey bees seem to bee happy creating fresh honeycomb, foraging and pollinating. Each hive contains a colony of bees which consists of one queen, workers and drones. Beekeeping in this urban environment requires dedicated special attention to ensure the honey bees have adequate resources and space to grow their colony.
Mufti's interests are expanding to learning more about the sustainable impact of honey bees, blossom fields, pollination, education, research, honey bee conservation and much more.
"So far it's been an interesting journey and I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure for many years to come".
EDUCATION at Brunswick Garden
The Scandinavian School of Jersey City has had a plot for several years. Teachers come with a class of children to plant and work on their plot. Parents help also. The Health and Food Club at McNair Academic High School is growing a variety of plants in containers. An informal group of children with an adult (member) comes often to the Garden in the afternoons, even during the off-season.
Within the Garden community we occasionally have short presentations at the beginning of a monthly work party. More regularly, there is a lot of informal education and information transfer that takes place during those work parties, when people work together on a project. People learn what is a weed, what is not, what various plants are and what is happening with the compost and the bees.
We encourage group visits to the space -
to schedule a time for a field trip with your group please send us a note at BrunswickCommunityGarden@gmail.com
BUTTERFLY GARDEN
The butterfly garden is planted with plants that attract and support butterflies.
We have a Butterfly Bush, Buddleia, and a great many native wild milkweed plants.
The Milkweed Plants are very important for the life cycle of Monarch Butterflies.
Feral Cat Colony
The colony of seven or more Cats at the space pre dates the garden itself.
For years, aside from an elderly woman who used to feed them by pushing food under the gate,