Join us for our Celebration Virtual Happy Hour

First Year Harvest:  St. Michaels Victory Gardens

“D&R Greenway Showcases Charity Plots for
Food Security, Healing, and Community”

 Featuring

Liz Maziarz of Aunt Chubby’s in Hopewell Borough
and how our partnership contributed to the success of their food relief efforts.

• • • • In celebration of our first season, meet our gardeners and hear how the vision
        of a Victory Garden became reality
      • Watch the garden grow in photos beginning with creation of the unique
        socially-distanced garden plots through the bountiful harvest of vegetables,
        herbs and flowers
      • Hear from Aunt Chubby’s, a Hopewell restaurant, how the many boxes
        of produce donated from our charity gardens supported meals for local
        families in need
      • Learn how gardening during a pandemic became a saving grace of
        healing and community

FREE via Zoom

Thursday November 19 from 5-6 pm

Bring your favorite beverage to
our special Thanksgiving Virtual Happy Hour:
“First Year Harvest: St. Michaels Victory Gardens”

Sign-up at RSVP@drgreenway.org no later than 1:00 p.m. on November 19

Or call Deb Kilmer at 609-578-7470

to reserve your space and receive instructions for this FREE Zoom event!

Princeton, NJ:  November 6, 2020 ~ D&R Greenway is becoming legendary for its Virtual Happy Hours, enlivening this era of COVID-required isolation. Pour your favorite beverage and join us for this FREE event on ZOOM.  Pre-registration is required in order to receive ZOOM instructions.  Register at rsvp@drgreenway.org or call Deb Kilmer at 609-578-7470.

Celebrate with our successful gardeners at the end of our inaugural season. Individual garden plots, 10 feet apart, were created on D&R Greenway’s St.
Michaels Farm Preserve by Manager Bill Flemer just after the COVID pandemic began.  The plots, in a field overlooking the beautiful landscape, were designed to address food security and community-building in a time of challenge.

Scene of a recent socially distanced gathering among the
St. Michaels Farm Preserve Victory Gardeners.

Flemer will talk about bringing the dream of community gardens into reality by plowing the soil, adding compost, and providing a water tank for irrigation and sanitation.

Click here to read more about why D&R Greenway launched the community gardens and take a virtual walk to experience the beauty of the Preserve and view our socially-distanced garden plots from Planting to Bloom!

Located on the former St. Michaels orphanage land, the silver linings continue to grow from the initial preservation effort that saved this land from development into 1,050 houses, and instead preserved it in 2010 through a community effort spearheaded by D&R Greenway.

During this tenth anniversary year, seven plots were tended by volunteers to feed Hopewell families in need, with boxes of produce delivered weekly throughout the season to Aunt Chubby’s restaurant in Hopewell borough. Hear from Liz Maziarz of Aunt Chubby’s how the produce contributed to the success of their food relief efforts and find out how this partnership will expand in 2021.

Aunt Chubby’s team collecting St. Michaels Victory Garden
produce for the Hopewell food pantry.

Watch the garden grow in photos, from creation of socially-distanced garden plots through bountiful ongoing harvest of vegetables, herbs and flowers, from sunflowers to okra to Halloween pumpkins.

Above all, discover with the participants how gardening during the pandemic became a saving grace of healing and community.

***

BACKGROUND:

D&R Greenway Land Trust has achieved a new preservation milestone, having now saved over 21,000 acres of land in New Jersey and the Delaware River watershed. Preserving open land for life and creating and sustaining public trails gives everyone increasing opportunities to enjoy Natures’ beauty and healing gifts. Our preserved farms and community gardens provide local organic food for our neighbors—including those most in need. Through strategic land conservation and stewardship, D&R Greenway combats climate change, protects birds and wildlife, and ensures clean drinking water for future generations, keeping the Delaware River and its tributaries healthy in all seasons. D&R Greenway’s mission is centered in connecting land with people from all walks of life, throughout the year.

D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center, home to its art galleries in Princeton, is currently closed to ensure health and safety due to COVID although its outdoor trails and labyrinth are open. Visit our Facebook and Instagram pages and www.drgeenway.org to learn about the organization’s latest news and virtual programs.

D&R Greenway Land Trust, One Preservation Place, Princeton NJ 08540