Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Get Some Free Trees from Power in Dirt!

If you are looking for some trees to plant in your adopted lot, Power in Dirt can help!

Here is some information about the trees we have available:


American Linden
  Features:  
Clusters of creamy yellow, fragrant flowers in early summer.   
Culture:
Full sun to partial shade; moist, well drained soils; tolerant of alkaline soils.



Black Gum
Features:  
Glossy green leaves that turn scarlet; regular horizontal branching is attractive in winter.  
Culture:
Full sun; moist, well drained soils; tolerates dry and wet sites; slightly acid soil.



Red Maple
Features:  
Clusters of small, red flowers in early spring; red or yellow fall color. 
Culture:
Full sun to light shade; prefers slightly moist, slightly acid soils; tolerates wet sites.



Eastern Redbud
Features:  
Bright, magenta pink flowers in spring, produced in large quantity; yellow fall color; mildly shaggy bark shows up well in winter.   
Culture:
Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-drained soil (trees in full sun may need more water); tolerates 
alkaline soils.



  Honey Locust
  Features:  
Compound leaves with small leaflets, leading to a dappled shade under the tree; autumn color usually yellow.   
Culture:
Full sun; moist, well drained soil; tolerates drought, high pH, and salt.






If you are interested in obtaining any trees or have any questions, please contact 
john@powerindirt.com, (410 )448-5663 ext 122  or
tara@powerindirt.com, (410) 448-5663 ext 120

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Photos from the Garden Sign Making Event


This past Saturday, Nov 9th, Power in Dirt held a free Garden Sign Making Event at the Poppleton Children's & Community Garden. The weather was amazing, as were the signs created. We had about 40 people come out to support the event and 40 new garden signs were made. 

We hope everyone had a wonderful time and Power in Dirt hopes to have the event again soon!
   

    Community groups gather together to paint signs for their gardens.

Community members hard at work, constructing and painting.

    Members from the Poppleton Community Garden start to paint a sign.


A big thanks to Falkenhans Hardware, Belle Hardware, Sirkis Hardware, and Art with a Heart who donated their time and supplies to make this event a success.



Volunteers from Art with a Heart happily finishing a sign.

   
 Lennox St Community Garden shows off their new sign.
                                         
                                        
A family from Franklin Square displays their new garden signs.


If you have any questions regarding the event, please contact 
john@powerindirt.com, (410 )448-5663 ext 122  or
tara@powerindirt.com, (410) 448-5663 ext 120





Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Free Sign Making Event


Hello greeners,

   We learned recently that a community garden on a city-owned lot was ruined in a mowing incident. While this unfortunate situation is an isolated one, we hope to avoid future mishaps by recommending that everyone create a sign indicating their lot as a community-managed green space. To help facilitate this, we’re hosting a free sign-making event at the Poppleton Children’s & Community Garden, 14 N. Schroeder St., on Saturday, November 9th at 10am.  We will provide tools, materials, and construction help, so please come out, make a sign, and show your support!


We are also looking for donations of any extra materials you may have, including:
  • ·         Outdoor paint – spray or gallon paint
  • ·         Pressure-treated wood – 2x4 or 2x6 pieces
  • ·         Nails/screws
  • ·         Stencils
  • ·         Paintbrushes


   Unless you prefer to drop them off ahead of time (contact us to arrange a drop-off time), materials can be brought to the event. Please let us know what you’ll be bringing so we can plan accordingly. Your donations are greatly appreciated!

   If you plan on attending, please RSVP as soon as possible so we can make sure to have enough supplies for everyone. You can reach us at 410-448-5663, ext. 120 (Tara) or ext. 122 (John). You can also email us at tara@powerindirt.com or john@powerindirt.com. We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have as well.
Feel free to spread the word! Thank you so much for your support!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Meet the Power in Dirt Team! -- Tara

Tara Sloane likes to travel, take photographs, and dig in the dirt as much as possible, preferably at the same time.  Last year she served with the Conservation Corps in her home state of Minnesota, where she fell in love with cultivating and maintaining community green spaces. She is eager to put down some roots in Baltimore and share her passion for growing through Power in Dirt!


Tara works out of the Parks and People Foundation at 800 Wyman Park Dr., Suite 010.
She can be reached at (410) 448-5663 ext.120 or tara@powerindirt.com

Meet the Power in Dirt Team! -- John


John Tracy is from the beaches of southern New Jersey. In 2012 he graduated from West Virginia University with a B.S. in Landscape Architecture. After graduation he ventured out to Ohio, where he was introduced to the world community gardening and community greening. He has now made his way to Baltimore and is excited to transform vacant lots into vibrant community spaces. 


John works out of the Parks and People Foundation at 800 Wyman Park Dr., Suite 010. 
He can be reached at (410) 448-5663 ext.122 or john@powerindirt.com

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

You can dance, you can dance...

Everybody look at your MANTS! 

That's MANTS, not to be confused with PANTS: http://www.pantshow.com/ This year we got the opportunity to check out the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (http://www.mants.com/), an opportunity for vendors to display their plant materials to buyers and plant enthusiasts. The Baltimore Convention center was filled to capacity for three days with thousands upon thousands of plants, ranging in size from tiny flowers to three-story high trees! The last day, Power in Dirt solicited donations from vendors and collected a total of 46 plants, including shrubs, flowers, and trees. CGRN and Parks and People Foundation's Environmental Education program were also successful in collecting donations, and we're all excited about getting them out into you gardens, parks, and schools as the weather warms up.

GiGi organizes the group of MANTS plants at their temporary home.

Our newly acquired conifer collection.

Tree of Life Ministries

Tree of Life Ministries celebrates the holidays.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Broadway East Work Day

Planting trees

Power in Dirt partnered with the Baltimore Wake Up (http://baltimorewakeup.org/) to help revitalize a vacant block in East Baltimore. Check out a celebrity appearance from The Wire's Sonja Sohn!
 
Group picture with Sonja Sohn (center)
 
More than 80 people volunteered on 5 work days for a total of 225 hours worked over the course of the 8 week initiative.
 


The group, headed by the New Broadway East Community Association, planted 10 trees and 800 bulbs, removed trash and overgrowth, and built a scenic walkway through the lot.

 

The Baltimore Wake Up project was developed by the non-profits ReWired for Change and the violence prevention program Why Murder? Through the WakeUp, community groups get technical assistance from coaches with expertise in a community improvement area and grants to conduct neighborhood improvement projects.

Ten trees have found a new home

 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Planting the Seeds of Recovery


The addiction recovery center Man Alive Inc., in collaboration with the Neighborhood Design Center, used the Love Your Block with Tree’s grant to kick-start their ambitious plans for 2004-12 N. Charles Street. Man Alive first adopted a lot on Charles Street in 2011 and since then have worked to maintain and care for the lots while a plan was generated. While excitement for the project was great amongst the clients and staff, the project faced a series of obstacles in the first year and a plan was never fully developed. In the summer of 2012, with help from the Neighborhood Design Center, the garden committee coalesced around a plan for a grove of fruit and flowering trees that would act as a memorial orchard.  Grace Sweeney, lead organizer of the project for Man Alive says she’s excited “for our clients and staff to have a positive impact on the community and to provide an environment where our clients can work outside and literally see the ‘fruits’ of their labor.” Staff at Man Alive hope that the project can tie in with their own programs and help serve as a form of horticultural therapy for clients struggling to recover from addiction. Grace notes that “work outside will be coupled with a therapy group inside where [clients] can talk about their experiences and share how working with the plants and fruit trees influence their recovery.”

The Love Your Block with Tree’s grant (http://www.parksandpeople.org/greening/grants-for-greening/love-your-block-with-trees/) allowed Man Alive patients and staff to get a head start on their plan by planting native perennials in a designated meadow area and street trees in front of the center.  Man Alive hosts biweekly workdays to help clean up the prodigious amount of trash that accumulates on the highly-trafficked lot and prepare the soil for spring planting. If you are interested in helping out with the project please contact Grace Sweeney at gesweeney@manaliveinc.org or Mikah Zaslow at mzaslow@ndc-md.org.


 planting native plants

 hauling soil

cleaning trash
the whole group