Building Business and Gardens West of Richmond

by theartbuff

Last year at about this time, a few of us got together and talked about a new business idea, with major implications for our neighborhood. A garden center, where we could buy plants without driving to West Seneca or Amherst. And more than that, let's make it a cooperative, so that we have some control over what we can buy there. And so, the seed was planted for Urban Roots Community Garden Center. We gathered surveys and put the word out about this plan this summer, and we are moving forward toward incorporation, and our first summer of providing plants to the community.

We expect that as spring appears you are looking forward to gardening just like we are. Urban Roots Community Garden Center is offering a 2006 Buyer’s Club in order to start providing the Buffalo community with garden products...

Orders are due March 27.

THE OFFERINGS
• A wide variety of flowers
• Vegetables & herbs
• Heirloom tomato seedlings – hurry limited supplies!

Pictures of many of these plants and further descriptions are available on our website: www.urbanroots.org. We are only able to offer a limited number of plants – only plants that are ordered by March 27th can be guaranteed. The pickup date for the plants will be June 3rd at the corner of Utica & Brayton,(two blocks west of Richmond), 10am - 2pm. A printout of descriptions and pictures will be available at Diggin’ It at 801 Elmwood Avenue (885-7884) and you may also drop off plant orders there. Or plan on attending our Urban Roots meeting on Monday, March 20th, 6-8pm, Pilgrim St. Luke’s United Church of Christ (corner of Utica Street & Richmond). The pictures/order forms will be on hand and steering committee members will be available to answer questions. Sign up at our website if you are interested in joining our forum discussions or our listserv to receive notices.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDLINGS. These tomatoes are like tasting the finest wines. The flavors in each plant are unique and truly delicious. We’ve worked hard to find a nice mix of plants for a city garden with big juicy beefsteaks, dense paste varieties for canning and sauce, cherries, and our new favorites, black tomatoes noted for their sweet richness. Each four-pack will produce dozens of fruits from early August through late September. Plant these 2 to 3 feet apart, they average 4 feet tall. Expect lots of new friends. This is one of the few, if not the only, places to purchase these seedlings in the Buffalo area.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT. Urban Roots is committed to supporting the community by networking with local and regional growers. Days Park seed saver Richard Price (rwprice13@msn.com) donated the heirloom tomato seeds we are using for the Buyer’s Club. His Faerie Seeds are available at Lexington Coop. Laura Marchetti will be growing our heirloom tomatoes. She works at Native Offerings farm the home of Buffalo Organics’s Community Supported Agriculture. (www.nativeofferings.com) Mitchell Farms is a local wholesale nursery located in Alden, New York, and is providing our perennial, annual, vegetable and herb plants.

UPDATE ON MAKING URBAN ROOTS A REALITY. We have made steady progress this winter toward legal incorporation as a nonprofit cooperative business. Our steering committee has been working on a strategic and business plan, as well as initiatives in the areas of marketing and outreach, volunteers, membership and fundraising. In addition to this Buyer’s Club, we will be offering soil and mulch, plant swaps, and special plant sales on designated Saturdays this year at the corner of Utica and Brayton Streets. We expect to begin our membership and fundraising campaigns this summer, in order to secure funds to offer more extensive services in 2007.