Rachel Hogan talks about Nurture Nature Center's plan for an "Urban Recycle Garden" Friday evening. |
It's been part of the Nurture Nature Center's (NNC) plan from the beginning to incorporate urban gardening and an educational program to go with it into their facility on Northampton Street, and now after five years of operation, it may finally happen.
The Center launched with a Kickstarter campaign party Friday evening, attended by nearly 100 people, to highlight its plan to create an "Urban Recycle Garden", which requires $8,000 to become a reality.
"We're really excited about this program," said Rachel Hogan, NNC's director. "We have a really beautiful vision of how we can use that area and demonstrate how people can grow their own food."
"One of the things we're going to do is leverage it as an educational tool," Hogan said. "We want to demonstrate things people can do at their own homes."
The majority of the garden's containers will be recycled, and the emphasis will be on practical gardening, said NNC's Kate Brandes, who is a licensed professional geologist, certified floodplain manager, and a Penn State Master Gardener.
"I think the bottom line for me is this is a project for regular people. It's different from a community garden or a green roof," she said.
Kate Brandes looks out over the roof and area behind Nurture Nature Center, which the organization hopes to transform into a blooming garden this summer. |
If the Kickstarter campaign exceeds the $8,000 goal, Nurture Nature plans to apply the money to continuing the green space, creating a rooftop garden just above the back wall of the building.
That part of the project has also been in the works from the beginning, Brandes said, but is more costly.
Needed are a structural certification from a licensed engineer stating the roof can hold the weight of the garden, as well as modifications to the fire escape balcony to make it safer for visitors. Additionally, the center would like to replace the heavy fire doors that lead to the fire escape with paned-glass ones so the garden will be visible from the third floor "Science on a Sphere" room above.
Friday evening, a number of people were seen donating toward the project, some through the Kickstarter campaign, and others writing checks directly. By the end of the evening, $2,500 had been garnered for the project, in addition to NNC's Kickstarter campaign.
The online effort runs through Saturday, May 25 at 10 p.m. and had garnered $440 in pledges from 11 backers as of late Friday night. By mid-Saturday afternoon, the amount had grown to $765.
If Nurture Nature Center reaches it's goal, the garden project will be implemented immediately and yield its first crops this summer, Brandes said.
Additionally, the center is planning a campaign closing party for the backers on Thursday, May 30.
Brandes said she's very much looking forward to making the garden a reality.
"We've been waiting to do this for five years," she said.
To contribute to the Nurture Nature Center's Urban Recycle Garden or view more details about the planned project, click here to visit their page on Kickstarter.
For more about Nurture Nature Center and its mission, visit the organization's website.
Updated at 1:57 p.m.
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