Community members volunteer in local  park as part of Clean & Green

Isles' new Clean & Green service cleans up, beautifies, and maintains vacant lots and parks in Trenton. Clean & Green kicked off in June, and already five parks and more than 35 lots have been addressed in the Trenton Historic Development Collaborative (THDC) and East Trenton Collaborative (ETC) neighborhoods. In both neighborhoods, Clean & Green responds directly to resident-identified needs. 

Clean & Green is also a quick, visible, and cost effective response to the vacant property survey Isles completed with the Trenton Neighborhood Restoration Campaign in summer 2014, which identified 22% of all properties in the city as vacant. The long term goals of Clean & Green go beyond property maintenance to include increasing resident perceptions of safety, access to and use of open space and recreational opportunities, and local job creation. 

Isles' Clean & Green crew, three Trenton residents with strong ties to the THDC and ETC areas, will engage and train resident volunteers to care for parks and lots. Isles also provides technical and material assistance to grassroots organizations in the THDC neighborhood that are carrying out complementary activities funded through our Small Grants Program. Both Clean & Green and the Small Grants Program are supported by the New Jersey Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program. 

Trainees of 2015 season at the Incubator Garden

Isles' Incubator Garden, adjacent to our Tucker Street garden, offers hands-on training in urban agriculture to increase the number of experienced gardeners in the city. The garden provides 12 raised plots for people seeking personalized training in horticulture and leadership.
 

Ten trainees of the inaugural 2014 season planted their own gardens with the help of Isles' staff and, after completing the growing year, moved on to develop new gardens, bolster membership of older gardens, or volunteer at school gardens.

"Gardens are places for community, and everyone can learn," said Alex, a trainee of the 2014 season. "There is great power in sharing our education." 

Building off this success, Isles is now in the midst of its second year of Incubator Garden training. This year, 11 trainees have completed five core workshops on topics such as soil & plant health, composting, and organic management, and are now harvesting their produce. Trainees have also participated in workshops at Duke Farms and spent a Saturday morning visiting other gardens and gardeners in the Isles Garden Support Network.

"Gardening is about experimentation," said Incubator Garden coordinator Jim Simon. "One trainee wanted to defy gravity and grow watermelon up a trellis, so we helped her find a way to make it work. There's no clear right or wrong way to garden, we just help people find their own way."