Soul Fire in the City

To free ourselves we must feed ourselves”

Application deadline Extended to March 20th

PURPOSE

Soul Fire in the City provides raised bed gardens to community members and groups in the 518 (Albany, Schenectady, and Troy areas). Soul Fire Farm offers materials, seedlings, soil, labor, and ongoing guidance at no-cost to support folks to grow their own food and medicine towards self-reliance and community resilience.

Soul Fire in the City centers Black, Indigenous, and other people of color impacted by food apartheid, unemployment and COVID related challenges, and incarceration. The program also centers refugees, immigrants, people with disabilities and chronic illness, elders, and families with children. Regardless of identity, all are welcome to apply.

APPLICATION

In 2024, we have capacity to build 10 new gardens in the Capital Region, and support up to 50 built previously. We can also support by connecting you with a community garden. Applications for new participants in the Soul Fire in the City program open on Thursday, February 22nd, 2024, and will close March 20th, 2024.

If you have already obtained a garden through Soul Fire in the City in 2023 or earlier, and would like to continue receiving seeds, seedlings and support, please complete the form below. In addition, if you would like to volunteer to support Soul Fire in the City gardeners with labor, deliveries, or mentorship, please respond using the form below.

If you have any questions, please reach out to programs@soulfirefarm.org 

In 2024, we will provide our home gardeners with:

  • One 8×4 foot wooden raised bed with compost soil mix
  • Scouting to identify ideal location for your garden
  • Seeds and seedlings
  • Ongoing support including email, phone call, and in-person visits
  • Two in-person gatherings in the city
  • Free admission to Soul Fire Farm educational programming (virtual and on-farm, excluding Immersions)

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is increasingly essential that we grow our own food and medicine towards self-reliance and community resilience. Soul Fire Farm offers materials, seedlings, soil, labor, and ongoing guidance to support folks in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy to establish raised-bed gardens outside of their homes, drawing on community collaboration and mutual aid. We see this work as a continuation of that legacy of a long lineage of BIPOC growers who developed alternative food systems to sustain their own communities.

In 2020 we established 40 home gardens and in 2021 we built 14 more!

“The garden is a true gift to our mental health. Before ever having harvested a single bean, we are nourished by the sight of green sprouts erupting from the ground, the feeling of dirt under our nails, and the smell of the soil. Each leaf brings hope and promise. In this time when we feel such a lack of control, we are blessed to have the opportunity to slow our breath, kneel down, and watch for signs of life in the dirt….”

Soul Fire in the City gardener

Deciding to grow some of your own nutritious food is a statement to yourself that, Yes, I matter and I am worth it. Congratulations on reclaiming your ancestral right to belong to the land and have agency over your own health. Growing food has many tremendous benefits, including emotional healing, physical exercise, and nutrient-dense, life-giving harvest that you can share with your loved ones.

Learn how to grow your own food with our Urban Gardening Guide.

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