Center for Educational Partnership Anniversary Celebration

Institute of Applied Agriculture : Community Garden Internship 

 

This summer, the Sheridan Street and Field of Greens Community Garden hosted their first intern from the University of Maryland, Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA)! The staff and educators at our Riverdale site were very pleased with Marco's diligence, eagerness to learn, and valuable knowledge about forestry and agriculture.

Marco P. Carlucci,is an Agriculture Forward Student at the IAA, studying Urban Forestry and Sustainable Agriculture. Carlucci has interests in plant sciences, entomology, community gardens, and much more. Marco spent the majority of summer interning at the gardens completing daily maintenance tasks, supporting youth programs, collecting insects, and teaching the extremely popular safe mosquito abatement workshops at The Farmers Market at Maryland. Check out Marco's video on Safe Mosquito Abatement on our facebook page, it has reached 1,443 people and it has been shared 4 times.

On behalf of all of the UME staff and educators, thanks Marco, for a great summer and we wish you the best in the 2016-2017 Academic school year!

Urban Farm Bill, Big Victory for Prince George's County   

Matthew Dernoga, Council Member Lehman's Office   Michelle Nelson, UMD Extension Demetrius Lee, ECO City Farms   Ereini 'Nini' Yiannouris, ECO City Farms & PGC FEC

On July 19th, 2016, Prince George's County Council passed Council Bill 25-2016 which broadens the definition of an urban farm to allow any organization to participate in urban farming activities, further ensuring access to fresh foods.

CB-25 expands urban farming opportunities to the R-80 and R-55 residential zones, providing more land to cultivate fruits, vegetables and flowers where residents live. In addition, this important piece of legislation allows landowners participating in urban agriculture to apply for a property tax

credit that was passed last November.

Michelle Nelson, Urban Ag. Coordinator at UMD Extension PGC, and Demetrius Lee, Summer Intern at ECO City Farms, gave fantastic testimonies and Council Members Lehman and Glaros shared some truly moving remarks about the importance of urban farms to diverse county residents.

The passing of this bill is a huge victory for the county and for community members interested in urban agriculture. "CB-25-2016 received support from several organizations and individuals, including the Prince George's Soil Conservation District; Prince George's Food Equity Council; Kaiser Permanente; ECO City Farms; Branch Avenue and Bloom; University of Maryland Extension; Capital Area Food Bank; and a number of aspiring urban farmers, and managers of local farmers' markets." - Quote from County Council Press release which can be found here. 

Calling All Volunteers,
We Need Your Help

The 2016 Prince George's County Fair
is a great opportunity to give back to our community! The 4-H Youth Development Program has volunteer opportunities for both youth (ages 12 and up) and adults.
This is a great opportunity to earn student service learning hours towards graduation and adult volunteers can make a huge impact in the lives of local youth. We are also in need of judges for the youth project exhibit and the 4-H contests.

 

The county fair is scheduled from September 8th -11th, 2016 at The Show Place Arena-Equestrian, 14900 Pennsylvania Ave in Upper Marlboro, MD.  We need volunteers for all days who can assist with tasks such as, setup, unloading, registration, 4-H indoor exhibits, entries hanging, 4-H special events, and breakdown. 

 

Please view the schedule below; it provides the dates, times, events and how many volunteers will be needed throughout the scheduled fair week. 

 

Volunteer Judges are required to have a level expertise in a various project and contests areas such as fashion, music, theater, Horticulture, Nutrition, Health, dance, sewing, engineering, and baking (other areas are available).

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