EVENTS
2025 SPRING/SUMMER Events!
MARCH 27 2:30-4:30pm: Clean-up at the garden! As the weather grows warmer, the time has come to prepare the garden for another bountiful season of growth and harvest. Join Rutgers Ecology students and the RU Pantry+ in a clean up and build out to make sure that the beds are prepared for our community of gardeners, chefs, students, and staff alike. All hands on deck!
APRIL 3 2:30-4pm: The Healing Garden’s annual seed exchange! Join Rutgers alumni and artist Anne Percoco in a workshop highlighting the overlap between art and nature, ending with the burial of a time capsule of seeds buried on the Healing Garden grounds. Afterwards, join us at the Paul Robeson Galleries for an exhibition/performance about the tidal mudflats of the Passaic River by PRG 2024 Sci-Artist in Residence andrea haenggi, from 5-7pm.
APRIL 10 2:30-5pm: Figure drawing at the garden! Join Rutgers professor Layqa Yawar in capturing the beauty of our growing garden. Supplies will be provided. Afterwards, the fun continues with the Price Institute at the Newark Public Library for our next installment of Our Newark Futures, where we welcome Andrea Sauchelli at 6:30.
APRIL 17 3-5pm: “Where does the Sunflower go?” is a collaboration between the Humanities Action Lab and Audible to think more about what it means to have a garden with plants that removes toxins from the soil, known as phytoremediation. Professor Orin Rabinavich and horticulturist Kelley Forsyth, alongside others, will guide this workshop in thinking about how to make community-based projects sustainable and truly beneficial to the community.
APRIL 22 (Time TBA) : This Earth Day, architect Nathalie Seagriff will be leading a sun survey of the Healing Garden to gain a better understanding of how the sun travels across our space.
MAY 1 6-8pm: Film Screening at the Garden! As the semester comes to a close, join American Studies M.A graduate Emily Gioberti as she completes her capstone with a showing of the rarely-seen 1971 documentary Black Rodeo. Black Rodeo, directed by Jeff Kanew, shows one of the largest Black Rodeos held on the East Coast, when the Wild West made its way to New York City. Cowboys, Harlemites, and even Muhammad Ali all make an appearance on-screen as we learn more about the role of urban cowboys in the present and the history of Black cowboys in the 19th century. Afterwards, we’ll hear from an American Studies panel breaking down the importance of Black representation in the media. Food will be provided!
JUNE 14 11am-2pm: The Health is Wealth Herbal Festival! Including various workshops, an herbalist market, and more! More Information TBA.
Follow us at @pricehealinggarden on Instagram for more information!
Past Events/Workshops
SPRING GARDEN CLEAN UP!
MARCH 22, 2024 @ The Healing Garden!
Time: 10am-12pm Noon
Free and open to the public
Join us for our first event of the season and meet folks at the garden!
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The Greater Newark Sustainable Farming Practices and Local Entrepreneurship Program
This FREE workshop program was supported by the Northeast SARE Professional Development Program
MAY 20 & 21, 2023 9am-6pm EST
ABOUT
The Greater Newark Sustainable Farming Practices and Local Entrepreneurship Program will provide a 2 full-day workshop intensive for Greater Newark area Farmer/Service Provider participants to learn different Indigenous and sustainable farming practices and be advised by trainers from the program workshops through their work directly with training farmers.
Hands-on experiential learning from soil testing to the development of self-designed demonstration beds and plant-based products, as well as additional readings, presentations, and access to trainers as advisors will help farmers learn sustainable methods and framings to rethink their training practices and business models and as they apply them. The workshops will be followed by a year-long demonstration bed project.
Service providers from the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, Urban Agricultural Cooperative, Newark Science and Sustainability, and Elevate Newark will lead each workshop. These workshops include training on traditional Indigenous medicinal herbs with the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, led by knowledge bearers of the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape; soil testing and in-depth composting methods and local policies from the Urban Agricultural Cooperative; and local farm management, business, and networking through Newark Science and Sustainability and Elevate Newark’s workshops on local entrepreneurship in markets that include the holistic health and aromatherapy industry.
The Healing Garden at Rutgers University will serve as an onsite demonstration space where farmers and service providers will teach farmers through a series of workshops and year-long demonstration bed project that will run for Spring 2023-Fall 2024.
As farmers complete each workshop, they attain digital badges acknowledging their completion of the workshop programs. At the end of the program, they also will have completed a demonstration plot onsite that illustrates one or more specific aspects of the program that they have learned and will be implementing and teaching at their farm. Participants and their organizations will also be included on an interactive map of the farming landscape in the region, incorporating their demonstration plot on sustainable farming methods and their local farming businesses into the larger context of farms in the Greater Newark and Northern New Jersey region.
THE WORKSHOPS
Regional Weeds as Medicine
Learn about plants that may be considered “weeds,” but in fact have long been important to our region as medicinal plants. Develop educational handouts on weeds and medicinal benefits and learn through hands-on practice in terms of identifying and learning about propagating these plants and creating healing products with beeswax and plant extracts for your farm, business, and community.
Faculty/Trainer: Michaeline Picaro
Ecopreneurship for Herbalists & Urban Growers
Workshop Description: An Ecopreneur is a self-employed, autonomous, ecologically responsible individual helping to build sustainable communities. Launch your own business utilizing herbs and fresh produce!
- Create an eco-business
- Branding & Marketing
- Packaging
- Distribution
Faculty/Trainers: Tobias A. Fox and Roxana Marroquin
Composting small-scale food and garden scraps with Aerated Static Pile method
Learn how small tumbler systems, vermiculture systems and especially closed bin aerated pile systems are all appropriate solutions to composting waste in our urban neighborhoods. Join us to understand the legal framework set by NJDEP and the City of Newark (esp. the Adopt-a-lot program), the operational advantages of the methods above, and develop a plan for how you want to compost in partnership with UAC’s programs and partners. Topics will include composting basics, different approaches of different small-scale systems, NJDEP and City rules that must be considered.
Faculty/Trainer: Emilio Panasci
Business Planning
Participants will learn how to use data collection and real-time impact analysis to improve and develop their business plan. They will also learn how partnerships and local networking can also be involved in their business plan in terms of sustainability and viability. Through the 2-hour workshop and a follow-up meeting with participants once they bring their ideas back to their organizations, participants will develop a business plan model specific to their organization and targets.
Faculty/Trainer: Jacqueleen Bido
Urban Farm Entrepreneurship
The Cooperative Market Food Hub — how local growers can tap into our existing network that sells online, in person, wholesale and special event catalogs. Join in with over 20 local growers and makers in a cooperative system where we pay suppliers fairly, price things affordably and maintain safety, freshness and efficiency in local food. Topics will include weekly logistics, harvesting and food safety resources, marketing, pricing, and community education through markets.
Faculty/Trainer: Emilio Panasci
MEET THE WORKSHOP TRAINERS
Jacqueleen M. Bido, Ed. D.
A Newark, New Jersey native, Dr. Jacqueleen Bido earned her Doctorate from Seton Hall University in Educational Leadership, Management, and Policy. Dr. Bido served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom during her time in the US Navy as an Information Systems Tech. As a former District Administrator for Parent and Family Engagement in the Orange County Public Schools Title I Department she coached and trained 73 Parent Engagement Liaisons and schools in implementing successful communication strategies and systems for engaging parents, families, and the community. While in the Orange County Public Schools Minority Achievement Office she focused on Males of Color, My Brother’s Keeper and Find Your Voice Initiatives to impact academic and social-emotional disparities. She is the founder of Elevate Newark and BIDOISM, LLC., which are consulting companies created to empower and help people, their organizations, and the communities they serve to invoke social change. She continues to expand her mission through business consultation, program development, and grant writing to support local and national initiatives.As community collaborator and dynamic trainer she seeks to engage all stakeholders in a “Strategy for Peace of Mind.”She is a mother to five beautiful children, who have been her greatest achievement because their mere existence proves the importance of the work she does to make the world a better place for them and all to live.
Website: www.elevatenewark.com Instagram: @elevatenewark
Tobias A. Fox
As Founder and Managing Director of the community-driven, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Newark Science and Sustainability, Inc and founder and Facilitator of the Newark Community Food System, Tobias A. Fox have demonstrated collaborative leadership on a grassroots level for ten years. Aside from being a writer and having a decade of independent publishing experience, he is a professional organizer, urban farmer, photographer, and coordinator of an annual Sustainable Living Empowerment Conference. Fox also conducts various community events, presentations, and workshops on sustainable living practices and assisted numerous urban farmers and gardeners with the cultivation of their agricultural space. He has also assisted with the planting of nearly 100 trees in low-income communities with high environmental concerns. More recently, Fox has expanded his global outreach into the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Uganda.
Website: www.sasglocal.com Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: @newarksas LinkedIn: @tobiasafox
Roxana Marroquin
Agua de Jade Apothecary, an herbal medicine and consultation business, is the vessel from which Roxana Marroquin, MS create and distribute herbal offerings, provide individual consultations, and facilitate sharing of knowledge among her community. Marroquin is a spiritual herbalist, artist, art therapist, organizer, and gardener. Trained under master herbalist Karen M. Rose, of Sacred Vibes Apothecary and with a Masters in Art Therapy Counseling from the College of New Rochelle, she centers indigenous wisdom, ancestral spirituality, a holistic approach to healing and a social justice framework into her practice. Marroquin have facilitated plant medicine making workshops internationally throughout the United States, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala; facilitated workshops and presentations at GreenThumb’s 34th Annual GrowTogether Conference, 1st and 3rd Annual NYC Spiritual Herbalism Conference, collaborated with Make The Road NJ, The Youth Farm, various community gardens, organizations, coffee shops, and pop up locations throughout New York/New Jersey.
Website: www.aguadejade.com Instagram: @rox.sana.sana Facebook: @Roxana-Marroquin
Emilio Panasci
Emilio Panasci is the Founder and Executive Director of Urban Agriculture Cooperative. He manages staff and budgets, provides program development, writes grants, and oversees the daily work of the organization, which includes managing the gardens, farmer’s markets, and composting projects. He also co-chairs the Newark Community Food System with Tobias Fox. Panasci has a Bachelor’s from Rutgers College Honors Program and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Policy Development, with a focus on community development organizations. Emilio has worked for 12 years in non-profits and urban agricultural projects, with a passion for social justice, community development, healthy sustainable living practices, and integrated neighborhoods. He grew up primarily in Maplewood, NJ, and now lives in Newark.
Website: www.urbanagriculturecooperative.org Instagram: @urban_ag_coop
Michaeline Picaro a member of the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation and has recently organized a new community farm in Northern New Jersey with her community called, the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm. This community farm will create jobs, Food sovereignty, and provide education, sharing of plant knowledge, nutrition, and spiritual health. She is a mother, artist, nurse, and healer. Her concern for the effects of industry and the depletion of farming fields on the environment has forwarded her interest in plants in terms of whole systems approaches to community farming as well as holistic health, wellness, and spiritual connectivity. Michaeline’s nursing, holistic/energy healing, and art backgrounds have allowed her to experience different modes of thinking in terms of healing and education and encouraged her continuing journey with natural medicine for healing and food foraging. Her work stems from early native medicinal teachings from her father combined with spiritual teachings from being and sitting with nature at an early age. These teachings became a way of life, including the daily connection of listening, watching and practice of all that Mother Earth teaches.
Website: www.munseethreesisters.org Instagram: @munsee_threesisters
PROGRAM ADVISORS
Jamie Bruno is the Distribution Lead at Emergency Feeding Organization, Community Foodbank of NJ where she and her team provide emergency food provisions to over 800 New Jersey Partner Agencies. Originally trained in the arts, Jamie began her journey in food first through agriculture, working on and documenting small farms in the American South throughout 2011. In 2012 Jamie became heavily involved in Newark, NJ’s vibrant community gardening scene, later serving as a Foodcorps Service Member with Greater Newark Conservancy. In 2017, Jamie co-founded Urban Agriculture Cooperative, an urban agriculture support and infrastructure development nonprofit. Highlights of her work there include building The Cooperative Market, an online farmer’s market which aggregates Newark and locally grown products for sale; coordinating agriculture and food training reimbursement programs to local community members; and organizing free soil testing for community gardens with the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. Jamie’s current professional focus includes coaching and learning from team members and working closely with her colleagues in an effort to provide the best service possible to CFBNJ Partners. She’s data centric, excited about fermented foods, and loves talking about organic waste composting.
Kelley Forsyth is the Horticulturist for Branch Brook Park Alliance in Newark, NJ. In addition to working at Branch Brook Park, Kelley Forsyth is the sole proprietor of Kelley Garden Design where she has designed and built many gardens. Convinced that beauty and education inspire people to care the natural world, Kelley is committed to teaching stewardship and facilitating creative expression in the outdoors. As the Horticulturist at Branchbrook, Kelley has lead thousands of volunteers of all ages to take help care for the park with the goal of inspiring a love for appreciation for its verdant beauty. She has recently earned a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Rutgers, New Brunswick.
Chief Vincent Mann is the Turtle Clan Chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation, which encompasses Passaic County NJ, Warwick, and surrounding areas in New York. Chief Mann has held the title of Turtle Clan Chief for approximately twelve years. For the past five years, he has worked with the NYU Environmental Studies department. In that time, he participated in the construction and implementation of a community health survey focused on identifying and addressing health concerns within his community. To honor Chief Mann’s efforts to shed light on his community’s efforts to fight back after the Ford toxic dumping, he was awarded the Russ Berry Foundations highest award of Unsung Hero. Chief Mann is working on co-creating the United Lunaapeewak. This project is broadly focused on issues of cultural restoration and the construction of a permanent educational center for the greater citizens of New Jersey and Southern New York. He is also working on co-creating an organic farm, known as the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Garden. The prayer behind this is to create local jobs and, more importantly, to bring back food sovereignty to his Clan. As an advocate for cultural and environmental issues, he continues to this day to offer up prayers for humanity and for our natural environment.
Karen Rutberg is the director of the South Orange Elks Rent Party Garden, a community food pantry garden that raises more than 3000 pounds per season of fresh healthy produce for the community. She is a seasoned planner, grower, and urban agriculture leader, with 25+ years of complex project leadership and management experience. She has passion for urban agriculture, community gardening, community development, and enhancing individual and community health through environmental stewardship. Her agricultural work includes community and food pantry gardens and farms in the South Bronx, South Orange/Maplewood, and Newark, NJ. Prior to her work in urban agriculture, she worked in technology for CUNY’s Center for Advanced Research in Spatial Information and at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and as a city planner for community development projects throughout New York City.
PROGRAM COLLABORATORS
Tugba Altin, Designer for the interactive garden/farm mapping project and signage for the program. PhD candidate, Environmental Design/Architecture, University of Calgary
Omanjana Goswami, Consultant for soil testing and demonstration bed development
Kathleen John-Alder, Associate Professor, The Department of Landscape Architecture, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Keary Rosen, Faculty member in the Department of Arts Culture & Media, Rutgers University-Newark and the Founding Director of the Form Design Studio and Lab at Express Newark.
SJ Waldon, Master’s Candidate in American Studies, Rutgers University-Newark
PROJECT MANAGER
Alexandra Chang, Interim Associate Director, The Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience
Questions? Please email: alexa.chang@rutgers.edu
