Volunteer Opportunities

Team of DC MG volunteers at the Pollinator Corridor along Van Ness Main Street, Fall 2021. Photo credit: Julia Moroles.

The volunteer opportunities listed below have been approved by the DC Master Gardener Coordinator. They are divided into three sections:

1. Upcoming Opportunities, listed by date, are pre-scheduled volunteer workdays organized by local schools, community groups, public parks and gardens and other organizations that have requested our support. This section also includes any upcoming workdays for our ongoing volunteer opportunities. This section of the page is updated frequently.

2. Ongoing Opportunities, listed in alphabetical order, are volunteer opportunities that are happening throughout the year. Many are "drop in", others require contacting the project coordinator in advance to sign up for.

3. Special DC MG Volunteer Programs listed at the bottom of the page are projects and activities that were developed by our very own DC MGs. They include the Grow DC school garden program, the 4H Seedlings for Schools program, the Native Plants and Pollinators initiative and the Van Ness Pollinator Corridor. They are the pride and joy of the DC MG program and deserve all our support!

Contact information has been provided for all volunteer activities; please coordinate dates and times you intend to volunteer directly with project leads.

Log your hours, and find other volunteer opportunities with UDC CAUSES on the Better Impact website at this link. Most volunteer hours can be logged in the Master Gardener Unscheduled Hours opportunity on the Better Impact Opportunity List.

If you would like to add a new activity to the list or suggest a different volunteer opportunity (for yourself or for the entire group), please send an email to mastergardener.dc@gmail.com with a brief description.

1. Upcoming UDC/ DCMG Opportunities

Mann Elementary School Gardening Project (Hours are flexible)

Come Partner In The Garden With Our School!

Horace Mann Elementary, a ward 3 DCPS public school, is looking for local individuals to garden with us in our School Garden.

This Fall, working communally with teachers, parents, Master Gardeners, and volunteers, we plan to revamp our school vegetable garden at the corner of Newark and New Mexico into a working farm. Together we will set goals, make plans, share the workload and the crops, and continue working together throughout the year. Mann students will watch the farm grow and classes will take on-site field trips in the farm to learn about our progress and efforts. Each season we will have both the Farm and the expertise of urban farmers to share with students.

Hours are flexible and varied, gardening experience is a plus but not required. There is no compensation other than the fruits of our labor and the satisfaction of supporting young learners.

What makes this project different is that we have been growing native and vegetable gardens - both traditionally and hydroponically – for over 30 years, we know first hand the health and educational benefits of teaching children about growing food. But while we are fortunate to have the space and tools to garden, we have limited access to people who have a real passion for working the soil and growing food.

Being part of a multigenerational, community-based team, will give our kids more of the experience of what gardening is all about than the typical visits to demonstration gardens can provide. We want to know about how teams collaborate, how the work gets done, the fruits of labor, and why people make the effort when a grocery store is but a few blocks away. Using our most accessible vegetable garden, Mann Farm, which is at the corner of Newark and New Mexico streets and adjacent to our soccer field, we think this project will build a community of gardeners who can help answer those questions.

You may be one of those experts or just someone who loves digging in the dirt. Please consider joining us!

Application Form

https://tinyurl.com/School-Garden-Application

Contact

School Garden Coordinator Amy Jagodnik at ajarts3702@gmail.com.

Early Childhood Garden Support @ Educare Early Childhood Center (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 7)

FRESHFARM partners with Educare early childhood centers to provide food and garden education for young children and community engagement for staff and families around nutritious, seasonal foods. As part of this programming, we maintain gardens at each Educare site. We are looking for master gardeners to help us in the medium-sized garden at Educare IDEA (4501 Lee St NE, Washington, DC 20019) with repairing and lining some garden beds, filling repaired beds with new soil and planting, and weeding.

Ideally, we could use a few hands in the coming weeks. We are also planning to coordinate a set of volunteers working together for larger group work on Friday, Aug. 15 or Friday Aug. 22.

Point of contact for volunteers: Tailor Coble, Early Childhood Program Manager, tailor@freshfarm.org

Contact Tailor for more information.

School Garden Support @ Latin Public Charter School (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 4)

School Garden in Ward 4 Looking for Summer Support

Washington Latin Public Charter School (2nd street campus) has a beautiful school garden that will mostly be unattended over the summer. We have plants already in and thriving, but we need support with maintenance -- mostly weeding, pruning and light compost management. We have a ton of plants that will need harvesting, and you would also be welcome to the bounty! (Currently, we are swimming in strawberries, blackberries, snap peas, and lettuce.) Volunteer times would be flexible and on your schedule, 1-3 days a week from June-August. We'd also be open to a continued partnership throughout the school year. If you're interested, please email Maya Barlev at mbarlev@latinpcs.org.

Kramer Middle School Garden Support (Thursdays 9:30- 12:00 @ Ward 8)

Enjoy young people and want to promote garden education for DCPS students? Engage directly with students and support DCPS teachers by assisting with on-going beautification, harvests, garden demonstrations and cleanliness of the school garden at Kramer Middle School, 1700 Q St SE, DC. This role is under the direction of Jacob Campbell, Program Associate, Project Based Learning in the UDC CAUSES Center for Urban Resilience, Innovation and Infrastructure (CURII).

Please reach out to Jacob at jacob.campbell@udc.edu, if you are interested.

Please note that a current DCPS Background Clearance is required for this role (at no cost to you.) Instructions will be provided.

2. Upcoming Partner Organization Opportunities

School Garden Planting Calendar Update-- Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) -- Flexible to your schedule

The OSSE School Gardens Program is updating the School Garden Planting Calander and is looking for a few Master Gardeners to support this effort. This is a remote opportunity. The work will be done between Nov. 1, 2025- Jan. 1, 2026. Hours are flexible, and master gardeners can expect to dedicate between 1-10 hours on this project depending on their availability.

The calendar was created in 2013 using the 2012 US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’) Plant Hardiness Zone Map. In 2023, an updated map was released that reflects the increased average temperatures around the country, including DC. As a result, the planting calendar needs to be updated to reflect the current conditions. There is also an opportunity to update recommended plant varieties that are less susceptible to the types of diseases and pests that persist as a result of the increased temperatures and to consider removing and adding new plants. We will work in a shared MS Word document.

This calendar serves as a guidance document for DC school gardens to help staff with the timing of planting and harvesting. It’s also useful for teachers who are planning lessons that correspond to the plant’s development.

Reach out to Sam.Ullery@dc.gov before Oct. 1, 2025 to join this effort.

Bread for the City Garden (Flexible to your schedule)

Bread for City (1525 7th St NW) has a gorgeous roof top garden space in need of some love and care! Due to funding cuts, there is no longer a full time gardener. The organization, who provides a robust number of services to low-income DC residents, is looking for knowledgeable volunteers willing to clean up the space and plant some low maintenance perennials, herbs, or veggies. Depending on how involved and regular the volunteer would like to be, there are also opprotunities help lead or plan garden events or help maintain higher maintenance vegetable garden. The main contact for this opportunity, Trazy Collins (tcollins@breadforthecity.org) is able to be very flexible on dates and times with regular timeline for volunteers is Monday-Thursday 9a-4p with the option for 1st and 3rd Fridays as well!

Capitol Hill Village Senior Apartment Building Garden support (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 6)

One to two gardeners needed to revitalize two small community garden boxes. One box will be used for food as a community garden and the other for flowers. The garden boxes are located at an apartment building for low-income seniors. The building is located at 900 G Street NE 20002. The volunteer schedule is flexible. Those interested should contact Arie Parker at aparker@capitolhillvillage.org.

Garden Guidance for Food For All DC (A few hours on Thursday, Friday or Saturday @ Ward 2)

A Small Greenhouse and Raised Bed Urban Garden in need of Gardening Expertise

The non-profit organization, Food For All DC, runs a food distribution program from the Universalist National Memorial Church at 1810 16th St, NW. FFA provides healthy groceries to 1400 food insecure DC residents every week. This year, FFA started a food growing garden in the walled courtyard and has grown about 50 basil and italian parsley plants for distribution to its home-bound clients. The garden program includes a greenhouse, growing stand, electricity for inside lights, and irrigation on a timer. There are three raised beds that currently have lettuce, spinach and kale seedlings. As a first project, FFA has reached out to partner organizations that would like to teach apartment dwellers how to grow herbs on southern exposure window sills. There are volunteers to do the work, but they need someone with expertise in growing herbs and other food plants to show them the next steps.

We are looking for a DC-based master gardener who can give a few hours every week on Thursday, Friday or Saturday according to programmatic needs. If interested, please contact Peter Sage at 202-489-8676 or petersage@amurt.us.

Washington Youth Garden in the National Arboretum: Garden Workdays (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 9-12 @ Ward 5)

When:

Weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 9 am to noon. They are drop-in sessions so feel free to just show up! If you've never been, or it's been a while, plan on spending the first half hour or so in a brief orientation.

Where:

The Washington Youth Garden

U.S. National Arboretum

The exact location is here. You can enter the Arboretum from the R street entrance (2400 R Street NE) or the New York Ave entrance (3501 New York Ave NE). And FYI there is a one way traffic route implemented in the Arboretum until 5/15.

What:

Weeding, mulching, bed preparation, planting, harvesting, and more! We provide the tools and gloves, just remember: dress appropriately for the weather and bring a bottle for water and a snack if you'd like (or you can snack on plants like me😆). \

Why:

The Washington Youth Garden serves as a demonstration garden and educational space for everyone who comes through it. You get to learn about gardening and help create the space that others get to experience and learn in too! Furthermore, we donate a lot of the produce we grow to families/staff at our D.C. partner schools. Feel free to read more about our story and our different programs and events here, or check our weekly newsletter, FONA Field Notes.

Other Important Information:

Health and safety is very important to us so in addition to protective clothing and water, we also want to address the following:

- Masks: We encourage you to do whatever you feel comfortable with.

- Restrooms and Water: We have a single portable restroom on site available and we have potable water at our pavilion available to fill bottles/wash hands.

- Tool usage: We will be explaining how to use & clean garden tools before any task so don't worry if you have never used them before.

- Breaks: Take as many as you need! This session is for you to have fun so if you need to stop and take a breather feel free to do so at any time.

Contact: Max Skoglund (mskoglund@fona.org) with any questions

Martha's Table: Garden Education and Coaching (Wednesdays 5-6:30 Fridays 4- 6 @ Ward 8)

Location:

Martha's Table

2375 Elvans Road SE Washington DC 20020

Organization Type:

Community-based non-profit with food, nutrition, and emotional wellness programming

Volunteer Activities:

1. Healthy Happy Hour- healthy snacks, mocktails, and emotional wellness activities on our garden terrace. Volunteer duties would include garden tours; education around growing produce and how to incorporate into healthy meals/snacks; tips on types of produce to grow in various home environments

- Wednesdays from 5-6:30 pm

2. Community Garden Coaching- supporting our participants in maintaining their own 3x3 raised garden beds; providing growing and harvesting tips and education; assisting with planting and harvesting

- The last Friday of the month from 4-6pm

3. Early Education Center Volunteer- leading gardening workshops and support for garden beds with pre-schoolers. Days/times to be decided between program lead and volunteer. ideally 2x per month

Contact: Sarina Sechrist if you are interested

P: 202-643-4016
E: ssechrist@marthastable.org

The Well at Oxon Run: Farm Workdays (Tuesdays, Thursday, and some Saturdays 11-2 @ Ward 8)

DC Greens', The Well at Oxon Run has reopened for its third growing season! The farm and community wellness space are looking for volunteers every week to help support in multiple tasks throughout the farm.

We are welcoming volunteers on the farm Tuesday and Thursdays from 11am-2pm and some Saturdays from 11am-2pm. All volunteers will find available shifts via our Volunteer Portal. We kindly ask that all those interested in volunteers make a portal with us, so we are able to keep track of all our volunteers as well as let our volunteers have the agency to sign up and receive all the necessary information up front. We will have volunteer hours until the end of our season, October 31. Volunteer will see we have a handful of Saturday slots they are welcome to come and join us in the fields.

Volunteers will have various tasks throughout the season and can check in with myself prior to their selected shift on the kind of work they would like to potentially do. We will try our best to assign them to a task they will fit the scoop of work they are trying to find more knowledge in! We will have tasks regarding our field turnover, seedlings, setting up our irrigation system, weeding, adding compost to our fields, and overall maintenance of the fields.

Blue Plains Greenhouse Support (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 8)

The Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, home to the local, sustainable, recycled fertilizer product Bloom, is looking for skilled volunteer Master Gardeners to manage its small and currently underutilized greenhouse to do outgrowing for the community. The time commitment will vary depending on the number of gardeners involved, but estimated at 5 or more hours a week.

Greenhouse duties include:

1. starting and maintaining seedlings and tree saplings

2. set up of the irrigation system (currently inoperable)

3. maintenance of the cooling system (cleaning water and adding bromide)

4. monitoring of the climate control system

5. monitoring plants

6. develop a plan and schedule for plants for the year, including donation to seedlings to food banks and community/school gardens

7. monitoring condition with a checklist

Email allison.schneiderman@udc.edu and april@bloomsoil.com if you are interested

Blue Plains Address: 1385 Canal St. SE, Washington, DC 20003

Garden Guidance for Eden Products, City Center Charter School and Holy Name Catholic Church (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 5)

Eden Products (economic empowerment program for adults healing from mental & physical health issues), City Center Charter School (low income families), and Holy Name Catholic Church (low income Hispanic families) are collaborating on a garden project at 1125 Neal Street NE in NMA (close to Gallaudet). The National Arboretum has built an outdoor classroom, 10 garden beds, three compost bins, and shed that are ready to be put to use. Will you help us?

We need:

Master Gardener to help guide us to prepare our soil now for planting and help us decide what and where to plant (approx. 3 hrs. a week)
Master Gardeners to provide workshops that will engage our communities with the garden (in person and virtual)

Please contact Candace@R199.org

Historic 19th St. Church Seeks Rain Garden Guidance and Maintenance Support! (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 4)

This historic church is looking for help maintaining their rain garden. They need some guidance in terms of which plants are native and should remain, and which plants are invasive and should be removed. Reach out to church member Evelyn Sellers at 202-271-8423 if you are interested. Also feel free to reach out to Ali Schneiderman (MG coordinator) with questions as well.

Address: 4606 16th St. NW

Garden Maintenance and Horticulture Therapy at St. Elizabeth's Hospital! (Flexible to your schedule @ Ward 8)

Saint Elizabeth's Hospital serves adults with severe and persistent mental illness in Washington, DC. The hospital is located adjacent to the Congress Heights Metro parking lot in Ward 8. We can offer long-term, one time, and special event gardening opportunities for individuals or groups of volunteers.

We have a need for volunteers to assist with garden beds on hospital grounds that are not part of the treatment environment for patients, and we also have rewarding opportunities to garden with our individuals in care. We have a horticulture program that serves individuals in care on the units where they live and throughout the hospital to meet therapeutic and/or vocational needs. We can accommodate volunteers' scheduling needs with a variety of gardening volunteer placements, just ask! Please contact Emily Monahan Abney at emily.monahan@dc.gov and cc allison.schneiderman@udc.edu or 202-299-5525 for more information.

3. Ongoing Opportunities and Partner Organizations

Anacostia Community Museum

Derek Thomas at the Anacostia Community Museum in Southeast Washington DC is looking for 2 Master Gardeners to help with 5 gardens beds plus 3 exhibition beds, including one from a project called "Food for the People". Volunteers are expected to come in twice a week for about 2 hours each time.

The Anacostia Community Museum is a community museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is one of twenty museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution. It is located at 1901 Fort Pl SE, Washington, D.C., DC 20020

https://anacostia.si.edu/

For more information, please reach out to Derek directly at: derek@thomaslandscapes.com.

Ballou Senior High School

Ballou Senior High school is starting a community/school garden and is looking for members of the community to sit on the board and to assist with the planning of the garden. If you are interested in supporting this effort in any capacity, please contact Jackie Iloh.

Contact:

Jackie Iloh

Ballou Senior High School

3401 4th Street SE,

T: 202.794.4975 (Direct Cell Line)

E: jacqueline.iloh@k12.dc.gov

Casey Trees

A favorite of many DC Master Gardeners, and highly praised for their top-notch training, Casey Trees has a full fall schedule of volunteer opportunities up on their website. Check here for more:

https://caseytrees.org/events/list/

Community Compost Cooperative Network

The DC Parks and Recreation (DPR) Community Compost Cooperative Network uses new critter proof and smell proof compost bins designed by Urban Farm Plans to allow trained community members to compost food scraps with garden waste from DPR and partner DPR gardens to responsibly create high quality compost. To join each member must take an hour training and help process compost 1-hour a month.

Each cooperative can handle around 100 active composters or about 1 ton of material a month. DPR currently has 50 cooperative compost sites with a capacity of 5000 people actively composting or 50 tons of material a month with no operating costs and no carbon footprint. Currently there are more than 1000 people composting around 20 tons a month in this network.

If you'd like to become involved, there are two main ways roles you could take on: manager or member.

As a manager, your responsibilities are to:

Train future co-op members (will be trained to do this)
Organize once a month work day
Quality control

As a member, you are required to:

Take a 1-hour training
Help process compost 1-hour a month
Provide an active form of communication

How to join?

Follow the link below to a map of all 50 Compost Cooperative Sites in DC.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1akNdaurEaQvTXMf8ja1v94c3yZI&ll=38.89801498743098%2C-77.01536354999996&z=11

Pick out the nearest co-op and if there’s a manager listed email them to get on the next training. If there’s no manager or if you have any questions email Joshua.singer@dc.gov

City Blossoms

City Blossoms has a lot going on! They have opportunities open at four sites:

Marion St. Intergenerational Garden (1521 Marion St. NW)
Girard Children's Garden (1480 Girard St. NW)
The Farm at Kelly Miller Youth Garden (301 49th St. NE - behind the school)
NEW! Fort Stanton Rec Center

They have also just partnered with Dreaming Out Loud to revitalize an urban farm at the Fort Stanton Recreation Center. The Fort Stanton Urban Farm is located across the street from the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum in the heart of Anacostia and Ward 8. It is a whole acre and includes four hoop houses, a well, and a tool shed. Their collective plan for this green space is to restore the existing hoop houses, add soil, add irrigation, and purchase tools to be able to start growing produce in the space. The produce will be distributed to local residents through Dreaming Out Loud’s Black Farm CSA. We will also create a youth garden that includes pollinator beds, an outdoor classroom, and colorful educational signage. The youth garden will be used as City Blossoms’ fifth Community Green Space and will serve as a site for field trips and after school activities for surrounding schools and early childhood centers.

Check out their website for more information and to register: https://cityblossoms.org/volunteer.

Or email Nicole Schenkman, their Communications and Outreach Manager, at: nicole@cityblossoms.org

Common Good City Farm

Common Good’s City Farmers program is an opportunity to take your involvement with our farm to the next level. As a City Farmer, you will have the opportunity to participate in multiple aspects of running an urban farm, including hands-on farm tasks, youth education programs, our farm market, community events and more.

We ask each volunteer to commit to coming weekly for 12 weeks and start new sessions about every 6 weeks. Many City Farmers choose to extend their volunteering and experience multiple parts of the farm season.

Although tasks will change seasonally, see the list below to get an idea of what each session will involve. Different time slots will have different responsibilities so you can choose what works best for your interest and your schedule.

Apply here.

REQUIREMENTS

Our City Farmers program is for volunteers 16 years of age or older. Volunteers under 18 must have a parent/guardian sign a waiver.

All levels of experience are welcome!

We ask that you:

Be committed to volunteering weekly for the length of the session you register for.
Are open to learning and participating in a variety of tasks
Show up with a friendly, positive attitude
Read the session descriptions and only sign up if you are open to all activities listed
Attend the orientation for your session

City Farmer Sessions

See below for descriptions of the different sessions and visit our application page to apply.

FARM WORK SESSIONS

Sunday 9am - 12pm: Assist the farm manager with seasonal tasks, including prepping beds, planting, weeding and harvest.

Tuesday 5 - 8pm: Assist the farm manager with seasonal tasks, including prepping beds, planting, weeding and harvest.

Wednesday 8 - 11 am: Harvest Day! Assist with our weekly harvest and any other tasks needed on the farm.

Wednesday 10 am - 1 pm: Harvest Day! Assist with our weekly harvest and any other tasks needed on the farm.

MARKET SESSIONS

Wednesday 4 - 7 pm: Volunteers will assist with setting up and running our farm stand: Harvest and wash produce (if necessary), package produce, bring produce and equipment over to market, set-up display, assist and check out customers. This volunteer session will run from April 14 to November 17.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.commongoodcityfarm.org/city-farmers

DC Greens

Start seedlings in trays for the next transitions of crops we are preparing.
Helping us bed prep to plant seedlings.

Set up irrigation systems for our rows.

Move mulch to our pathways.

Harvesting produce to provide to community members during our programmatic events.
Gathers leaves for our compost and help turn it over.
Organizing our farm like building sheds and painting produce signs for our beds.

Weekly volunteer shifts are on Tuesday & Thursdays from 11am-2pm. In the near future Saturday slots will be available. Please continuously check our social media & volunteer landing page for when they are available. SIGN UP USING THIS LINK!

To make the sign-up process easier, we encourage all volunteers to create their own portal prior to volunteering with us. Walk-ups are welcomed but will still be required to create an account with our volunteer management system.

DC Natives

DC Natives is an all volunteer, local non-profit that supports a healthy climate by increasing pollinator habitats and creating the local beauty we believe every DC resident deserves. We provide free assistance to residents to plan and install pollinator gardens. DC Natives hopes these gardens will foster a love of gardening and a deeper understanding of the environmental significance of pollinators. We offer the gardens as a vehicle to help bridge communities, underscoring the shared environment that connects us and the importance of collaboration to improve it.

We are looking for volunteers to help us support the gardeners we currently have and expand our capacity to serve more residents. Master Gardeners could support DC Natives by helping to spread the word about our organization, plan and design gardens, helping residents prepare their space, helping to install gardens, and offering support on residents' gardening journey. Our busiest seasons are spring and fall when we visit residents' homes and install gardens.

To learn more go to dcnatives.org and to volunteer click on the Get Involved page to contact the team and help us build communities and extend the pollinator pathway through DC. If you have questions or want to volunteer, you can also contact fellow DC Master Gardener, Hollis Luzecky: eckingtongardens (at) gmail (dot) com.

DPR Communal Farms - Lederer Gardens, Edgewood Rooftop Farms, and Powell Communal Farm

DPR Communal Farms

In 2020 DC Parks and Rec (DPR) started a new program called Communal Farms, which are communal production farms, managed by DPR staff and community volunteers, with the purpose of providing various ways for community members to receive free food, volunteer, and participate in hands-on educational opportunities. We're currently looking for volunteers to help during our open hours and weekly veggie giveaways at the following sites:

Lederer Gardens

Farm Open Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 10-2pm, Saturdays 7-10am, Sunday 7-10am

Weekly Veggie Giveaways: Wednesday 11-12pm

4801 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NE (Ward 7)

Street parking on Nannie Helen Burroughs next to farm

Check out the video of all the work we did this Spring to Revamp Lederer Gardens

Edgewood Rooftop Farm

Farm Open Hours: Tuesdays 10-1pm, Saturdays 9-11am

Weekly Veggie Givewaways: Tuesday 11-12pm

300 Evarts St NE (Ward 5)

Street parking along Evarts st (South side) and Franklin st NE (North Side) Find stairs inside park that lead to farm. Don’t need to go inside Rec center.

Check out this video about the Edgewood Rooftop Farm

Powell Communal Farm

Farm Open Hours: Thursdays 10-1pm, Saturdays 11-1pm

Weekly Veggie Giveaways: Thursdays 11-12pm

3149 16th St NW (Ward 1)

In park between tennis courts and Church - Parking lot now open

Check out photos of the farm being built in Spring 2022

Questions about DPR Communal Farms or want to receive updates on volunteering, veggie giveaways, etc.?

Email joshua.singer@dc.gov

Also see more information on their website here.

DPR Adopt a Rain garden

DPR has over 50 rain gardens, pollinator gardens, bio-retention gardens, etc. around the city. Unfortunately the city has trouble maintaining these sites. We're starting a program where trained community member(s) can adopt a rain garden in their area and manage it as needed. If interested, please contact Josh.

Contact:

Josh Singer

joshua.singer@dc.gov

DPR Toolshare

The DPR toolshare has been around for 7 years. It allows 100s of people every year to borrow tools to build, maintain, or expand many home, community and school gardens. We're currently searching for a community group or a group of community members who would like to take over this resource and manage it as a community resource. DPR will still buy new tools and train people on how to use and maintain these tools. But we're looking to organize a group of volunteers to manage the toolshare inventory and open hours. If interested please email Josh.

Contact:

Josh Singer

joshua.singer@dc.gov

https://dpr.dc.gov/service/garden-tool-share-program

Horace Mann Elementary School - open!

Horace Mann Elementary School in Ward 3 is looking for volunteers for their spring and summer gardening seasons.  In addition to tending 9 learning gardens, they are raising plants from seed indoors and at two outdoor plant nurseries. With early spring there is a fair bit of garden cleanup/setup and planting that needs to get done. Specific opportunities include:

Thursday Work Group 11a-2p - teachers, parents and volunteers all help maintain the farms and gardens of the student learning program. All work is socially distanced and masks are required. Meet at the Garden Shed near the corner of Newark and New Mexico Avenue. Time will shift earlier as the warmer days arrive.

Weekend and Weekday Volunteering - come work on an individual or on-going group project in the Mann farms and gardens. They can work with your schedule for independent projects or you can join during a time when there are other people contributing. Contact Amy, the School Garden Coordinator at ajarts3702@gmail.com to sign-up.

Contact:

Amy Jagodnik, Garden Coordinator,

4430 Newark Street NW

(202) 361-1056

ajarts3702@gmail.com

Dreaming Out Loud

Dreaming Out Loud's mission is to create economic opportunities for the DC metro region’s marginalized community members through building a healthy, equitable food system. Dreaming Out Loud rebuilds urban, community-based food systems through social enterprise, helps to increase access to healthy food and improve community health, develops low-income entrepreneurs and cooperatives, and trains at-risk adult residents for sustainable, family-supporting wages.

They are a fantastic organization and volunteering with them would be a great experience for anyone interested in learning more about urban food production.

Please view and sign up for available opportunities HERE. If you have any questions, please contact violet@dreamingoutloud.org.

Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy

Dumbarton Oaks Park has several volunteer days coming up. They meet from 9am to 1pm at the top of Lovers' Lane, approximately 3060 R Street NW. They provide gloves, tools, and training. Check out their website for more information.

RSVP to: info@dopark.org

Firebird Farm (UDC)

The Center for Urban Agriculture and Gardening Education (CUAGE) is looking for volunteers to support their sustainable soil-based food production at the UDC Firebird Farm in Maryland. Volunteers will gain hands-on experience in sustainably producing food in a greenhouse setting. Their goal is to produce food that focuses on Ecological Management practices that eliminate the need for chemical applications to control pathogens, insect pests, and weeds. Activities will include seeding, irrigation, harvesting, transplanting, bed preparation, and light maintenance work (weeding, trellising).

If you are interested in volunteering at the farm, reach out to UDC's Volunteer Coordinator: michele.bassler@udc.edu and she can let you know what current volunteer opportunities are available.

Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild (FMGG)

All activities for November - December 2021 are scheduled from 10 am - 4 pm in the greenhouse on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays which include the following:

Outdoor activities include:

Removing all eggplant and vegetable plants along with gleaning the final vegetable produce for distribution in the meadow beds
Planting garlic bulbs for the 2022 harvest season!
Digging up herb and perennial plants for dividing or propagating which will be sold at the FMGG Plant & Herb Sale

Indoor activities in the greenhouse include the following:

Dividing or propagating herb and perennial plants into smaller pots
Removing all pots/trays with unusable plants in preparation for the Seed-a-thon in late January - February 2022 (FMGG received a generous donation from Chas. C. Hart Seed Company from Wethersfield, CT in October 2021 of 4,400 heirloom non-GMO seed packets).

MASKS ARE MANDATORY - volunteers should wear light long sleeve shirt/pants (sweats suits are good), hat for sun/insect protection and close-toed shoes with long socks (sneakers are good). FMGG has laundered garden gloves, tools, Brio water cooler for refilling water bottles, and a "rustic" toilet & sanitation sink in the greenhouse.

Address/Directions:

Greenhouse at the Franciscan Monastery

The Franciscan Monastery is located at 1400 Quincy Street, NE. There is a parking lot (no charge) on the corner of 14th & Quincy Streets, NE which is across the street from the Monastery’s entrance.

The closest Metro station is via the Red Line’s Brookland/Catholic University of America (CUA). Upon arrival, please either transfer to the H6 bus – direction “Fort Lincoln” and disembark at 14th & Quincy Streets, NE or walk-up hill on Newton Street, NE to 14th Street, NE and turn left for 14th & Quincy Streets NE (approximately 15 walk).

Contact:

Lou Maroulis, PMP

FMGG CEO and Director of Project Management

202-701-7317 (Mobile)

lou_maroulis@hotmail.com

www.fmgg.org

Hillwood Museum & Gardens

Hillwood is still keeping their volunteer roster at about 25%. They are developing a 'volunteer return plan' now and hope to slowly stagger back all volunteer roles over the next few months. This means that Master Gardeners who were already part of their core group of volunteers in the pre-pandemic days will slowly be invited to return (and I believe some of you already have). However, they are only planning on opening to new volunteers in 2022.

Contact:

Drew Asbury (He/Him)

Horticulturist and Volunteer Manager

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

4155 Linnean Ave NW

202.243.3907

dasbury@hillwoodmuseum.org

Horace Mann Elementary School

Thursday Work Group 11a-2p - teachers, parents and volunteers all help maintain the farms and gardens of the student learning program. All work is socially distanced and masks are required. Meet at the Garden Shed near the corner of Newark and New Mexico Avenue. Time will shift earlier as the warmer days arrive.
Weekend and Weekday Volunteering - come work on an individual or on-going group project in the Mann farms and gardens. They can work with your schedule for independent projects or you can join during a time when there are other people contributing.

Contact:

Amy Jagodnik

School Garden Coordinator

4430 Newark Street NW

Washington, DC 20016

(202) 361-1056

ajarts3702@gmail.com

Garden of the Senses (UDC)

Earn MG hours at UDC’s Van Ness Campus Gardens

The UDC Garden Club is gearing up for fall at all six of its Van Ness campus gardens, 4200 Connecticut Ave NW, and they need YOU for a special push this month (August).

Earn MG hours and help promote your local public college and the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sustainability (CAUSES).

We’ll be caring for tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, eggplant, okra, basil and more. You can also help maintain the Garden of the Senses, with its many native perennials & herbs.

Volunteer for any part of these special sessions through the fall:

Every Saturday (ongoing) 9am-1pm

CONTACT:

If other times are better for you, we can accommodate your schedule.

Write to udcgardenclub2@gmail.com OR

call or send a text message to Mary Beth Tinker, 202-534-7921.

Thanks for supporting your public college!

Lamond Riggs Native Plant Nursery (UDC).

One of DC’s natural treasures is the Native Plant Nursery at DC’s very own Land-Grant University and its College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) Lamond Riggs Food Hub Campus. The Native Plant Nursery there serves as a source sink for sharing plants that have formed a symbiotic relationship over thousands of years with our city’s diverse species, whether they be pollinators or song birds, and they serve precious food and habitat for our urban natural food webs. To help cultivate this vital natural resource for our city, Lamond Riggs will host several in-person nursery care days and support our native plants planting days at other locations. The UDC Native Plants and Pollinator Program aims to supply native plants and pollinators to gardening projects around the city, including school gardens, community gardens, non-profit organizations and more.

Led by UDC's Kyra Moore, a team of Master Gardener and Masger Naturalist volunteers will grow a mix of keystone pollinator plants throughout the year and will support planting days at various locations.

Where: Van Ness Green Roof and Lamond Riggs Native Plant Nursery

When: Mondays, Wednesdays from 10am to 1:00pm

These opportunities will be a collaboration of DC’s very own Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists.

For more information, please contact UDC's Kyra Moore at kyra.moore@udc.edu

RSVP and log your hours on Better Impact.

Marvin Gaye Greening Center

Love the idea of Growing Veggies for the Community--and You? Marvin Gaye communal gardens welcome residents from Ward 7 and beyond to learn how to grow food, harvest produce, pick up free vegetables!

Date: Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm

Address: 5000 Nannie Helen Burroughs NE, Washington, DC 20019 (In front of Deanwood Rehabilitation Center)

Contact: Cafini Z, cafini@washingtonparks.net, 202-443-2238

Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School

Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School in Ward 5 is looking for volunteers at their J.F. Cook campus during the summer gardening season.  Volunteers will have opportunities to care for plants in the Learning Garden, in the rain garden, in the vine area, and in the vertical balcony garden. Specific opportunities include:

Thursday Volunteering - 11am-1pm - Join us in the garden to water, weed, and harvest. This can also be time where you work on an individual project.

Volunteers must understand that this is a learning garden that is regularly utilized by children. If there is demand, we can potentially open up more volunteer days and times.

For more information, please contact:

Carissa Tirado-Marks

Sustainability Coordinator

30 P St NW Washington, DC 20001

ctiradomarks@mundoverdepcs.org

610-871-1426

National Arboretum

National Arboretum is reopening and accepting new volunteers!

Do you love to garden? Do you enjoy being outside? Do you want to make a difference? If any of these appeal to, please consider volunteering at the U. S. National Arboretum.

Volunteers play an integral role in Arboretum programs and assist in almost every area and endeavor, performing jobs ranging from gardening to education and research support. Volunteers work in the gardens, laboratories, research fields, herbarium, and with the historical collections.

Many volunteers contribute their time and talent on weekdays, although there are some weekend positions available. We ask most of our volunteers to contribute a minimum of 4 hours weekly. Arboretum staff provide volunteers with training as needed. Most positions entail a one-year commitment.

If interested please take a look at this website: https://www.fona.org/jobs-volunteering/

People's Garden Initiative - NRCS USDA

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is looking for volunteers to assist with the People’s Garden, located outside of the USDA headquarters in Washington, DC.

The site is easily accessible - only a block from the Metro! This initiative was started by our Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, during the Obama administration. Secretary Vilsack and the USDA team are now working to revitalize the People’s Garden to showcase what we do at USDA, raise awareness about sustainable agriculture practices, connect people with where their food comes from, and educate on protecting our environment and conserving resources.

Volunteers are needed for a variety of activities such as garden preparation, planting, and maintenance. There are many days and times available for this opportunity with more details to come. This fun volunteer opportunity is offered through NRCS Maryland’s Earth Team Volunteer Program.

Please reach out to Maryland’s Earth Team Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Eddy, at Laura.Eddy@usda.gov for more information and to get on our volunteer communications list.

RiverSmart Homes Ambassador Program

The RiverSmart Homes (RSH) Ambassador Program seeks interested residents in Wards 7 and 8 to be extensions of the RiverSmart Homes program. RiverSmart Ambassadors provide unique outreach and engagement support by informing their neighbors, friends, and family about the RiverSmart Homes program, speaking at local ANC/Civic Association meetings, and promoting RiverSmart rebates and incentives, while spreading watershed stewardship.

See more information here.

Tudor Place

Tudor Place is currently welcoming volunteers to aid in landscape maintenance on Wednesdays from 12:30pm-2:30pm and Friday’s from 10am-12pm.

Also, this year we will have 6 “Weekend Weeder” volunteer events, all on Saturdays from 10am to 12pm. They will be April 5th, May 3rd, June 7th, August 2nd, September 6th, and October 4th. At these sessions, we will focus on removing invasive plants. Registration is on our public calendar: https://tudorplace.org/calendar/.

Volunteers aid in many different tasks such as weeding, deadheading, planting, pruning, seed collection etc.

If interested, please contact Allyson Whalley at:

awhalley@tudorplace.org

Direct 202-580-7328 | Cell 757-319-7021

Tudor Place Historic House & Garden

1644 31st Street NW | Washington, D.C. 20007

www.tudorplace.org

UDC Garden Club: Friday and Saturday Mornings

Join us 10:00-12:00 on Friday mornings and 2:00-4:00 on Saturday afternoons to care for crops on the UDC green roof and our five ground-level gardens. Can’t make it this week? We’re also there various times throughout the week. Email us at udcgardeners2@gmail.com for more info.

Washington National Cathedral

Cathedral gardener, Peter Spaulding, has a group of Woods volunteers that meet on Wednesday mornings in Olmsted Woods to remove invasive plants such as English Ivy and Garlic Mustard. This would be a good opportunity for anyone who would like to learn more about forest ecology, spring ephemerals, invasive and native plants.

If interested, please reach out to Peter Spaulding at pspaulding@cathedral.org

Washington Youth Garden

When:

Where:

The Washington Youth Garden

U.S. National Arboretum

What:

Why:

Other Important Information:

Health and safety is very important to us so in addition to protective clothing and water, we also want to address the following:

- Masks: We encourage you to do whatever you feel comfortable with.

- Restrooms and Water: We have a single portable restroom on site available and we have potable water at our pavilion available to fill bottles/wash hands.

- Tool usage: We will be explaining how to use & clean garden tools before any task so don't worry if you have never used them before.

- Breaks: Take as many as you need! This session is for you to have fun so if you need to stop and take a breather feel free to do so at any time.

Contact: Max Skoglund (mskoglund@fona.org) with any questions

Weed Warriors

Would you be interested in participating in a Weed Warriors Workday in the Little Falls watershed? We would need a team of 5 - 10 people and follow all of their COVID 19 safety protocols. If you are interested, please let me know. If 5 or more people are interested, I will schedule a workday.

Contact:

Corinne Stephens - Weed Warrior Volunteer Coordinator

Montgomery Parks | The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Mobile: 240.772.2806 | Office: 301.962.1357

2425 Reedie Drive | Wheaton, MD 20902

4. Special DC MG Volunteer Programs

1. Grow DC School Garden Program

Photo credit: Tara Moore, Getty Images

The Grow DC School Garden program was created by a committee of DC Master Gardeners with the goal of connecting MG volunteers to existing DCPS and public charter school gardens. The pilot was launched in March, 2022 with 10 participating schools and 12 MG volunteers. MGs volunteer at schools as consultants/advisors providing technical support and advice to teachers and school garden coordinators.

Participating MG Volunteers have the following responsibilities:

Provide support to the school garden coordinator as a consultant/advisor.
Help school garden coordinators implement the schools’ vision for the garden, providing technical assistance and advice to help them reach their goals.
Schedule frequent site visits/meetings and calls with the school garden coordinator.
Attend monthly program meetings to report on your activities and follow a set of program policies and guidelines.

Who runs this program?

The program is run by a committee of Master Gardener volunteers who coordinate the day to day operations, organize monthly meetings for participating MGs, organize educational material, evaluate program activities, prepare reports, and do other necessary duties. The committee is composed of Lauren Ackil, Beth Beers, Kate McLynn and Kyra Moore:

Lauren Ackil

Lauren Ackil’s passion for gardening was reignited during the pandemic when she was able to secure a plot in a community garden. It also made her realize how little she knows, how much she wants to learn and how much she cares about brining the joy of gardening to others. In particular she cares about sharing that magic with kids in DC schools and that’s what inspired her to work with the master gardeners on the Grow DC pilot project.

Beth Beers

Beth Beers is a life-long amateur gardener who received her Master Gardener certificate from UDC in November 2018. She has lived on Capitol Hill for twenty years. She spends much of her time trying to coax vegetables from her shady, mostly clay-soil outdoor space. When not working in the dirt at home or in communal gardens, Beth can often be found volunteering with a local food recovery organization collecting fresh, edible food that would otherwise go waste and distributing it to local social service agencies.

Kate McLynn

Kate McLynn, DC Master Gardener 2008 class, comes to gardening through a love of nature & wildlife. She has long been involved in school gardens and community green spaces. As a school teacher, she taught science, raised Monarch butterflies, helped keep the honeybees humming, the garden growing, the chickens roosting, and fostered environmental literacy.

She has taught adult classes in gardening, composting, cooking from the garden and keeping chickens in an urban setting. When schools and stores were closed during COVID, she set up a small “Let’s Garden! edible plants center in her front yard to encourage growing fresh produce in our city yards and on our balconies. She also raises milkweed for pollinator gardens.

She loves animals, science, reading, cooking, being in nature, and of course, gardening!

If you are interested in participating or would like more information about the program, please reach out to Lauren Ackil at lackil@mac.com.

2. 4H Seedlings for Schools Program

The 4H Seedlings for Schools Program was created by a UDC's Diego Lahaye with Support from DC Master Gardeners. The goal the program is to grow and distribute vegetable seedlings to public and charter school gardens in DC.

In the spring of 2022, Diego's team of MG volunteers is growing 6,000 seedlings for up to 64 schools in two locations - the Van Ness Green Roof and the Bertie Backus Food Hub.

Check out photos of the program on our Flickr album!

Diego Lahaye

Diego Lahaye is the 4-H program associate and community educator of the Center for Urban agriculture & Gardening Education, College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences at UDC.

Diego Lahaye holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Media from the University of the District of Columbia.

He is responsible for starting 4-H clubs and activities in the District of Columbia, including: recruiting, training, supporting, and managing volunteers that work with the 4-H educational programs. His programs focus in three subjects, gardening, nutrition and 4-H soccer program.

If you are interested in supporting this activity, please reach out to Diego at dlahaye@udc.edu for more information.

3. Native Plants Propagation Program

The UDC Native Plants and Pollinator Program aims to supply native plants and pollinators to gardening projects around the city, including school gardens, community gardens, non profit organizations and more.

Led by DC MG Kyra Moore with support from UDC's Mike Whyte, a team of Master Gardener volunteers grow keystone pollinator plants throughout the year and support planting days at various locations.

Join us for Volunteer Hours!

Where: Bertie Backus Native Plant Nursery

When: Wednesdays from 10am to 12am.

Check out photos of the program on our Flickr album!

Master Gardeners: Log your volunteer hours for this opportunity here on Golden. (If you don't know what this is yet, no worries! Reach out to Ali and she can help.)

Kyra Moore

I’m a DC Native, DC Master Gardener Volunteer (Fall 2019), and UDC staff member. My volunteer mission started with a desire to realign life’s opportunity of being a forever student and community stewardship.

Prior to this Master Garden journey lifestyle I was provided lots of exposure centered around urban gardening, health and wellness and business studies.

Life’s experiences lead me into the garden where I discovered peace of mind and a desire to learn more about the gardening lifestyle in order to help steward the land for a cause and for a purpose.

In this pursuit I discovered UDC’s CAUSES program and have felt welcomed and amongst kindred spirit Master Garden Volunteers all in pursuit to continue to “Grow one season at a time.”

For more information, please contact DC MG Kyra Moore at (202) 823-5066 or kyra.moore@udc.edu.

4. Pollinator Corridor, by Kathy Sykes

The pollinator corridor is a project that was started a few years ago with the assistance of Van Ness Main Street and the 3F Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. The corridor of native annual and perennial plants that attract a variety of pollinators is located along Connecticut Avenue between Van Ness Street and Nebraska Avenue. Working with local landowners and businesses, the pollinator corridor project has brought beauty and movement in nature to the neighborhood with butterflies including the majestic monarch, moths, hummingbirds, warblers, blue jays, robins, cardinals, and other birds enjoying the pollinator corridor. The corridor also attracts all types of bees, including the fuzzy bumble bees, orb spiders, crickets and praying mantis.

Location of the Pollinator Installments

At the north end and west side of Connecticut in front of the Streatery (that includes I’m Eddie Cano and Rosemary Bistro restaurants), the tree boxes are filled with native plants and spring bulbs. Numerous plants were introduced to reduce the impervious pavement. Across the street between Politics and Prose and Nebraska Avenue, the tree boxes in front of the businesses fill that block. The pollinator corridor continues along Connecticut Avenue just south of Albermarle Street in front of Italian Pizza Kitchen, Thai Pad, Cut N Edge (a family barber shop), the Franklin Montessori School and Uptown Market. The tree boxes by Calvert Woodley Fine Wines and Spirits store are also filled with spring bulbs and other native plants as is the case by Laliguras restaurant. Finally, the block that contains the UDC Law School, the office of Van Ness Main Street and Acacia restaurant are enjoying the perennial native planting and spring bulbs year-round. Once again to address the lack of green space, containers contribute to expanding the pervious pavement and help cool the area by reducing the heat island effect of cement and brick sidewalks. We have planted approximately 27 tree boxes over the past couple of years.

Equipment Needed

All gardeners should wear comfortable clothing and shoes and have gloves to protect their hands. Trowels, shovels, watering cans or containers are useful tools to bring if you have them. We do have these tools at the planting location for use by the volunteers.

What to plant in Spring for Summer and Fall flowers

During the Spring planting season, we plant native spring seedlings including bee balm, baptista, blue star, golden alexanders, lupine, penstemon and Virginia blue bells. Spring is a good time to get groundcover started, too. Coreopsis, phlox, wild sweet William, pussytoes, verbena, violets and strawberry plants can fill in around the larger plants that have been planted.

Bulbs to plant in Spring for summer blossoms

Wild hyacinth and anemone windflower bulbs are natives that are planted in Spring. Other bulbs that are planted in Spring include crocosmia, dahlias, elephant ears, and gladiolas.

Bulbs to plant in Fall for Spring flowers: Most perennials plants can be planted in the Fall. Regarding bulbs, all the little flowers we love that are the first to emerge can be planted between late September and through November. Here are some of the bulbs one can plant in the Fall: allium, crocuses, daffodils, fritillaria, hyacinths, irises, scilla or Siberian squill, snowdrops, star flowers and tulips.

Gardening Opportunities and Tasks involved

Depending on the condition of the soil in the tree boxes and whether turfgrass or rocks need to be removed, the first step in creating the pollinator corridor segment in a tree box is to prepare the soil for future planting of seeds, seedlings and in some cases ornamental grasses or small bushes. This part takes some work and effort but the transformation with new compost, leafgro or other soil products is rewarding. Tree boxes vary in size. In some cases, it takes numerous hours to prepare for planting. Once an area is ready for planting, the bags of seeds, bulbs and plants are laid out where they will be planted. Volunteers can help decide where plants should go and the spacing between plants. One needs to keep track of where bulbs or seeds are planted to ensure the soil is only disturbed once.

Bulb Planting

Persons of all ages can assist in planting. When children under 10 are assisting, we ask for an adult to be present. It is often easiest to have a division of labor: the strong and willing dig the trenches for bulbs and the young or less active plant the bulbs. A quick demonstration of which end is the top of the bulb and where the roots are located is useful for each type of bulb planted. The depth of the hole for a bulb and its spacing next to other bulbs ensures successful planting. We usually place them in the ground and have an experienced gardener check the trench to ensure the bulbs are placed properly before covering them with soil. We also keep track of the number of bulbs planted and attempt to plant an odd number. Watering is always done once the planting is completed of the tree box area.

Planting seedlings or small plants

Read instructions on the depth of the hole needed for the plant. The hole needs to be dug about one and half times as wide and about the same depth of the plant that can be placed inside the hole to ensure the hole is just right. Try to avoid disrupting the soil as little as possible. I suggest placing all the soil removed from a hole to the side. The rim of the soil with the plant should be planted at soil level, neither above nor below it. Before placing the plant in the ground, gently remove it from the container and cut an X on the bottom of the plant by the roots to loosen them or pull the soil around the roots gently apart with your hands to ensure the roots can take up water and nutrients.

Maintenance

During periods of drought, watering needs to be done as well as weeding. If available, ask permission to use external spigots near plantings. In some cases, water may need to be transported in empty gallon containers or watering cans.

Leave the leaves

Leaf blowers of all kinds damage the soil and harm the ecosystem. Their power blows away topsoil and can also damage plants. When used too frequently, leaf blowers can compact the soil and make it more difficult for water and air to penetrate. There is a tremendous benefit to letting leaves stay where they fall in gardens and on our lawns and sweeping them from the sidewalks into those areas. The leaves will slowly break down and naturally improve the soil’s water retention and its fertility. Leaves are nature’s gift to us; no chemicals or fertilizers are needed. Many types of wildlife, including earthworms and thousands of insect species, depend upon the layer of leaves in your garden or on your lawn for their winter home. Ninety-four percent of moth species spend the winter embedded in leaves during their egg or pupae stages, as does the freeze-tolerant woolly bear caterpillar. In spring, if it survives the leaf blowers and rakes, the woolly bear will emerge as a tiger moth.

Check out photos of the program on our Flickr album!

Dates and Times to Volunteer:

Community planting along Connecticut Ave between Van Ness Street and Nebraska Ave. are on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 PM, March 26 – April 17th. There will be additional opportunities for gardening projects in the Summer and Fall.

Send an email to Kathy Sykes to reserve your spot and to find out where we will be working that day. sykeskathy@yahoo.com

Kathy Sykes

I was lucky that my mother was a gifted gardener who instilled in me a love of nature. I began gardening seriously six years ago as I approached the end of my professional career. I enrolled in the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) master gardening class in the spring of 2019 and became a master gardener that summer. I have become passionate about trying to change the environment by planting native plants a few plants at a time, including creating a pollinator corridor in my neighborhood along Connecticut Avenue. I also am a volunteer gardener at the UDC roof garden, Peabody Elementary School, Tregaron Conservancy and Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Garden. Prior to gardening for pleasure, I worked for 19 years at United States Environmental Protection Agency.

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