Volunteer Activities – Spring 2014
Green Shoots for New Americans Program
Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc.
Below is a list of activities available for volunteers with the Green Shoots for New
Americans Program with Journey’s End. Volunteers can assist the program for one
giant project, like constructing the greenhouse, but are welcome to help with a
number of other tasks that will need to be done to make the program successful.
Each volunteer will be expected to sign a liability and photo waiver, and will be
given adequate instruction for the task at hand. Any volunteer working without
supervision will be required to attend a volunteer orientation. Most activities will
be supervised.
The farm will be located at 15 Brewster St., two blocks from Journey’s End’s office.
Classes
Classes for the program will begin on Monday, February 10th. Classes will be held
every Monday from 10am-12pm, with the exception of February 17th, until March
17th. Classes are designed to provide ESL lessons, urban farming skills, marketing
skills, and more. Students may need assistance with ESL lessons, tool and vegetable
identification, and proper urban farming techniques.
Seedling Shelf Construction
Seedlings will be started indoors and grown under grow lights. Seedling beds will
be placed on shelves to be built in the JERS conference room. The shelves will be
built out of 2x4s and plywood and will each have three shelves. There will be 10
shelves built to accommodate 12 grow lights as well as storage.
Seedling Maintenance
Seedlings will need to be monitored and watered on a daily basis. Weekends will be
crucial for seedling monitoring. Once big enough to be repotted, seedlings will be
transplanted into bigger pots, labeled, and sold.
Seedling Sales
Seedlings will be sold to a number of farms, organizations, individuals, etc. There
will be a farm stand at the Tri-Main building to sell both seedlings and herbs &
vegetables that are grown on the farm. Seedlings will need to be attractively
packaged and cared for to attract purchasers. Seedlings will also be sold to local
farms and other businesses, and will need to delivered.
TriMain Building
Tuesdays & Thursdays
11-1pm
May 1, 2, 3 Rummage Sale – Big seedling sale to community
Vegetables Sales
Herbs & Vegetables grown on the farm will be sold to local restaurants. Orders will
be customized for each location, and delivered on a weekly basis. A variety of herbs
and vegetables will comprise each order, and will need to be prepared for delivery.
Raised Bed Construction
Raised beds will be constructed out of 2x8s and be located outside of the
greenhouse. Once the greenhouse frame is constructed, work on the raised beds
will begin. There will be 4-6 raised beds at about 3 ft. wide and 12 ft. long.
Greenhouse Construction
Rimol Greenhouse Construction Videos, Step 1-27:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC31E913285119CB2
These videos are a great learning tool for anyone planning to help with greenhouse
construction. It is important that anyone helping with this task watch these videos.
Step 1: Assemble Frame
Step 2: Frame Endwalls
Step 3: Assemble Roll Up Sides
Step 4: Install Wire Lock
Step 5: Apply Poly Film
Kyla Jaquish
Program Manager – Green Shoots for New Americans
Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc.
2495 Main St. Suite 317
Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 262-5308
Kjaquish@JersBuffalo.org