FARMERS MARKET in the WEST END! June 12, 2010

West End Farmers Market is now accepting Vendor Applications for the 2010 Green Market Season!

This Community Collaboration will host the Open Air Market every 1st Friday from June 4th to October 1st from 3pm to 8pm outside of Space Atl Restaraunt 1310 White Street (behind Dunkin Donuts in the Historic West End)

Enjoy open mic performance, locally grown produce, art, hand crafted jewelry, and wholesome merchandise with a view of the BeltLine Park.

Please join us in encouraging sustainable communities and vendors looking for a new way to market reserve your SPACE NOW!

404-755-9441
sisloveu@bellsouth.net
www.spaceatlanta.com

SPACE Atlanta
1310 White Street
Atlanta Georgia 30310

MAKE A RAIN BARREL! April 15, 2010

Join us this weekend at our 2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration (starts at 9am) and you can make your own rain barrel for only $40!

The City of Atlanta will be providing workshop & materials.

When: This Saturday, April 17

Time: 11am

Cost: $40

*Pre-registration required: Call Jamila 404-693-1742

2nd Annual West End Earth Day Celebration! April 5, 2010

The Friends of the West End Park will be hosting our wonderful 2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration!

THIS WEEKEND!!! 2nd ANNUAL EARTH DAY CELEBRATION at WEST END PARK!!!

• Participate in ‘Edible Landscaping’ project!
• Make your very own rain barrel for only $40! Pre-register by contacting Jamila: 404-693-1742
• Children activities include creating garden art, face-painting &  plantings
• Build new benches for the park
• Plant new trees
• Mulch existing trees
• Clean playground mulch and overall park!

WISH LIST:
-Fruit or Flowering trees
-Gardening Soil
-Playground mulch

Starts @ 10am! Don’t miss it!
West End Park (Oak/Lucille)

I’d like to get involved, how can I help?

• Cash donations can help buy much needed supplies!
• If you’re knowledgeable in areas of  reusing, gardening, water harvesting, children’s environmental education and art…consider facilitating a workshop for others. Email: yomara@9to5.org!
• Donate a tree: we’d like fruit trees but a spring blooming flower tree would bring much needed color to the park. You can even make an art plaque to label your tree!
• Volunteer: We’ll need volunteers for set-up, during the event & clean-up. Please consider picking up a shift even if it’s just 45 minutes! We need you!

For more information, to give a donation or sign-up for a volunteer shift contact:

• Jamila Norman: jamilanorman@yahoo.com
• Yomara Velez: yomaravelez@yahoo.com

This event can be a wonderful community event but we need you to get involved!

Prep for Spring Egg Hunt

Before

First few to arrive! I'm thinking...i hope more people come!

After: Yey-more people did come! Friend of the West End Park stuff eggs!

REUSE: Children’s Floor Playmats February 22, 2010

A good idea, glue letters to blocks and make your own letter stamps-pretty cool. Original post from: http://bkids.typepad.com/

STARTING YOUR SPRING GARDEN… January 29, 2010

Starting Your Spring Garden
FROM Truly Living Well (www.trulylivingwell.com)

A local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) managed by Mr. K. Rashid Nuri…

Mr. K. Rashid Nuri Now is the time to plan and build an organic spring garden at your home. What is the first step? Determine the best place for your garden. The garden should be located in an area that is fully exposed to the sun. You will pay more attention to your garden the nearer it is to the house. Make sure that water is readily available. The single most important factor in creating a successful garden is soil preparation. I call it dirt making. Get the soil right.  If you create good healthy soil, the plants which grow in that soil will also be healthy. Healthy plants are disease resistant. Begin soil preparation by gently turning the soil. If this is the first time the land is being used to grow food, a tiller may prove helpful. Too much tillage destroys soil structure. Subsequent soil preparation can be done with a spade or garden fork. After opening the soil add copious amounts of organic material such as compost, leaf mold, well rotted sawdust or decomposed animal manure. You can make your own compost or purchase it from most garden supply stores. Compost is the key to successful gardening. Compost added to gardens improves soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control, soil fertility, proper pH balance, and healthy root development in plants. Make beds in the garden that are separated by walkways. You do not want to walk in the area that you plant with vegetables. Walking on a vegetable bed compacts the soil and retards plant growth. Utilize the garden space wisely. Select crops you will eat and enjoy. You must like what you plant or the garden space and the food will both be wasted. Decide what you want to plant and where you will plant it. Know what you will plant after the spring season crop is finished. Southern exposure has the most light. Tall crops should be planted on the north and west side of the garden to prevent shading of smaller plants.

REUSE: Old Board Game January 20, 2010

Turn old board games into a bulletin board and the game pieces into tacks…more info: http://readymade.com/projects/article/scrabble_babble

Back to the lovely West End… January 9, 2010

I missed the West End!

This past week, we headed to the Smokey Mountains to celebrate my RESPITE AWARD!  I received this award as a recognition for my community organizing work, for more information visit: http://www.noacentral.org/page.php?id=277. As part of  the award, I was honored to receive an all inclusive, paid trip to the mountains!

This award is given annually to two Community Organizers in the U.S. The award is a time for Organizers to retreat, reflect, rest and renew. And so we headed up to the Smokey Mountains last Saturday and had a wonderful time (many thanks to the National Organizer’s Alliance). Now, I’m getting ready to start this year right!

While in the mountains I knitted (of course) but I also made soaps, candles and other projects with Diego. The most exciting part of the trip was the purchase of a loom (that I’ve been wanting for some time now), on our way home we stopped by Asheville (btw I love it there) and I finally bought the loom! Now I’m all HAPPINESS- in 2010…I will learn to weave.

Overall…I spent a lot ot time during this trip thinking about the coming year and what projects I’d like to focus on.  I know it’s going to be a wonderful year in our little neighborhood. I look forward to more art, gardens, parks + progressive initiatives (and development) for the West End in 2010! Inspire…

Diego is taking more and more pictures-he also loves filming.

Celebrating the snow!

HANDMADE w/ lots of LOVE!

Diego's sketch book...

REUSE: shoe boxes, books + more December 31, 2009

These cute reuse ideas come from Country Living for full post visit countryliving.com.

Enjoy…

2009 YEAR IN REVIEW!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! December 26, 2009

Happy Holidays West End & Friends!!!

I hope you enjoyed the day w/ your family and friends.

As the year comes to a close, please consider making a donation to Friends of the West End Park. It is tax-deductible and will help us continue our wonderful work.

Donations can be written to Friends of the West End Park and mailed to:

Yomara Velez, 9to5 Atlanta Working Women, 501 Pulliam Street SW Suite 344, Atlanta GA 30312

Our accomplishments this past year…

We created an initial plan for our park!

We coordinated monthly meetings, started this blog and held monthly park clean-ups!

Mary signs-in (our Spring Egg Hunt Coordinator)

We made improvements to our park-painted the water fountain and after some pressure the City fixed the fountain, we also painted the the tennis courts (walls)!

We mulched our trees and the playground!

We planted trees!

Beth held weekly jump rope classes (Saturday Mornings-10am) and in the Fall added an Abs Class!

We hosted an Earth Day Celebration + involved children in planting a mini-garden! Jamila helps the children plant their seeds!

And-these are the beautiful results from the picture above!

We hosted our 1st EGG HUNT/Spring Celebration!

We solidified friendships + built community!

We hosted West End's 1st FALL FEST!

We carved pumpkins and held activities for the entire family!

West End's Fall Fest involved youth in the community + gave them something positive to do with their free time!

Chin held youth soccer in the park every Saturday (Fall)!

Jamila and Chin co-coordinated the Fall Fest!

It’s been a busy but wonderful year! As I look back, I’m pleased with everything we’ve accomplished. These pictures inspire me to continue the work. I hope it reminds us of how powerful we can be when we come together to create healthier communities. You’ve worked hard and I hope you enjoy this photo essay of our past year!

In 2010:

• Jamila will help coordinate meetings for the first 6 months to give me some time to continue to strengthen the work in other areas such as fundraising and programming.

Things to look forward to in the coming year:

• Monthly clean-ups (3rd Saturday/month)
• Saturday morning fitness classes (saturdays/weekly)
• Knitting/crafting circle in the park.
• More on plan/design for the park.
• Wooden posts at the park to minimize cars on the turf.
• Continue to contact the City about the broken sidewalk.
• Community Events in the Park such as the Spring Egg Hunt + Earth Day Celebration!
• Malcolm X Festival (Friends will have a table at the event + work w/ festival organizers)

I HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US! Much love…Yomara!