Update 12/3/2020: The deadline has been extended to December 11
Reminder: Complete surveys related to the Ag.Pod food production system that will be installed at the Bertie Backus Food Hub. The new installation was discussed in this post.
There will soon be a new addition to the Bertie Backus Food Hub housed at UDC’s Backus campus (the large hoop houses visible on the Galloway Street NE side of the campus). At ANC 5A’s recent meeting, Acting Director of UDC CAUSES Dr. Kamran Zendehdel shared that UDC is teaming up with Pepco to house an “Ag. Pod” at the food hub. This food production system will be used to grow vegetables and herbs year round to supply food in food desert areas around the city. The team is working on an entrepreneurial training model to train interested residents in Wards 5, 7, and 8. Currently, the Backus food hub contains a hydroponics system, aquaponics system, native plant nursery, compost, and community garden. Buildout of a community incubator commercial kitchen that will be accessible at low cost is also in progress.
UDC is requesting input on both surveys by December 4, 2020.
The Ag. Pod measures 50 feet by 10 feet. For comparison, the aquaponic system is 30 feet by 84 feet. The goal is to install the pod in December or early January.
Tomorrow is the second to last farmstand for the season. If you are able to assist with opening, customer service, or closing, contact Maryam at maryamsabur@gmail.com.
Bertie Backus Farmstand November 9, 2019 10:00 am-2:00 pm UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE
The farmstand at the Bertie Backus Food Hub (UDC-CC Bertie Backus, 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE) continues to operate for a few more weeks. Pick up fresh vegetables Saturday, October 26, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
The Parks Main Street Community Meeting 6:30 pm Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center 501 Riggs Road NE Hear survey results & ways the Main Street will utilize community input to help improve the Riggs Park commercial corridor. Follow The Parks Main Street: Facebook (@TheParksMainStreet) Twitter (@TheParksMainSt) Instagram (@TheParksMainStreet)
ANC 5A Special Public Meeting 6:45 pm UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE Revised Agenda: (1) Wesley Housing Develpment; (2) Fort Totten Civic Association. Note it appears from the revised agenda that Rocketship will not attend this special meeting as they are awaiting traffic study results, but the agenda may change again.
Bertie Backus Farmstand 10:00 am-2:00 pm UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE
Explore! Children’s Museum August Festival 10:00 am-1:30 pm The Modern at Art Place 400 Galloway Street NE Free RSVP on eventbrite Performance Schedule: 10:30-11:00 am: Story Time with Lamond-Riggs Children’s Librarian 11:15-12:00 pm: A Mad Science of DC Show: Up, Up and Away! 12:30-1:15 pm: District Dance Arts From 10:00am-1:30pm: Cowboy Barry’s Farm Petting Zoo Face Painting by Fairy Jennabelle Makerspace with District Dance Arts Double Dutch from DC Retro Jumpers Color with Luna from Adventures with Luna and Friends The Uncle Devin Show’s Percussion Playground
August 6, 2019 National Building Musuem Ward 4 Day 9:00 am-11:00 am National Building Museum 401 F Street NW Bring photo ID with zip code
MPD 4th District National Night Out 5:00 pm-9:00 pm Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center 501 Riggs Road NE
August 9, 2019 Fridays at Fort Totten Concert Series: The JoGo Band 6:00 pm-8:00 pm South Dakota Avenue & Galloway Street NE Bring a lawn chair for seating. Sponsored by The Modern at Art Place & On Tap Magazine
August 10, 2019 Bertie Backus Farmstand 10:00 am-2:00 pm UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is holding focus group sessions for its Bertie Backus farmstand and Bertie Backus Food Hub operations. The food hub is located in the neighborhood on the campus of UDC-CC Backus at 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE. It has several components, including a farmstand, aquaponics and hydroponics system, community garden, compost collection, native plant nursery, and demonstration kitchen.
The farmstand is looking for farmstand shoppers, non-shoppers, and policymakers to participate in in a farmstand focus group. If you are interested in participating please complete and return the application to Eric Horner at eric.horner@udc.edu. Refreshments will be provided.
Farmstand focus group dates: July 25, 2019 6:00 pm-8:00 pm UDC Bertie Backus Campus (5171 South Dakota Avenue NE)
July 27, 2019 9:30 am-11:30 am Lamond Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Avenue NE)
If you are interested in sharing ideas about the Bertie Backus Food Hub in general, please register for the focus group being held on July 26.
Bertie Backus Food Hub Focus Group July 26, 2019 6:00 pm-8:00 pm Lamond-Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Avenue NE)
Bertie Backus Community Garden Plots
There are still plots available to Ward 5 residents at the Bertie Backus Community Garden located at the Bertie Backus Food Hub. Please contact Renee Belis at renee.bellis@udc.edu for more information.
Volunteer at the Bertie Backus Native Plant Nursery
Volunteers are being accepted to help out at the native plant nursery at the Bertie Backus Food Hub on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Please contact Renee Belis at renee.bellis@udc.edu for more information.
The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) welcomes you to share your comments, concerns, and suggestions about our Urban Food Hubs as we look to improve our programs. We are holding community listening sessions at each of our Urban Food Hubs in Wards 3, 5, 7, and 8 on July 24, 26, 29, and 31.
Each listening session is an open forum and we welcome all stakeholders – including ANC members, government agencies, non-profit organizations, volunteers, and workshop participants – to provide feedback about programming at each site and how we can improve to better serve our communities. Please register for a listening session at the urban food hub(s) you frequent the most. CAUSES looks forward to these sessions, the opportunity to listen, and bring our communities together.
Fridays at Fort Totten Concert Series South Dakota Avenue & Galloway Street NE 6:00 pm-8:00 pm Music by Pebble to Pearl (funk, rock, blues) Food by CapMac food truck Bring a lawn chair for seating. Sponsored by The Modern at Art Place & On Tap Magazine.
July 13
Bertie Backus Farmstand UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Be sure to visit the Bertie Backus farmstand tomorrow. The farm stand appears at UDC-CC Backus (5171) 10:00 am to 2:00 pm every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, June through November.
On Saturday morning June 8, the Bertie Backus Urban Farm Stand returns to Riggs Park! Come out from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm to the UDC-CC Backus campus at 5171 South Dakota Ave NE every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month and purchase some yummy veggies and meet some neighbors too. In this installment of the Next Stop Neighbors podcast, we meet the people behind the project, Dr. Kamran Zendehdel and Maryam Sabur. They will describe to us exactly what is going on in those big greenhouses, describe the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), hear the history of the Urban Food Hub, goals for the farm stand, and what to expect in farm stand’s second year. We even get to go inside the hydroponic greenhouse! How cool is that? We hope you enjoy the conversation and have your collard green recipes ready to go.
Welcome to Next
Stop Neighbors where we get an opportunity to hear the voices behind the faces
and places in Lamond-Riggs and the surrounding communities. Through this
podcast series, you will meet some friendly neighbors and hear their
perspectives on the community through civil, casual conversations. From the
small business owner who just opened up, to the non-profit organization trying
to make a difference, to the community leader describing their vision for the
neighborhood, and the resident around the corner who has lived here for 50
years, we all have a story to tell.
Like the Next
Stop Neighbors podcast and want to tell the story of someone in the community?
Well, we welcome recommendations and, better yet, your own 10-minute interviews
too!
Can’t get enough Next Stop Neighbors?
Check out these past conversations:
The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), is starting a compost training class. Do you want to learn how to turn your food and yard waste into valuable soil, a process called composting? If yes, please join the compost training class.
The class will meet seven times for two and a half hours. Participants must attend all seven classes to complete this training. Upon the successful completion of all training classes and the passing of the final exam, a certificate will be issued.
What is compost? Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Making compost keeps your yard and food waste materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a greenhouse gas.
Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost to soil improves its fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition.
EVENT DETAILS Every Thursday May 30 – July 18, 2019 (Except July 4th) 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION Bertie Backus Urban Food Hub 5171 South Dakota Avenue, NE Washington, D.C. 20017
PAYMENT The cost of the compost training class is $100 now $50. Payment can be made before or at the time of the first class, by check or money order, made payable to the “University of the District of Columbia.” Please put “3901J” in the memo line. Limited fee waivers are available for qualifying registrants.
UDC is seeking volunteers to assist with cleanup of its native plant nursery located at the Bertie Backus Food Hub at UDC-CC Backus, 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE.
Two dates are available: May 23, 3:00 pm-7:00 pm and May 28, 3:00pm-7:00 pm
Register at the link. Some supplies provided, but bring gloves and wear closed-toe shoes. For questions, please contact Laura at (202) 274-7159.
UDC is seeking volunteers to assist with cleanup of its native plant nursery located at the Bertie Backus Food Hub at UDC-CC Backus, 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE.
Two dates are available: May 23, 3:00 pm-7:00 pm and May 28, 3:00pm-7:00 pm
Some supplies provided, but bring gloves and wear closed-toe shoes. For questions, please contact Laura at (202) 274-7159.
Today is the last day to sign up for the lottery to receive a garden plot at the Bertie Backus community garden, located at the Bertie Backus Food Hub at 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE. Apply at the link.
UDC is accepting applications for community garden plots at the Bertie Backus community garden. The community garden is part of the Bertie Backus food hub located at the UDC-CC Backus campus at 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE. The deadline to apply is May 10.
The Bertie Backus farmstand is returning this season! Last summer’s inaugural farmstand held monthly at UDC-CC Backus (5171 South Dakota Avenue NE) was a big success so UDC is seeking to expand the offerings and frequency. This year, the farmstand will be held twice per month on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month June through November.
Vendors sought: Handmade Crafts Speciality Prepared Foods Musicians Artists Nursery plants Fruits and Vegetables Community Health Educational Baked Goods Beverages Children’s Activities If you are interested in vending, please contact Maryam Sabur at maryam.abdussabur@udc.edu.
For those unfamiliar with the farmstand, it is one component of UDC’s Bertie Backus Food Hub located at the UDC-CC Backus campus on South Dakota Avenue and Galloway Street NE. The food hub has a compost sytem, hydroponics and aquaponics garden, community garden, incubator commercial kitchen, and native plant nursery. Click here to read an article about the food hub.
Bertie Backus Farm Stand October 6, 2018 UDC-CC Backus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE 9:00 am-12:00 pm
This Saturday, check out the UDC Bertie Backus Farm Stand where seasonal, local and organically grown produce will be available for sale. Even if you do not plan to make a purchase, please stop by to sign in to show your support for having the farm stand continue in the future.
Menu
Collard greens
Red Russian kale
Bok Choy
Beets
cucumbers
Holy basil
Winter squash
Kohlrabi
Peppers
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Hibiscus Leaves
Next Stop...Riggs Park 