Green Esquina in South Williamsburg
La Casita Verde is a GreenThumb & NYC Parks community garden and living lab established in November 2013. The founding members came together to transform a derelict lot into a space for people in the community and beyond to participate in the soil food web (or the interconnected system that sustains our body and environment!).
Members and visitors learn how to make fertile soil, grow healthy food and use the values of permaculture — all through the union of community, art, science, and fun.
La Casita Verde has received generous support from City Parks Foundation, Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, Citizens Committee for New York City, Ecological Landscape Management, NYC’s Department of Sanitation, Kiwi Energy, GrowNYC and Eyebeam Art + Technology Center. Thank you!
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee of La Casita Verde currently is Elizabeth Guzman, McDavid Moore, Diane Collins, Nghi Nguyen, Sara Ackerman, Consuelo Karoly.
We do not have fixed positions but rather have implemented rotating roles starting with Season 2019.
To contact the Steering Committee, please email us at: info@lacasitaverde.nyc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is La Casita Verde?
A: La Casita Verde is a New York City Parks & GreenThumb community garden and living lab established in 2013 in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
We have over 40 raised beds and grow a range of vegetables, flowers and herbs. In the winter, members decide together what to grow each season. People do not own their own boxes but we make planting decisions together as a group and share the harvest. We also recycle food scraps and use our compost to grow food.
The lot was vacant and a dumping ground for over four decades. It took volunteers a year to just clear out the garbage and bring in soil (over 200 cubic yards) to create a solid and safe foundation. Our original focus was composting because you can’t grow healthy food without healthy soil. For the first year, if somebody asked us what we were growing, we replied “soil!”
You can read more on our art & design pages to get a better sense of our mission, who we have been working with and what we do.
Q: How can I participate?
A: You can participate in many ways. Stop by La Casita Verde during our open hours between the months of May and October (Sat and Sun 12-5pm). You can send us an email to sign up to volunteer or organize a group of volunteers and we will plan a workday especially for your team. If you are still wanting more, then please become a member!
Q: Can you accept donations?
A: Yes! We have many needs and rely on donations to sustain LCV. Great donations include your time, garden tools, expert skills (e.g. construction, horticulture, mural/sign painting, accounting, note-taking) and, of course, money. We are not a 501c3 but we do have a fiscal sponsor. In 2013, Kiwi Energy donated a solar panel installation for our garden. Thanks, Kiwi! We have had many volunteer days with organizations like the Jason Mraz Foundation, New York Arts Practicum, LRN and New York University.