The only thing that gets me more excited than planting wildflowers and trees is educating people about their benefits and encouraging active participation in community green spaces.
Join the Friends of East Rock Park FERP list serve or look for opportunities to volunteer in your neighborhood here.
Consider supporting local non-profits like Urban Resources Initiative (URI), Friends of East Rock Park (FERP), and The Huneebee Project.
-Brandon
P.S. See map for Goatville guerrilla gardening locations and learn more about current community projects at links below.
-
Visit the pollinator pathway on Foster between Willow and Canner. Planted with mostly native wildflowers, leftover materials from gardening gigs, and curious items found in the neighborhood.
There are four large raised beds in front of 163 Pizza Joint, 2 in front of Bubble and Squeak laundry, and several smaller boxes in the curb strip that run alongside the vacant lot on Foster.
-
Summer 25 - Goatville Food Forest behind mechanic dog park with native trees and shrubbery to benefit local wildlife. JOIN US TUESDAYS 5:30-7:30!
Spring 25 - Ephemeral Wildflower Meadow along Willow near Eddie Sheehan Field.
Spring 25 - mini poppy garden behind Ralph Walker Ice Rink
-
Upper State Street Neighborhood Association and local businesses came together in 2024 to restore and activate the triangle dog park after the city added traffic reduction “bump outs” at Lawrence. Do you know why there is a triangle here in the first place? It was for the street trolley’s to turn around!
Read more about the history of Upper State Street and the plaza here:
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/lawrence_street_plaza_2024
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/05/11/the-salvaging-of-wrecked-things/
Stay tuned for Plazafest 2025!
-
COMMUNITY | ADVOCACY | STEWARDSHIP Friends of East Rock Park improves access and beauty of the park by removing invasive species, trail work, adding native trees and gardens. Join list serve for regular updates on work days. https://friendsofeastrockpark.org/join-e-blast
-
URI has planted thousands of street trees in New Haven over the past 30 yrs (psst, the ones with the white tags in the curb strip) During the summer, they also lead community-driven green space projects and always looking for volunteers to knock on doors to offer “free” street trees or help out in a community green space. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c49adab2da6f9c16-greenspace#/
-
Huneebee Project was started in 2018 by a clinical social worker and beekeeper. They educate people about the importance of pollinators with 40 honey bee colonies and 20 pollinator-friendly garden plots across nine sites in New Haven and Bridgeport. The sites are developed and maintained by local youth, who are employed in positions ranging from garden site managers and operations assistants to bee apprentices and peer instructors.
Goatville Salvage in the news:
Libraries, parks and cultural landscapes we regard as public goods — “common resources” — meant to be shared and cared for by the people who use them.
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
