Our Projects
Soil Start Farm
…Where we think “Table to Farm”
Urban composting has dual purposes: diverting organic waste from the landfill, and amending existing soil.
At Soil Start Farm, Earth Matter demonstrates how gardeners can use readily-available materials to create compost to grow plants in urban soil conditions.
Read about some of our farm activities below.
Produce Donation
During the growing season, most of our produce is donated to the Catholic Worker Soup Kitchen community and we accept food scraps from their kitchens for composting.
Heritage Bed Project
Soil Start Farm’s Heritage Bed Project, originally funded by Council Member Margaret Chin, represents many cultures and celebrate their interconnectedness in the NYC community. The original beds included Black Southern, Chinese, European Jewish, First Nation, German, Italian, Japanese, LatinX, and Peruvian.
Compost Critters Club
Our compost and gardening program for children 2-13 years old. This program nurtures lifelong habits in composting, gardening and seasonal eating, and is currently supported by NYC Ferry.
Island Partner Sales
We grow crops for our island food vendors so visitors can enjoy food and drinks with ingredients grown locally using compost made from food waste and other organic material collected and processed on the island! Click here to learn more about the closed-loop system on the island.
Volunteer at Soil Start Farm
Become a Farm Apprentice
Heritage Bed Farmers
2025
Chinese
Tiffany Yu
Hamilton-Madison House Community
Scandinavian
Bella Muccari
Italian
Elena D’Amanda
Marisa DeDominicis
Rick DelVecchio
Ginny DelVecchio
Ashkenazi Jewish
David Klein
Joan Shapiro
Southeast Asian
Christine Malonzo
Black African
Babacar Kebe
Andean/Peruvian
Carlos Jimenez Cahua
Korean
Daniel McGee
South Asian
Sarada Ravinuthala
Central American/Latinx
Samantha Normandia
Japanese
Tomoe Sato
Sandra Watanabe
2021
Chinese
Linda
Fanny
Wanlin Sun
Harold DeLongchamp
German
Andrea Lieske
Italian
Elena D’Amanda
Tori Ciardiello
Ashkenazi Jewish
David Klein
Southeast Asian
Christine Malonzo
Black African
Kimberly Brown
Chelten Leggett
Central American/Latinx
Chloe Benitez
Angie Jurrea
Jonathan Saint-Hilaire
MoMo Herrera
Kellen Insfran
Japanese
Tomoe
Peruvian
Carlos Claudia
Soil Start Farm is on Flickr!
Follow our Flickr page for updates and photos.