About the Waldo Ave Community Garden

My name is Brandy Belenky and I'm the founder of the Waldo Ave Community Garden.  I grew up in South Orange and Maplewood NJ.  I had been living in Sunset Park in Brooklyn when I was enticed by a good friend to make the move to Jersey City in 2012 after repeatedly declaring "this place is awesome, I should move here!" In doing so, I gained a community a home, and an amazing local art scene.  I did however leave behind one thing that I loved - which was a CSA share.  For 3 years prior I had a CSA share in Sunset Park with Mimomex farms which is located in Goshen NY, and from them I got spoiled with amazing organically grown produce and the eggs of which I've still been unable to replace (to my chagrin) 

Once I moved here - I ended up on a bicycle tour of the community gardens  of Jersey City, and thought it was super cool.  It showed me what was possible and made me want to be a part of them as a possible replacement for my lost CSA.

Later in 2012 I moved into my hilltop apartment, and got my dog Midnight in 2014.  Anyone who has a dog knows they are the gateway to meeting the community.  With Midnight on leash, I kept walking by this lot - It was covered in weeds taller than my head, and people would toss garbage in it.  People had tried for years to get it turned into something but to no avail.  I asked multiple neighbors I had met at the time about the idea of turning it into a community garden, and they all loved the idea.   

From there, I made it my mission to see if getting a community garden started on this land was a possibility.  It took me a year, but I managed to secured the lease from conrail for the garden in 2015 mainly through tenacity, and repeated reassurance that we would use the space safely.  

Once the lease was secured, I was able to do some fundraising for soil, we actually started with beds no longer in use from the Bright Street Garden, and the next spring were able to get the garden going.   

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of our community getting a beautification lease on the lot, as well as the 9th growing season.