HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy in Victory Gardens, NJ

Dear Residents,

Right now, farm stands display bushels overflowing with freshly-picked, local fruit and vegetables, especially ‘Jersey’ tomatoes! Rich in flavor, tenderness, and juiciness, vine-ripened tomatoes from New Jersey are the best in the world!

Randolph enjoys a rich farming history. Randolph’s first citizens made their living directly or indirectly (millers, blacksmiths, storekeepers, tanners, coopers) from the land. This way of life was characteristic of rural America in the 19th century.

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Fertile Randolph land provided local farmers with an abundance of vegetable and grain crops, peach and apple orchards, and dairy farms. In 1806 – the first year records were kept – the municipal tax assessor identified one-hundred farms in Randolph.

While barely a handful of these farms still exist today, it is only natural that Randolph would someday have its own community garden. The number one past time in the United States, gardening was already very popular in Randolph.

The introduction of a community garden in Randolph epitomized residents identifying a new recreational opportunity, forming a committee of interested volunteers, researching the options, and seeing it through to completion. The community garden movement began with the victory gardens during World War II, when Americans began growing fruits and vegetables in backyards, empty lots, even rooftops to supplement rationed foods.

Randolph’s community garden committee was formed in 2011 and was tasked to evaluate other local municipal community garden efforts and to determine if there was a sustaining interest in Randolph for a community garden. Analysis of other municipal community gardens included the size and number of planting beds, what resources are provided, whether the garden should be organic, and fencing requirements. Years of volunteer effort resulted in the inclusion of a community garden in Randolph Township’s 2016 Parks and Recreation Master Plan followed by site selection in the soon-to-be-developed Veterans Community Park.

Randolph’s community garden is located in the new Veterans Community Park on Calais Road. Veterans Community Park has been recognized with the Morris Park Alliance facility award in 2022 and the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association (NJRPA) 2023 Excellence in Design Award for a Multi-Use Facility in 2023.

Opened in 2020, Randolph’s community garden consists of 168 organic planting beds, each measuring six feet wide by fourteen feet long. Members of all ages and all skill levels from beginners just getting started with gardening through experienced master gardeners each pay a $40 annual fee per planting bed to cover all the expenses of running the community garden, including garden tools, mulch, compost, and water. More than just a planting bed rental, your community garden membership affords you an opportunity to meet some great new friends with whom you can learn and share.

New community garden members are required to participate in an orientation program – topics covered include organic gardening best practices, bug and weed control, and gardener expectations. Periodic meetings are held to cover interesting gardening topics, and there are also walk-and-talk programs where gardeners walk around the garden and share gardening experiences and ideas. Gardeners regularly review bug reports from Rutgers University.

The community garden has proven to be an excellent addition to Randolph’s already extensive list of successful recreation opportunities and has grown to include a pollinator garden in 2021. The garden is also home to blue bird houses, a seed-sharing cabinet, and park benches to enjoy the serenity of the garden with a neighbor and an ice tea. In the spirit of giving back, gardeners have partnered with the Randolph Food Pantry and the Interfaith Food Pantry providing hundreds of pounds of fresh produce annually.

Gardening is considered exercise by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and getting involved with a community garden is an enjoyable means of producing your own food while sharing your gardening passion and expertise with your neighbors.

Please contact the Randolph Township Department of Parks and Recreation at 973-989-7081 to learn more about Randolph’s community garden.

Now more than ever, it is important to stay informed. On the front page of our Township website there is a button labeled “Stay Informed!” If you click on it, you can sign up for Township information broadcast systems and view news, events, and emergency notices.

If I can assist you in any way, please reach out to me. My contact information is located on the Township website. Stay safe, and enjoy everything that Randolph has to offer!

Regards,

Lou Nisivoccia

Mayor, Randolph Township 2023

MORRIS COUNTY — nourish.NJ recently celebrated the inauguration of its latest facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 347 South Salem Street in Victory Gardens.

The new facility is an 8,000-square-foot facility aimed at addressing food insecurity by providing fresh food, stable housing, and critical mental health support. A community hub offering a variety of services to assist with case management, financial stability, mental and physical health, and more, in one of the most densely populated and impoverished municipalities in New Jersey.

For nearly 40 years, nourish.NJ has constantly adapted to create dynamic, lasting solutions to the problems of hunger, homelessness, and poverty in Morris County. Formerly known as the Community Soup Kitchen, the Morristown-native organization operates 365 days a year, offering supportive services and carrying out its mission with the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the heart of its work. Their unique approach to fostering and maintaining an environment that is accepting, affirming, and empowering to all who engage with their organization sets them apart and enables their ability to offer maximum assistance.

The last three years in particular have served as a time of dramatic growth and transformation for nourish.NJ. Consequently, their geographic and programmatic reach, as well as their community impact, have increased significantly, culminating with the grand opening of their new Community Hub on South Salem Street in Victory Gardens.

This additional location features a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, which will help the organization serve thousands more healthy, freshly prepared meals. Additionally, new office spaces for their Outreach Team will enable the offering of free, easily accessible case-management services for housing, mental and physical health, and financial stability support.

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County County Clerk Ann Grossi, Esq. (Republican) secured re-election with 56% of the votes, amounting to 58,482 of the 103,633 total votes cast. Her opponent, Caroline O’Brien, (Democrat) received 44,994 votes, equivalent to 44% of the vote.

As a Constitutional Officer in New Jersey, the Morris County Clerk serves a term of five years. Ann Grossi has been in office since January 2014 and is at the end of her tenth year. This re-election would mark the start of her third term.

Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi, a Parsippany native has already devoted ten years to the role. Her tenure as a Morris County freeholder and a councilwoman for Parsippany-Troy Hills has fortified her experience. Grossi’s campaign hinged on her dedication and her extensive legal and administrative background, which she believes are crucial to capably managing the County Clerk’s Office functions. She vows to tackle upcoming challenges with the same efficacy that has marked her past decade in office.

Grossi said she was also proud of the quality of services that her office provides.

“I receive compliments from the public all of the time, which reinforces my vision for the Clerk’s Office since it is a direct service provider to the public.

During her tenure, Ann Grossi has overseen the introduction of several programs and services aimed at enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of the Morris County Clerk’s Office.

Key initiatives include:

Furthermore, Grossi’s office has modernized the process for handling passport applications by:

Passport department does allow walk-ins, or to help with better planning, appointments are available

In addition to these services, her office has developed an election night reporting website, providing real-time updates and enhancing transparency around election results. These advancements reflect Grossi’s commitment to leveraging technology and innovative solutions to serve the residents of Morris County more effectively.

Editors Note: Results are unofficial. Early Voting and Initial Mail-In Ballots Counted and await Final Mail-In and Provisional Ballot Results.

So, you want to plant a garden? You’re not alone.

As New Jersey enters another week of the statewide stay-at-home order to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a budding number of people stuck inside are trying something new: growing fruits and vegetables in their backyards.

But how do you safely garden in the Garden State, which has a legacy of contaminated land from its industrial past?

Experts say homebodies are eager for fresh produce. Gardening businesses are busier than ever. More people are calling county centers with questions about home gardening. And the National Gardening Association even created a guide for gardening during the pandemic.

With nurseries and garden centers deemed essential in the state, gardening is a recreational activity for people of all ages that helps pass time. Others may be picking up gardening because they want to be more self-sufficient — a theme some compare to the victory gardens of World Wars I and II, when a food crisis resulted in a nationwide campaign that urged people to start home gardens.

Christopher Leishear, owner of Glen Rock-based Farmburbia, which builds raised garden beds and similar structures for people at home, said business has taken off since the start of the pandemic. He started the company about five years ago after he noticed a demand for at-home gardening in suburban Bergen County, but most people didn't know where to start.

“Especially now with COVID, there seems to be even more people interested in self-sufficiency and sustainability," Leishear said. "People don’t want to go out like they used to. Not that having a few raised beds in your backyard can eliminate your ability to go to the grocery store, but it can contribute to you having fresh produce throughout the late spring, summer and fall — and people have just really taken to it.”

April, May and June are usually Farmburbia's busiest months, Leishear said. However, some of his larger projects that require multiple people have been delayed because of social distancing guidelines. The backlog of orders is likely to keep him busy through July and possibly into August.

Experts say that raised beds and gardening with containers or pots are safe and convenient options for those unsure about contaminants in their soil.

Safety concerns: Some gardening tips and tricks

New Jersey, with its long list of Superfund sites and plots requiring cleanup by the state, has plenty of contaminated land. That's why soil is usually tested for contaminants before a garden is planted. Any would-be gardener who wants to know the history of their land before starting a garden should contact their local town hall, experts suggest. Municipal offices should have the history of all properties in town.

When brownfields are being reclaimed for gardening, organizations will run a soil test first, said Michelle Infante-Casella, a county agent for Rutgers' Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County. The test usually looks for contaminants such as lead. A gardener could have their home's soil tested by commercial labs. Search online for environmental labs or soil testing labs, and follow the instructions, Infante-Casella recommended.

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Anyone concerned about the safety of their land, or with limited space for a garden, can turn to container planting. Some vegetables that grow well in pots or containers include tomatoes, pepper plants, lettuce, onions and root vegetables like radishes or carrots.

"Just make sure you figure out by reading or looking on the seed packet or investigating how large a plant will get before you put it in a container," Infante-Casella said. "A container may only be able to hold one plant because it grows too large."

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Bruce Crawford, Rutgers' statewide horticulture coordinator who is transitioning from his years-long role as director of Rutgers Gardens, said container gardens don't have to be high maintenance.

"You could use an old barbecue base. You can improvise with an old galvanized container and put some holes in the bottom of it and grow anything from squash to tomatoes to lettuce to beets," Crawford said. "You don’t need actually to have a plot of land, as long as you have a sunny balcony or porch or something of that nature — a front door stoop. You can grow vegetables there."

The demand for at-home gardening has been so great, Crawford said, that the state university is preparing to roll out evening question-and-answer sessions on Facebook. He anticipates interest to continue through the summer.

Right now is prime time to plan your garden, experts said. May is typically the peak gardening season in the Garden State, since the "frost free" date in New Jersey is around May 15. That's the date when soil temperatures are warm enough for vegetables and other plants to survive underground.

"Starting next week almost everything can start being planted because we won’t have frost anymore for the season," Infante-Casella said.

There are other basic tips expert gardeners advise newbies to follow: find a location with lots of sunlight; ensure proper drainage for plants by avoiding an area that puddles, or by poking holes at the bottom of a container; try your hand at some of the easier crops first, like beets or beans.

“My advice is just to start," said Leishear. "Start small — a few container pots on your deck or your patio or even in your window sill. You can cut a stem of basil, drop it in a glass of water, and in seven to 10 days later, it has roots and it’s growing in size. So, you don’t need a lot of space."

There are also lots of guides online for first-time gardeners. Rutgers offers an online curriculum and helpful fact sheets. Princeton and Cornell also offer resources online. Duke Farms in Hillsborough has been hosting classes through Zoom to teach gardeners about vegetable seed starting and container gardening. The National Gardening Association, which tracks the growth of gardening nationwide and offers countless resources online, has a tool that outlines frost dates for planting based on zip-codes.

Dave Whitinger, the association's executive director, said traffic to the group's website has grown by 114% this year. About 700,000 people visited the organization's website last week, compared to about 290,000 the same week last year. The increase in demand has been felt across the industry, he added.

"I’ve talked to many, many companies in the industry and everybody’s reporting that they’re essentially selling everything that they have," Whitinger said. "Nobody has to advertise their products right now, because nobody is having trouble selling. Many of the seed companies are completely out of stock."

Experts tout several advantages to gardening at home: higher quality food, more variety in the types of food you consume, food security in your own backyard, exercise, stress relief, and family bonding

"When you have a young child start a seed that they watch grow, a lot of times the children will be more apt to eat something that they grew," Infante-Casella said.

Crawford, the Rutgers horticulture coordinator, said that if families make home gardening a part of their daily routine, we may see a permanent shift to the practice.

"I do anticipate certainly for the next couple of decades that there will be a greater interest in backyard gardening and maintaining a degree of self-sufficiency from a food standpoint," Leishear said.

Melanie Anzidei is the retail reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news about store openings and closings in North Jersey’s biggest malls, shopping centers and downtowns, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

First the raised beds arrived, three narrow boxes lining the edge of my yard. Then came the soil in a big pungent pile, demanding to be shoveled. And last weekend, I brought home trays of delicate little plants that promise a summer of Swiss chard, snap peas, tomatoes and beets.

The last time my family grew fruits and vegetables, I was a child, and I mostly nibbled my father’s strawberry patch clean. But this summer I’m growing my family’s food.

With the prospect of a long, hot season spent mostly at home, my garden has never looked riper for growing. I am not alone. Garden centers are reporting a surge in business as homeowners look for ways to grow vegetables, in a spirit reminiscent of the Victory Gardens of World War I and World War II. As Americans face deep economic insecurity, coupled with food shortages and long lines at the grocery store, gardening has taken on a new urgency.

“If you are worried about Covid-19 and going to stores, you have a lot of control over your own environment in your own garden,” said Janice Parker, principal of Janice Parker Landscape Architects in Greenwich, Conn.

With a little planning, and some good soil, planting a vegetable garden can pass the time and put food on the table. Here’s how to get one started.

Finding Supplies

Before you start your gardening project, contact your local garden center to find out if they are open, what supplies they have in stock and what social-distancing measures are in place. Most states have declared garden centers essential services, but there still may be restrictions or shortages of some supplies.

You will most likely need containers, raised beds (or lumber to make your own), fencing materials and, of course, plants, seeds and soil. And if you don’t have a good shovel, gardening gloves and hand tools, now is the time to get those items.

Some garden centers are offering delivery or curbside drop-off. Others are practicing social distancing inside the premises. Seeds and other materials can be ordered online, although deliveries may be delayed, and since it’s midway through May, time is of the essence.

Join a local gardening group (many can be found on Facebook), and see if anyone in your area is trading seedlings or supplies they do not need. The connections can also help you learn skills from seasoned gardeners. “One of the ways people get access to things when things are in short supply, is they’ve got a network of friends,” said Carol Deppe, a plant breeder and the author of “The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times.”

The Tiniest Indoor Garden

You don’t need access to the outdoors to garden. If you have a window, you have space to grow a little food, even if it’s just a pot of herbs on the windowsill.

“Even if you don’t have a fire escape or a balcony, you can still be growing a tiny garden in your kitchen,” said Leah Penniman, the farm manager of Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, N.Y. and the author of “Farming While Black.”

You could grow microgreens on an empty aluminum tray or takeout food container. Punch holes in the bottom, fill it with soil, and densely lay the seeds — kale, collard greens, mustard greens or radishes — on top of the soil. Cover the seeds with a damp paper towel and water them every day, keeping the soil “moist as a sponge,” said Ms. Penniman. Once they sprout, remove the paper towel and in about two weeks, you’ll have microgreens.

A Garden for a Balcony, Rooftop or Fire Escape

Plants like tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, chard, herbs, eggplant and even potatoes can grow in containers on a balcony, rooftop or fire escape, so long as you choose ones suitable for your region of the country.

You should select small and vertical growing varieties of your favorite vegetables. If you’re planting a rooftop garden, make sure you don’t inadvertently block any drainage pipes or gutters. If you’re using a fire escape, be sure to keep exit routes clear. Place a trellis against a balcony wall and grow vines, such as varieties of cucumbers, squash, peas and pole beans.

“Some vegetables are good for small patios, like Tumbling Tom is grown in a hanging basket,” said Diana Cluff, the plant designer at the Farm at Green Village, a garden center in Green Village, N.J. “It’s a wonderful cherry tomato. It cascades.”

Choose containers with good drainage, in whatever material appeals to your taste — ceramic, wood, plastic or a fabric grow bag. Larger pots will be easier to maintain than smaller ones because the soil will not dry out as quickly, so choose as large a container as possible. Self-watering containers extend the time between watering. Place your containers in a spot with full sun before you fill them with organic potting mix. (Once the pots are filled, they’ll be heavy to move.) Place vines against a wall or railing, to make it easier for the vines to climb.

A Bed in the Garden

Before you make your planting bed, choose a location with at least six hours of full sun. If your garden has good quality soil and is free of toxins, like lead, you can dig directly into the ground, removing any sod, weeds and roots, and replenishing the soil with a mix of compost and potting soil. But get your soil tested before you attempt to grow food in it.

If you’re not up for testing, prepping and tilling, build a raised bed. You will be able to control the soil, the weeds and, if you’re renting your home, take your box with you when you move. You can buy ready-made raised beds at a garden supply company, or build your own with lumber, nails and screws. (I ordered my raised bed from a local craftsman who built three narrow ones to fit my small space.)

Place a layer of landscape fabric beneath your raised bed and then fill the box with soil. Ms. Penniman recommends using a mix of 50 percent topsoil and 50 percent compost. You can buy bags of organic raised bed soil, too. Many municipalities give away compost, so ask yours if any is available. An online soil calculator can help you determine how much soil you need before you shop.

To keep the furry and feathered neighbors from eating your bounty before you do, lay a mesh barrier underneath the bed and build a fence around it. The fence should be tall and sturdy enough to keep deer, rabbits and groundhogs out, but does not need to be a fortress. “People are told to build a much more aggressive fence than they need — ours are five feet high,” said John Carlson, the owner of Homefront Farmers, a Redding, Conn., company that designs, builds and maintains garden beds.

What to Plant

Let your stomach tell you what to plant. If tomatoes are your jam, double down. If you never eat eggplant, it doesn’t deserve a spot in your plot.

“It doesn’t do you any good to plant red radishes and then they sit around because no one in the family likes little red radishes,” Ms. Deppe, the author of “The Tao of Vegetable Gardening,” said. “Grow stuff your family eats.”

Follow the guides on the seed packet or seedling labels to avoid crowding, as your plants will need space to spread out. Be sure to follow your regional planting schedule, so your plants don’t end up in the ground too early or too late. An online garden planner can help you plot out your garden. Soul Fire Farm has been offering weekly gardening tutorials on its Facebook page. And your local garden center can tell you the ideal time to put plants in the ground, and can direct you to low maintenance, disease-resistant varieties.

Add a thin layer of mulch on top of your bed to reduce weeds. You can also use a drip irrigation system (it can be hooked up to a garden hose) to make watering easier. Cluster your containers together so they’re easy to water at once with a sprayer, and make sure you water consistently so the soil doesn’t dry out.

Whatever you do, plant food and flowers that will bring you joy, and will be easy to grow. “The last thing you need this summer is to be disappointed,” Ms. Parker, the landscape architect, said. “This is not the summer for disappointment.”

Voters in three towns on Tuesday approved a $44.4 million referendum for upgrades to the two "crumbling" high schools in the Hanover Park School Regional School District.

But Dover voters overwhelmingly rejected a $69.3 million referendum to expand the high school and build a second middle school in the overcrowded district.

Unofficial results from the Morris County Board of Elections show the Hanover Park referendum passed by a vote of 1,493 (55.5%) to 1,179 (43.8%). The district serves high school students from Hanover, who attend Whippany Park High School and students from East Hanover and Florham Park who attend Hanover Park High School.

The district "anticipates that we now have the necessary funding available to make much-needed improvements to both of our high schools," Superintendent Maria Carrell said following the vote. "Over the next few months, we will be working closely with our district professionals to begin the first phase of this project as soon as possible."

Dover voters reject referendum, tax increase

But in Dover and tiny neighboring Victory Gardens, district officials saw voters reject a referendum that would have raised taxes by $611 annually for homeowners in the former and $579 for those in the latter. The expansion, officials said, was necessary in a district that is 700 students over capacity and rising, according to a report from the New Jersey Department of Education.

"For the last two years, our student enrollment numbers have steadily risen," the district wrote on a website touting the referendum. "Our schools have been over capacity for decades. Generations of residents have stepped up before to invest long-term in Dover Public Schools. The community is being asked to consider whether to do the same again."

The community rejected the referendum by more than 72% (1,022 to 374).

"The need to build a new school in Dover can’t be denied," Dover Board of Education President Dr. Krista Seanor said after the vote. "This election result doesn’t change that fact. I’m devastated by the reality of overcrowding and underfunding that our children must now continue to endure."

"We thank all [voters] who participated and will discuss with the community plans for the future of our schools," the district stated. "Evaluating the community’s feedback will be the first step in that process."

District officials hoped to build a new middle school between the high school and North Dover Elementary School, where tennis courts are now.

"A new middle school and expanded high school will provide space to spread out our students, leaving enough room for students at the elementary schools," they wrote.

In the Hanover Park district, infrastructure in both high schools schools "are original from the buildings," officials advised on the district website. Hanover Park opened in 1956. Whippany Park opened in 1967.

"Repairs have become costly; and sometimes, cost-prohibitive," the district wrote. "We have now reached the point that we must invest a considerable amount of money to make necessary improvements. This investment is expected to mitigate future costs for the district and its taxpayers."