Alchemical Nursery

09/16/2026

Mugwort Intervention at the Depot -

Come join in what has become an annual effort to control the mugwort at the Depot mini-meadow, while freeing up growing space and relieving pressure from our intended plantings. We’ll remove the mugwort so seeds don’t drop and propagate, and create mulched spaces around our selected species.

09/08/2026

Closed out the summer season with a fantastic Street mural project at Otisco St/Ontario St showcasing food as focus for a diversity of people around the table, thanks to all of the volunteers, friends, and family that came out and lent their creativity. Can you name all of the dishes in the "Plates of Love" design?

09/03/2026

We had a great group of artists come together at the 713 Marcellus St Bike Depot to celebrate the unveiling of their garden arts signs work and share from their heads and their hearts about their designs and the plants that they chose to represent. Our second season of garden art signs saw 10 new artists participate and bring their talents to our growing sites. The art signs will stay up year round so stop by to check them out any day and any time. We'll be holding a mugwort control volunteer day this fall to control unwanted growth around our specimen plants, join the mailing list at www.alchemicalnursery.org to stay in touch and get involved with regenerating and rewilding our urban soils and environment. And keep an eye out for the announcement for next year when we recruit new artists to contribute to another growing site. You can also check out the 2025 cohort of garden art signs any day and any time at 610 Gifford St Community Garden .

08/24/2026

Garden Art Signs 2026 at the Depot Mini-Meadow on Marcellus St - https://mailchi.mp/9331ca4ebc6e/saturday-work-party-at-9260414

08/10/2026

Sign up today to volunteer for the community streets intersection mural painting at Otisco and Ontario intersection as part of the Monday September 7th 700 Otisco Block Party! Snacks and lunch provided. Register at

Following our 2024 pilot with the SMTC and DPW when we painted bump-outs and crosswalks and installed tire planters at the intersection, The Alchemical Nursery Project is back with a full intersection street mural installation at Otisco St and Ontario St. This will take place as part of the 700 Otis...

07/02/2026

The 2026 New York Cooperative Summit will be held Saturday, October 17, 2026, at the Armory in downtown Schenectady, NY . Become part of this year's summit by submitting a workshop proposal by July 15.

This year's summit will bring together New York State cooperative members, leaders, organizers, and allies to share practical tools and strategies for starting, sustaining, and scaling cooperative ecosystems across the state. We're inviting you, as a member of the co-op community, to propose a one-hour workshop connected to any or all of the following topics:

Trainings and skill development for co-op members; Cross-sectoral relationship building and collaboration;
Statewide relationship-building, collaboration, and movement-building

The conference planning committee will review all proposals after the July 15 deadline and aim to get back to everyone who proposed a session by early August. Each accepted workshop will be allocated up to $500 in travel and housing stipends to be shared among presenters (conference registration is a sliding scale and the link will be live within the next few weeks). Spanish/English interpretation will be provided.

Additional funding requests will be considered on an individual basis based on need and available budget.

For any questions, please contact [email protected]

Submit at https://forms.gle/Vz7MKRTVX13puy4C

07/01/2026

Just say no to less green space as the SPD attempts to take over a large swath of Lipe Art Park for parking! We already saved one lot just one block away from possible paving by stewarding the Bicycle Depot and it's mini meadow on Marcellus St, let's save another. Beyond the loss of green space, the presence of an 8 foot security fence adjacent to a public park that has for years stood as a people's park, stewarded by a group of volunteers, just doesn't fit in!. Tell your councilors this is a raw deal we don't want, and for SPD to find parking somewhere else than our art park!

06/25/2026

Propose a Workshop for the 2026 New York Cooperative Summit / Proponga un taller para la Cumbre Cooperativa de Nueva York de 2026.

The New York Cooperative Summit will be held Saturday, October 17, 2026, at the Armory in Schenectady, NY. We're bringing together New York State cooperative members, leaders, organizers, and allies to share practical tools and strategies for starting, sustaining, and scaling cooperative ecosystems across the state.

We're inviting our community to propose workshops connected to some or all of the following topics:

- Trainings and skill development for co-op members

- Cross-sectoral relationship building and collaboration

- Statewide relationship-building, collaboration, and movement-building

Workshops will be roughly one hour in length. Proposals are due by July 15. Each workshop that is accepted will be allocated up to $500 in travel and housing stipends to be shared among presenters. Additional funding requests will be considered on an individual basis based on need and available budget.

The New York Cooperative Summit will be held Saturday, October 17, 2026, at the Armory in Schenectady, NY. We’re bringing together New York State cooperative members, leaders, organizers, and allies to share practical tools and strategies for starting, sustaining, and scaling cooperative ecosystem...

06/18/2026

Saturday June 20 Work Party at 610 Gifford St Community Garden Forest Garden.

This Saturday June 20th from 9 am - 10 am at 610 Gifford St in Syracuse. Visit a micro-forest garden in an urban setting and see the variety, diversity, and ecosystem that has resulted from over 10 years of design and development for food production and benefit ecological services to the neighborhood.

Bring gloves, water, work clothing that can get dirty, and any management tools you have such as pruning shears. Send us as email as a heads-up if you know you’re coming to [email protected] or reply here.

See the rest of the news from our June 2026 newsletter at

This Saturday June 29th from 9 am - 10 am at 610 Gifford St in Syracuse. Visit a micro-forest garden in an urban setting and see the variety, diversity, and ecosystem that has resulted from over 10 years of design and development for food production and benefit ecological services to the neighborhoo...

05/28/2026

The Alchemical Nursery Project is seeking local artists for 2026 to design one of 10 Garden Art Signs to be displayed as public art, and to help identify the plants for the users, at the 713 Marcellus St Depot in Syracuse, NY. Each artist will be provided a stipend of $150 for the production of one plant Garden Art Sign of 12"H x 18"W dimensions. (we've increased our stipend from $100 last year to $150 this year) Any media may be used as part of your original work, original art remains the property of the artist, and Alchemical Nursery retains rights to reproduce via photography and printing of each design for all fund raising and educational purposes to support our neighborhood organizing, greenspace stewardship, and mutual aid work. The Art Signs for garden display will be printed on Aluminum Sandwich Board for long-term durability.

To apply, complete the form at https://forms.gle/fYWod9zYmYWDY1zE6 , including submission of 2 examples of your work. A panel of volunteers from the garden will select the awardees based on local location awareness, description of your artwork style, submitted artwork samples, and consideration of your stated interest in this project.

Future considerations of Alchemical's use of the Garden Art Sign designs include selling prints of the designs in which we will share profits with the artists.

Thanks for your interest! Contact us at [email protected] with questions.

Examples of our 2025 artists' work for the 610 Gifford St Community Garden, including - Margaret Voss – Highbush Cranberry | Heather Highfield – Elderberry | Rebecca Garofano – Rhubarb | Alana Joe – Peach | Jess McElhinney – Red Currant | Anthony Beckham – Sunchoke | Julia Smith – Strawberry | Cayetano Valenzuela – Black Currant | Charlie Sam – Red Raspberry