The Alchemical Nursery Project is acting as the fiscal sponsor once again for the New York Cooperative Summit!!!

Cooperative Resilience: Cultivating a Statewide Movement for Economic Democracy

Saturday October 4th, 2025 – Albany, NY

The New York Cooperative Summit is a one-day event brings together New York State cooperative members, leaders, organizers, and allies to share practical tools and strategies for starting, sustaining, and scaling the co-op ecosystem across the state. In 2024 the Summit was held in Syracuse and attracted 100 attendees, and this year the event is moving to Albany and anticipating 150 people. 

Location

Empire Plaza Convention Center, Albany, NY.

Date & Time

Saturday Oct 4, 2025, from 8:00 am – 8:00pm

Registration

Tickets are offered on a sliding scale of $0 – $70 to ensure affordability.

Register for the Summit

Hotel Lodging

Hotel blocks are reserved for $139/night at two nearby hotels. The last day to book for the reduced rate is September 3rd .

Book a Hotel Room

Childcare is Available

Please enter your childcare needs during registration checkout 🙂

RESERVE CHILDCARE

Translation & Accessibility

Spanish interpretation will be offered during the event. Submit any other accessibilities during registration

MAKE A REQUEST

What will the workshop topics be?

Workshops will focus on how cooperatives can meet New Yorkers’ material needs, find professional technical assistance, and act together as a movement.

We’ve got a great list of speakers this year, including:

• A keynote conversation between longtime CEO Melissa Marquez from Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union and Cooperation Buffalo board president India Walton from Rose Jade Consulting Co-op 
• Johan Matthews from the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast on local Albany area co-op organizing
• Anh-Thu Nguyen and Julian McKinley from the Democracy at Work Institute , on rapid response and the national movement
• Chris Fox from worker co-op Action OSH and Dylan Hatch from Cornell ILR on union / co-op collaboration
• Bathabile KS Mthombeni from Untangled Resolutions on nonviolent communication & conflict resolution
• Michael Heubusch from Cooperation Buffalo on meeting the moment
• Ghislain Guiebo from the The Working World , consultant Krys Cail , and Joe Marraffino from Cooperative Fund of the Northeast on co-op financing 
• Ethan Winn from the Obran cooperative on platform co-ops
• Emily Terrana from Rose Jade Consulting Co-op on decision-making
• The ICA Group on home care cooperatives
• New Economy Project on statewide policy projects
• The Northeast Transition Initiative on employee ownership as a small business exit plan

Who is organizing the Summit?

The 2025 event is being co-organized by a coalition of leaders from the Adirondack North Country Association , CNY Community Foundation , Cooperation Buffalo , Cooperative Federal Credit Union , Cooperative Fund of the Northeast , Democracy at Work Institute , Capital Bookkeeping Cooperative , ICA Group , NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives , The Worker Place , Westchester Cooperative Network , and others.

Have there been previous New York Cooperative Summits?

Forks. The Summit was held in 2024 in Syracuse , as well as in 2013 and 2012 .

Sponsorship

We’re seeking sponsors to continue the work . The organizing group, refreshed and larger with new participants, is preparing to hold another gathering in early October of 2025 in Albany. The 2025 Summit will share practical skills, deepen statewide alliances, support BIPOC- and immigrant-led efforts, and build power for a regenerative, democratic economy. There is no paid staff person for the Summit – all sponsorships go to site and food costs, honorariums for speakers, and keeping ticket prices affordable on a low- to no-cost sliding scale. Learn more about sponsorship levels here .

Many thanks to current sponsors!

$2,000 Level

$1,000 Level

$500 Level

$250 Level

Saturday, September 13th, 11 am-1 pm.

Join us for a garden work day at the Bike Depot.

Tasks include:
-Clearing out the mugwort
-Sheet mulching
-Encouraging beneficial plants
-Creating better visibility of the building

What you should bring:
-Hand pruners
-Work gloves
-Hand trowel
-Water

Let us know you’re coming and sign up at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZjOJM7hBG6Nuydj6LuUZ43P8UJqjjhJQEzWvMaHxuTumS1A/viewform

FB Event at https://www.facebook.com/events/627379123493122

Join us once again for Friday Night at the Forest Garden on July 25th from 6-7:45 pm. A different way to spend your Friday evenings! Learn, steward, and grow together at Rahma Forest Garden. Please RSVP! https://forms.gle/A42yBNGHFPoH4a7w8

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We’ve added a second date for this Friday July 11, from 6-7:45 pm, same location of course! A different way to spend your Friday evenings! Learn, steward, and grow together at Rahma Forest Garden. Please RSVP! https://forms.gle/A42yBNGHFPoH4a7w8 – FB event for sharing at https://www.facebook.com/share/1CR4JDXdyB/

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Friday June 27, 6-8 pm

3100 S Salina St, Syracuse, NY, United States, New York 13205

NOTE for those who previously checked this out, we have changed the date back one day to Friday the 27th to accommodate a personal calendar conflict of the organizer.

The serviceberry trees at Rahma are the anchor of our food forest garden at the free health clinic, and they share their abundance with us each and every year. We have to give back our stewardship to ensure they stay healthy, happy, and productive.

We’ll clear away bindweed and cleavers, prune competing trees, and use permaculture design and polyculture principles to manage the ground cover and understory.

Meet at 6 pm for orientation, work from 6:15 – 7:45 pm, then harvest! Snacks provided.

Please RSVP! https://forms.gle/A42yBNGHFPoH4a7w8

Here’s a couple screenshots from our files gallery to give you a sneak peak at the garden art signs our artists submitted – stay tuned for more info and plans for the unveiling and celebration, when we hear from the artists about their inspiration and/or techniques, and see the signs live and in place at the 610 Gifford St Community Forest Garden. Thanks to the artists:

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

With funding from CNY Arts GRACE ’25, TNT Westside, and our Patreon members.

The Alchemical Nursery Project (ANP) stewards 4 sites in the city of Syracuse for green space, edible food production, ecological services, climate change effects reduction, permaculture education and materials reuse.  We are a grassroots all-volunteer run organization, and we welcome you to join our work.  We couldn’t do it without each other! 

Contact us at info@alchemicalnursery.org, 315-308-1372, or message us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AlchemicalNursery

Click on the Arrow to the left of each heading below to expand and see the details of what has taken place SO FAR and what is TO COME in 2025, and OPPORTUNITIES for 2025-2026

Rahma Edible Food Forest Garden

Rahma Edible Food Forest Garden
More at https://www.facebook.com/rahmaforestgarden

SO FAR in 2025	> Winter pruning and felling, Saturday March 8. > Meeting with NRCS to evaluate for pollinator planting plan and funds, Friday March 28. > Resource Drive Day on Saturday April 19, acquisition of compost, mulch, and manure fertilizer. > Fence measuring and estimate, Friday April 25. > Earth Week Trash Clean-up, General Maintenance, Saturday April 26. > Brick pathway border installation by Engineers without Borders, Sunday April 20 and Sunday April 27. > Spring pruning, Thursday May 8.
TO COME in 2025	> Late June Serviceberry work day. > Fence installation, with gates, along South Salina St and Pleasant Ave to prevent windblown trash and litter on site. > Updated Soil Testing. > Mulching and compost amendments of soil around plantings. > NRCS pollinator planting financing application. > Felling of honey locust, box elder, and wild cherry trees that are shading our fruit producers.
OPPORTUNITY in 2025-2026	Join the Rahma Stewardship Team (1 person from Team will also serve on ANP Board of Directors) >> Special projects such as understory management and planting, invasive species removal, and plant tags installation, >> Regular trash pick-up >> Monthly work sessions

713 Marcellus St Bike Depot
More at https://www.facebook.com/713MarcellusStBikeDepot

SO FAR in 2025	> Pre-Season work day to clean up the site and prep for Open Shops, Sat May 3. > Serviceberry street side planting. > Open Shops began: Tuesdays from 5-7 pm & Saturdays from 1-3 pm > New Volunteer Orientation, Saturday May 17.
TO COME in 2025	> Updated Soil Testing. > Repairs to the outdoor Bike Fix-It station. > Rain barrel installation. > Mural touch-up and protection. > Porch roof shingling and railing/floor painting. > Open Shops continuing weekly dependent on volunteer Stewards availability. > Management of the mini-meadow out front, and the edible tree and shrub plantings on site (persimmon, pawpaw, American Chestnut, nannyberry, hazelnut).
OPPORTUNITY in 2025-2026	Join the Stewards Team, become a Team member to host Open Shops and support visitors with tier bicycle repairs. Help out with a Stewards Committee: >> Outreach >> Building and Grounds >> Repair Shop

711 Otisco Street Commons Lot
New site as of last year in 2024!

SO FAR in 2025	> No-Mow May meadow and pathway management. > Plane Tree street side planting.
TO COME in 2025	> Updated Soil Testing. > Mini-meadow management of species and pathways. > Art snake installation. > Additional benches installation. > Rear fence repairs.
OPPORTUNITY in 2025-2026	Help out when and if you can, contact Frank to coordinate, stop by and spend time in this block-based community green space, host an event at the lot.

RSVP LINK: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZjOJM7hBG6Nuydj6LuUZ43P8UJqjjhJQEzWvMaHxuTumS1A/viewform

The Marcellus Street Bike Depot (713 Marcellus St., Syracuse, NY) is a member and volunteer-run community bicycle shop. It was founded in 2022 to provide bicycle riders in Syracuse a place to share and learn bicycle repair skills, share tools, and connect with other bike riders. At the Depot, you work on your own bike with depot tools with support from volunteer mechanics and other members.    

We host free Open Shop hours Tuesdays 5-7 pm and Saturdays 1-3 pm. Our 2025 Open Shop hours will start on Tuesday, May 6. 

Fill out this form to let us know you are interested in learning more about the Bike Depot, and to RSVP for specific events.

Saturday May 10th, 11am – 3pm

Come to the annual Alchemical Nursery Project’s plant sale! We’ll have fruit bushes, ornamental, native, and perennial plants for people to buy. We’ll also have cuttings of some plants and can give you all the info you need about how to care for your plants.

You can stop by the Bitternut Homestead at 717 Otisco St to buy plants or pre-order plants online and pick them up either at Bitternut on the Westside or our partner Bread and Roses on the Eastside at 405 Westcott St. Pre-sales begin in April.

Inventory, and ordering instructions can be found at this link.

Email us as info@alchemicalnursery.org

Welcome to the first post on “Biophilic Education & Guidance Resources for a Long Reckoning”, written by Alchemical’s Founder and President Frank Cetera. These educational resources will be made available as a benefit to members of Alchemical’s Patreon account, which you can join for as little as $1 per month, but this first taste is free for all.

Preview Text:

We shop for local and seasonal produce at the Regional Market every Saturday, and this time of year is quite thin for our favorite – we got a red one this week, nut no green cabbage from any farmer vendors was available. Fresh herbs are absent as well. We don’t complain, there are options including the red cabbage, kale, spinach, and some lettuce greens. But it is also the perfect time of year to go foraging for greens in your backyard and other favorite spots now that the snow is off the ground, and life is peaking up through the soil.

Onion grass (Allium vineale), alternatively known as wild garlic, field garlic, or crow’s garlic, is ubiquitous right now, so easy to recognize as it rises four or five inches above the Earth, and of course easy to identify because of its scent, taste, and bulbs attached underground – with every part of it being edible.

Last year,………..

Read the full post at https://www.patreon.com/posts/permie-food-124984892

The Alchemical Nursery Project, with funding from CNY Arts and TNT Westside, is seeking local artists 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 610 Gifford St Community Garden.  Each artist will be provided a stipend of $100 for the production of one plant Garden Art Sign of 12″H x 18″W dimensions.  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 linked here, 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 info@alchemicalnursery.org with questions.

Bitternut Homestead, 717 Otisco St. Syracuse, NY 13204
Sunday, November 17, 11AM – dusk (sunset at 4:30PM)

FREE with volunteer labor trade. Or just come for the opening (30-minute) training for a $10 donation to Bitternut Homestead. The bulk of the day will be spent constructing the wattle fencing, weaving together as we chat or sing.

Wattle is a woven framework of sticks, using upright posts and horizontal withies. At Bitternut, we will be using it to replace some of the original pallet fencing with a more aesthetically and community-minded front yard presentation.

Prior to the fence building, we will be coppicing/pollarding maple, willow, and slippery elm on site and at the 610 Gifford St community garden around the corner to procure the materials needed for the installation. Learn about solo stool coppicing and pollarding uses that you can practice at your own site.

Lastly, we will also be replacing some pallet fencing with new pallets obtained locally. Learn which pallets are safe to use, and how to treat and install them for stability and longevity.

We’ll have a big pot of soup (type TBD) and bread to share. Come for the whole time or drop in when you’re available; let us know when to expect you. Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/ouaU5hQJFmngGcBJA

Dress for the weather.