Home Page
Our Mission
The Center for Landscape Design & Stewardship (CLDS) is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It was founded in 2008 for the purpose of promoting environmental and community sustainability through landscape-based education, demonstration, and public outreach.
The CLDS offers adult and youth education programs, professionally designed gardens for inspiration, demonstration, and horticultural study, as well as community gardens for food production and hands-on study in order to:
- Promote ecological awareness, appreciation for nature, and understanding of natural processes.
- Practice and promote sustainable design concepts and bio-intensive agriculture techniques.
- Promote gardening as a way to improve physical and mental health.
- Promote appreciation and preservation of the cultural landscape resources within
- Become a place of learning, discovery, and fun for all members of the community.
The ultimate goal of the CLDS is to add value to the community by encouraging others to create more livable, meaningful, and sustainable environments.
The Center has established partnerships with local municipalities, garden clubs, the Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program, academic institutions, local businesses, conservation organizations, state agencies, and other non-profit organizations with complimentary missions in order to provide opportunities to share knowledge, coordinate educational programs and events, conduct research, and promote greater interest in landscape design, planning, and stewardship.
Join Us at The Downtown Hazleton Farmer's Market!
Thanks to everyone who supported the new Downtown Hazleton Farmer's Market! Plans are underway for the 2012 season. If you would like to help grow the CLDS market garden, or participate in market days, please contact Krista Schneider at 570-578-5903 or kschneider@digclds.org. Working in partnership with the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce and several other local organizations (including the Hazleton YMCA/YWCA, the Commission on Economic Opportunity, the Greater Hazleton Civic Partnership, the Penn State Cooperative Extension/Master Gardeners, and the Hazleton Health and Wellness Center), the CLDS is busy recruiting vendors and planning special events that will help make the market a success. For more information or to become a vendor, please contact the Chamber at 570-455-1509 or http://www.hazletonchamber.org/. 
The Downtown Hazleton Farmer's Market has lofty goals: a) Increase the availability of fresh and local produce to city residents; b) Support local farmers by providing opportunities to sell their products direct to the consumer; c) Promote healthy eating and healthy foods; d) Celebrate our region’s rich agricultural traditions and cultural diversity; and e) Make the Farmer’s Market a lively destination that will draw people to the Downtown and encourage economic activity.
Follow the DHFM on Facebook!
Visit the Butler Township 'Human Nature' Community Garden, established in 2009 in Drums, PA, just north of Hazleton. The 'Human Nature' Community Garden is a partnership between the CLDS and Butler Township.
Help Us Plant an Orchard!
Volunteer -
Interested in renting your own garden plot? Link to our Garden Page to view rental application>>>Are you interested in purchasing a weekly share of the community garden's harvest? Take this short survey and let us know!
2012 "Growing Markets" Internship Applications Now Available
The CLDS is accepting applications for its new "Growing Markets" Internship program. This program is designed to provide interns with hands-on experience in planting and maintaining the CLDS market garden, preparing simple foods with produce grown, and marketing and selling their raw produce and valued-added foods at the Downtown Hazleton Farmer’s Market and through a small number of garden share subscriptions that the interns will manage.
View 2012 intern description>>>
The CLDS Garden Discovery Camp is a one week summer day camp for kids entering grades 4 to 7, which is designed to encourage hand’s-on study, science exploration, socialization, and outdoor recreation within a safe and beautiful garden setting. Visit the Programs page for more info and download a brochure.
As a fundraiser for our organization, Lucy Valente will be starting Saturday yoga classes again as of October 1st. These will be held indoors from 10-11AM at the Butler Township Rec Center (in the wrestling room). Registration/costs are $5/class if you register in advance for a 4-week session; or $8/class for walk-ins. Half of all proceeds benefit the CLDS. Click here to download a registration form>>>
YOUR TOWN: Lower Luzerne County With the help 24 Penn State Landscape Architecture students and four faculty members (led by Assistant Professor Barry Kew); Thomas Hylton, our Pulitzer Prize winning keynote speaker; Robert Davidson, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; Nancy Snee, Luzerne County Farmland Preservation Program Manager; and Dr. Stephan Goetz; Director of the Northeast Center for Rural Development, participants learned how to connect the dots between farmland preservation, community design, and economic development. Agritourism and support of the local economy through the purchase of local farm products were also topics of discussion.
Thanks to funding provided by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and project support provided by the PSU Hamer Center for Community Design, our 2010 YOUR TOWN workshop was a huge success! Held in the fall of 2010, this workshop hosted over 30 participants from nearby communities and other state and location organizations for 2-1/2 intense days to learn how thoughtful planning and community design can preserve the character and quality of life of southern Luzerne County.
For more information and to view samples of student work, visit the PSU Hamer Center for Community Design project page.
