A Lot of Possibilities

September 13, 2010
by garden
2 min read

A Lot of Possibilities: a presentation and discussion by artists on their work in New York City’s community gardens
Saturday, September 18, 2010, 2PM – 5PM
W. 104th St. Community Garden, 6 W. 104th St., New York, NY 10025 (between Central Park West and Manhattan Avenue)
In case of rain, this event will take place at WinterSpace, 15 W. 103rd St., #4D
 
A Lot of Possibilities is a project by artist Anna Lise Jensen that aims to place contemporary artists’ work in New York City’s community gardens, and to create a dialogue between artists, gardeners and city officials. The desire to turn these gardens into partial sculpture gardens is driven both by aesthetic sensibility as well as municipal strategy: by adding the layer of cultural site, the community gardens stand a greater chance against future demolition.
On Sep. 18th. some of the participating artists will discuss their projects (implemented or in process,) including Norbert Francis Attard, Suzanne Broughel, Alyssa Casey, Jennifer Sitron, Petra Valentova and Virginia Vergara. There will also be picnic food for all (performed by Valentova,) the premiere of Jonathan Velardi’s Flamingo Parade (inspired by the W. 104th St. Garden and selected to be part of Pixel Pops in October) and Christopher Blacker will play his torch song for the gardens.
From September 13th – 18th, Anna Lise Jensen will tweet on two artists, Norbert Francis Attard and Jennifer Sitron, discussing and installing their work in Manhattan Valley gardens. In addition, she will be updating on the search for an amenable garden wall-owner for Velardi’s 30 feet Flamingo Parade and visiting local cafes to set up a display area for prints and information on A Lot of Possibilities. The tweets will also announce daily sites for gatherings and food where interested parties are welcome.
For more information on A Lot of Possibilities, contact Anna Lise Jensen, aaaonyc@gmail.com 212 865-2108 www.SpaceAllOver.org 

Meeting with artist Monday evening! Flea Market Fundraiser Saturday 18 September!‏

September 13, 2010
by garden
2 min read
1 Comment

Dear Gardeners,

We had a very productive meeting today despite the early clouds. Thank you to all who participated; and it was nice to have such a healthy turnout of 28 gardeners, not including the beautiful Keohane girls who cleaned up countless piles of pulled weeds.

Anna Lise Jensen will be hosting a meeting with the artisit Norbert Attard Monday evening (Sept 13) from 6 to 7 pm in the hopes of deciding on an art project to install in our garden. Anna Lise and Mr. Attard are hoping for some collaboration with the gardeners and would very much like to have some creative input from our community. And and all who are able to attend are encouraged to do so. Mr. Attard will only be in the city for a week and is very keen on installing a piece in the garden. We will try to have a proposal emailed to everyone by Tuesday in order to get a vote in favor or not with enough time for the artist to actually install his work. You can view his website at http://www.norbertattard.com/biography.pdf

Also, a flea market fundraiser has been organized by some friends and neighbors of the two families affected by the recent fire. It will be at the garden next Saturday the 18th from 11 to 6. Please feel free to bring baked goods and/or items to sell, or contact Lillian Jeanpierre for more information at bjorglil@peoplere.com. We did collect contributions for Christine Barrow at the meeting today. Anyone who was unable to contribute and still wishes to do so can mail directly to Christine at 635 Central Park West, #6G.

Thanks,
Mary Kelly
for the steering committee

Sept 19 Community Garden Talk

September 5, 2010
by garden
1 min read

HISTORY OF A COMMUNITY GARDEN

A Visit to the W. 104 Street Community Garden and a Discussion on NYC’s Local Gardens by Member Jean Jaworek.

Sunday, September 19, 2pm
6-10 W. 104 Street
[Between Central Park West and Manhattan Avenue]

FREE | Limited to 30
Reservations: info@columbusamsterdambid.org

Sponsored by Park West Neighborhood History Group
and the Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement BID | 212-666-9774

Jazzmobile Monday Night‏

August 23, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Attn: GARDEN MEMBERS, NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS

What? Jazzmobile sponsored by DEBNA, returns to Duke Ellington Blvd. for one of its
final FREE musical events of the summer

Where? W. 106th St. between Manhattan Ave. and CPW in the street

Who? Jazzmobile Allstars featuring Gregory Generet

When? 8/23/10, Monday at 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Bring a chair or pull up a piece of curb.

Tell your neighbors.

See ya there.

Jean Jaworek
DEBNA Treasurer

Aug 10: Public Hearing on Proposed Changes to the 2002 Community Gardens Agreement

August 9, 2010
by garden
2 min read

Dear Gardeners,

Thanks to everyone who made the Wednesday night Work Evening so productive. If you did not attend, please contact Alan Tenney (alan.tenney@gmail.com) for a make-up work assignment.

Lou Ludyny, our Green Thumb Representative, spoke at the meeting about the Proposed Rules for community gardens that will replace the 2002 Memorandum of Agreement between the New York State Attorney General and the Bloomberg Administration that has been protecting community gardens for the past 8 years and will expire in Sept 2010. The New York City Community Garden Coalition (NYCCGC) is in firm opposition to these Proposed Rules because they threaten community gardens with development and do not offer the same protections as the 2002 Community Gardens Agreement.

A public hearing for comments on the Proposed Rules on community gardens under Parks and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will be held on

Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010
11AM
Chelsea Recreation Center
430 W 25th St (between 9th and 10th)

Please attend if you can and give your support for community gardens. For more information about the Proposed Changes, how to register to give testimony, what/who to bring and how to have your voice heard is available at
http://www.nyccgc.org/ or contact Lou Ludyny (louludyny@aol.com)

Rainwater Harvesting/Beekeeping events at Brooklyn Commons

July 29, 2010
by garden
2 min read

If you’re interested in rainwater harvesting or beekeeping, check out these workshops and visit http://thecommonsbrooklyn.org for our full calendar and for more details.

RAINWATER HARVESTING Part 1: presentation with Q&A
Saturday, July 31, 1-3:30 p.m.

RAINWATER HARVESTING Part 2: hands-on workshop
Sunday, August 1, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

This two-part class, taught by Tyler Caruso, a student at Pratt’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, can be taken in combination or separately.
$15 for Saturday alone; $40 for Sunday alone; $50 for both (suggested; pay what you can)

The Saturday afternoon presentation will provide an overview of rainwater harvesting: techniques, active and passive methods of water collection, history, best management practices, and applicability to conserving rainfall as a natural resource.

The Sunday workshop is geared towards do-it-yourself types who want to learn about installing their own rainwater harvesting systems. During lunch there will be an opportunity to meet individually to discuss your rainwater plans and projects.

BEEKEEPING BASICS

This three-part series, taught by the knowledgeable and entertaining James Fischer from the Gotham City Honey Co-op and the NYC Beekeepers Meetup, can be attended as a set or separately. $6 each or two for $10 or three for $15 (suggested; pay what you can)

Session 1: What’s the Buzz?
Thursday, August 12, 7 p.m.

-Why keep bees, who keeps bees, how people keep bees
-Beekeepers’ year: what happens when
-What newbies ought to know

Session 2: Hive Inspection
Saturday, August 14, 10 a.m.

-How to inspect a hive and what’s happening at this time of year

Session 3: Overview of Bee Behavior, Pests and Diseases
Thursday, August 19, 7 p.m.

Understanding the behavior of bees is crucial to nearly every aspect of beekeeping. If you don’t understand their instinctive goals and correctly interpret their actions, you will be working against, rather than with them. Merely keeping one’s bees alive requires vigilance on the part of the beekeeper, but the good news is that New York is separated by the Hudson River from the US mainland, so we have a chance at controlling diseases and pests in NYC if we work together.

http://thecommonsbrooklyn.org

The Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn

If you have questions, contact melissa@thecommonsbrooklyn.org

DIRECTIONS TO THE COMMONS

A, C and G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn; F to Bergen Street; B, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to Atlantic-Pacific; LIRR to Flatbush Avenue; B63 and B65

More Information

Aug 5, 7pm: Concert in the Garden SAVE the DATE!

July 29, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Dear Gardeners,

We hope you’ll join us for an evening of music on the East Garden Stage next Thursday, Aug 5 7PM-9PM featuring some home grown talent and some new friends! Details will follow soon but please save the date.

Best,
Alan Tenney

Jul 31: Harlem Green community gardens tour

July 25, 2010
by garden
2 min read

Thanks to Lucille Murovich for passing this along to us. Sounds like fun.

For Immediate Release:
FREE EVENT

Harlem Community Gardens are pleased to announce that “HARLEM GREEN,” the 5th Annual Harlem Community Gardens Tour, will take place on Saturday, July 31st(raindate: Sunday, August 1st),2010 from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. The Tour will begin with a breakfast in the Joseph Daniel Wilson Community Garden at 219 West 122nd Street, and the last stop will be at the William A. Harris Garden on 153rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, where Tourists will experience a traditional, home-style Harlem Barbecue.

The Harlem gardens, all managed by community volunteers, are among New York City’s most extraordinary and best–kept secrets. Tourists will discover an amazing variety of trees, vegetables, herbs and f lowers as well as ponds, gazebos, rain-water harvesting systems, and more. The gardens are host to people of all ages. Some are shade gardens where folks can come to relax or cook a meal. The gardens run programs for toddlers, young mothers, youths and seniors; some have tutoring programs and environmental studies workshops for teens and other community folks. There are canning and preserving workshops. Some gardens host Community Supported Agriculture programs– “CSA’s”.

“Harlem Green” is supported by the Green Guerillas of NYC; Greenthumb; HUG (Harlem United Gardens);The NYC Community Gardens Coalition (NYCCGC); the Parks and Recreation Department of NYC ; Project Harmony, Inc., and the William A. Harris Garden.

Parks is providing transportation for those who would rather ride than walk.

For more information call 212.662. 2878 or 917.288.8053.