Artful Rain Barrel Auction at South Bend Museum of Art

April 28, 2011
by garden
1 min read

Not in New York but I thought this was really fun. My mom sent me pictures from the South Bend Regional Museum of Art’s Rain Barrel exhibit to raise money for the Center for a Sustainable Future at Indiana University at South Bend. It’s kind of like our painted cows a few years ago, only rain barrels!

Original Art Rain Barrel Auction
Location: South Bend Museum of Art
Time: ‎7:00PM Friday, May 6th.
Facebook Invitation: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=141409532589171
Center for a Sustainable Future: http://www.iusb.edu/~csfuture/inthenews.shtml
Auction Catalog: http://www.auction-info.com/viewauction.asp?AuctionID=406

I love the dress code: “Evening wear and garden gloves recommended but not required!”

PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York‏

April 26, 2011
by garden
2 min read

Received today from Larry Scott Blackmon, Deputy Commissioner for Community Outreach:

Hello Gardeners, and Happy Spring!

In the year that I have been at Parks, I have had the opportunity to get to know many of you and listened to your concerns. One thing I heard frequently was that you wanted your contributions recognized as an integral part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative.

On Thursday, April 21, Mayor Bloomberg presented an update to PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York. At this launch, facilitating urban agriculture opportunities and community gardening were listed among its top three initiatives going forward. Specific milestones to be completed by 2013 include:

  • Increasing the number of volunteer gardeners registered with GreenThumb by 25%.
  • Launching a multi-agency study to identify City-owned properties suitable for urban agriculture.
  • Creating five additional farmers markets at community gardens and,
  • Increasing the number of registered school based gardens to 150.

This important commitment to community gardens and other forms of urban agriculture by the administration is a testament to your hard work and dedication. Thank you for all you do to improve our communities.

Please log onto the PlaNYC website or click here to download a copy of the updated plan.

Sincerely,

Larry Scott Blackmon,
Deputy Commissioner for Community Outreach

West 104th St Community Garden Wins Composting Contest

April 7, 2011
by garden
1 min read

Borough President Stringer, Manhattan SWAB and Citizen’s Committee for NYC announced the winners of the first-ever Manhattan Community Scale Composting Contest. Twenty-three winners, including our own West 104th Street Community Garden, among other community gardens, Manhattan schools, and neighborhood organizations, will receive grants of up to $750 each to purchase equipment, tools and materials to start, expand and grow neighborhood composting programs.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presents Composting Contest winners (West 104th St Community Garden represenative Jean Jaworek in beige)
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presents Composting Contest winners (West 104th St Community Garden represenative, Jean Jaworek in beige, standing behind President Stringer).”

The contest was launched to promote green and sustainable practices in Manhattan and winners were announced on the first day of Spring.

Read more >

Successful Gardening Resources

March 18, 2011
by garden
1 min read

First Crocuses, photo by Robin Mace
First Crocuses, photo by Robin Mace
Hi Gardeners,

As we await Spring’s arrival (today will do) I’m posting some resources I found online. Bur first, check out what’s blooming in the garden. Robin Mace captured the first crocuses. Beautiful!

From the National Gardening Association,
Mid-Atlantic Regional Gardening Report featuring blight-resistant cherry tomatoes, garden photography and the following reminders for preparing gardens for Spring:

  • Cut Back Shrubby Dogwoods For New Growth
  • Clip Twiggy Leadwort
  • Repair Turf
  • Seed Grass
  • Clean Up Winter Debris

From NC Cooperative Extension’s website, successfulgardener.org:
Be Healthy — Grow What You Eat (PDF)
A brochure describing the benefits of growing your own food to you and your family with tips on preparing a garden, types of vegetables and fruits that thrive in cold and warm climates and more.

Lost Gray Fleece?

December 11, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Dear Gardeners,

Mardi Montgomery found a grey fleece vest on top of the cat houses on December 4. She has put the vest in the west garden shed.

Hope it will reconnect with its owner.

Herb Seed Bombs – Seen on Facebook

October 28, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Seen on Facebook. Visit the VisuaLingual site on Etsy.com to order “seed bombs” for specific areas of the country (“dog/cat friendly” bombs too):

Herb Seed Bombs by VisuaLingual

Our brand new Herb seed bombs are made by hand in Cincinnati, OH through a partnership between VisuaLingual and ArtWorks, a non-profit arts organization that connects artists of all ages with opportunities in the arts through inspiring apprenticeships, community partnerships, and public art.

Minnie the Cat

October 14, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Dear Gardeners,

With much sadness we inform you Minnie Mouse, one of our garden cats, was euthanized yesterday morning. It appears that she had been struck by a car. Her injuries were severe, and after consulting with a local veterinarian Walli Raninger made the difficult decision to end Minnie’s suffering.

As some of you know, Minnie arrived at the garden more than eight years ago. Walli adopted the tiny tortoise colored kitten and gave her a home where she stayed until recent times when Minnie began having trouble accepting apartment confinement.

Released to the garden last spring and under the watchful care of Walli and the other Garden Cat Committee members, the mature Minnie Mouse relaxed, thrived and joined the other cats on rodent patrol. Though she could be feisty from time to time, she never missed a petting opportunity and will be sorely missed by those who got to know her.

Please join us in expressing sympathy to Walli and the Committee who cared for Minnie, a cat who was never, ever a mouse.

Jean and the Steering Committee

Next Wednesday 9/29: New York City Goes Green

September 23, 2010
by garden
1 min read

New York City’s largest annual green event welcoming more than 100,000 visitors to Union Square Park in the heart of Manhattan.

Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Time: 10am – 6pm
Program: 11:30 am – 12:00 pm

Location: Union Square Park, South Plaza
Broadway to 4th Avenue, East 14th Street to East 17th Street

Following the success of Green Brooklyn…Green City in 2009, this year’s family-friendly event showcases government agencies, non-profits, entrepreneurs and community & corporate partners at the forefront of environmental stewardship, education and awareness. New Green City is an official participant of the New York City Dept. of Parks & Recreation’s Green Event Program.

GrowNYC’s free day-long fair features:

  • Rainwater Harvesting
    Kids Corner with Super Earth & The Green Man
    New Green City Scavenger Hunt
    Union Square Park Walking Tours
    One-Day Textile Collection
    Interactive Exhibit
    DIY Tutorials
    Around the World in 60 Minutes, Multi-Media Exhibit
    Union Square Greenmarket

Learn more at www.grownyc.org/newgreencity

For more information on volunteering, exhibiting or sponsorship contact Ty Williams
at 212-788-7916 or ty@grownyc.org.

Farming Concrete Harvest‏

September 20, 2010
by garden
1 min read

Just a note to let you know that our harvest records (June thru mid-Sept) have been submitted to Farming Concrete for tallying purposes. This includes the sheets filled out by members as well as records of the peach and fig tree harvests. Here’s hoping we qualify for a 2011 grant.

In the meantime the looseleaf notebook has been returned to the gazebo. There you can easily record your harvest w/ scale, from this point until the end of the season.

If anyone has pictures of harvesting activities say from the peach festival plz forward them to mara@farmingconcrete.com

Thanks,
Janice Vrana
S.C. Member