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Showing posts with label February. Show all posts
Showing posts with label February. Show all posts
2021-02-04
2019-02-12
Charismatic Mesofauna
Over the weekend I was inspired to write a little tweet storm. I thought it would make a good blog post.
It started with a blog post by entomologist Eric Eaton, who goes by @BugEric on his blog, Twitter and other social media. Benjamin Vogt, a native plants evangelist (my word, bestowed with respect) tweeted a link, which is how it came to my attention.
It started with a blog post by entomologist Eric Eaton, who goes by @BugEric on his blog, Twitter and other social media. Benjamin Vogt, a native plants evangelist (my word, bestowed with respect) tweeted a link, which is how it came to my attention.
The Monarch is the Giant Panda of invertebrates. It has a lobby built of organizations that stand to lose money unless they can manufacture repeated crises. Well-intentioned as they are, they are siphoning funding away from efforts to conserve other invertebrate species that are at far greater risk. The Monarch is not going extinct.
- Bug Eric: Stop Saying the Monarch is a "Gateway Species" for an Appreciation of Other Insects
2016-02-20
Recipe: Crisp and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies have been taste-tested recently at a going-away party and after-church coffee hour. Adults rave about this cookie. You will have no leftovers, even from a double batch.
I've been working on this recipe for a while, and I think I've finally got it to where I want it.
2015-02-23
Invasive Plant Profile: Chelidonium majus, Celandine, Greater Celandine
Revised 2015-02-23: This was one of my earliest blog posts, first published in June 2006. I've overhauled it to 1) meet my current technical standards, and 2) improve the content based on the latest available information.
Chelidonium majus, Celandine or Greater Celandine, is a biennial (blooming the second year) herbaceous plant in the Papaveraceae, the Poppy family. It is native to Eurasia. It's the only species in the genus.
It's invasive outside its native range, and widespread across eastern North America. It emerges early in the Spring, before our native wildflowers emerge, and grows quickly to about 2 feet. That's one of the clues to identification. It's also one of the reasons why it's so disruptive. The rapid early growth crowds and shades out native Spring ephemerals.
Chelidonium majus, Celandine or Greater Celandine, is a biennial (blooming the second year) herbaceous plant in the Papaveraceae, the Poppy family. It is native to Eurasia. It's the only species in the genus.
It's invasive outside its native range, and widespread across eastern North America. It emerges early in the Spring, before our native wildflowers emerge, and grows quickly to about 2 feet. That's one of the clues to identification. It's also one of the reasons why it's so disruptive. The rapid early growth crowds and shades out native Spring ephemerals.
An Elegy for Biophilia
I was moved to write this by a short missive from Reverend Billy:
I was raised in temperate and tropical suburbia. Even in those landscapes, the woods in the backyard, or the palmetto swamp at the end of the road or the canal, drew me to them. They were my expanse. Yet, compared to what existed before the forests were razed and the swamps drained, the landscapes of my childhood were impoverished.
The shifting baseline degrades further. More than half the world now lives in cities, with less ready access to nature than ever before in the history of our species. Biodiversity is an environmental justice issue.
I've chosen to live my adult live in a city. Even here, those childhood experiences guide me. I garden because it connects me to nature, it nourishes me. The beauty I invite is not of my making, but larger, deeper, and older than I can comprehend.
I believe it everyone's right to have that connection for themselves. Not only a right, but necessary. Not only for our own health, but to have some hope for the future health of our planet.
That hope, however impoverished, is what keeps me going.
When I go to pray, which is sometimes difficult being so without any god, I think of that time in my life, because the natural world was overwhelming the god that my family insisted was all-powerful and all-knowing. Creation was overwhelming the Creator and it came in the form of undulating prairie grasses.
I was raised in temperate and tropical suburbia. Even in those landscapes, the woods in the backyard, or the palmetto swamp at the end of the road or the canal, drew me to them. They were my expanse. Yet, compared to what existed before the forests were razed and the swamps drained, the landscapes of my childhood were impoverished.
The shifting baseline degrades further. More than half the world now lives in cities, with less ready access to nature than ever before in the history of our species. Biodiversity is an environmental justice issue.
I've chosen to live my adult live in a city. Even here, those childhood experiences guide me. I garden because it connects me to nature, it nourishes me. The beauty I invite is not of my making, but larger, deeper, and older than I can comprehend.
I believe it everyone's right to have that connection for themselves. Not only a right, but necessary. Not only for our own health, but to have some hope for the future health of our planet.
That hope, however impoverished, is what keeps me going.
2015-02-20
Pollinator Gardens, for Schools and Others
I got a query from a reader:
I’m working on a school garden project and we’d like to develop a pollinator garden in several raised beds. Can you recommend some native plants that we should have in our garden? Ideally we’d like to have some perennials and maybe a few anchor bushes. Are there any flowers that we might be able to start inside this spring then transplant? Also, because the students will be observing the pollinators, butterfly attracting plants are preferable to the teachers.Whole books have been written on this topic, but here are some quick thoughts and references for further research.
2015-02-02
World Wetlands Day
Not only is it Imbolc, aka Groundhog Day (Flatbush Fluffy did NOT see his shadow today. You're welcome.), it's also World Wetlands Day. After seeing some of the photos shared by others on Twitter, I thought I would share my Flickr photo albums of some memorable wetlands I've had the privilege of visiting.
Cattus Island Park, Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey
Cranberry Bog Preserve, Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York
The Hudson River, Riparius, Adirondacks, New York
Related Content
Links
2011-02-06
Brooklyn Dirt, 2/16, Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop
I am honored and excited to be one of the inaugural speakers for a new event series: Brooklyn Dirt - Monthly Talks on Urban Garden and Farming. The topic of this first event is, appropriately, Dirt, aka Soil. If you have questions about soil, or dirt, let me know and Jay and I will try to cover the topic in our talk.
Prospect Farm and Sustainable Flatbush are proud to present Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening.
Sycamore Bar and Flowershop
1118 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, NY, 11218
21 and over only
Directions: Q train to Cortelyou Road
Talk One: Dirt and Soil
Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 7-9:30pm
With Speakers Jay Smith and Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener)
$5 suggested donation. Proceeds benefit Prospect Farm and the Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative of Sustainable Flatbush.
Event on Facebook
Prospect Farm and Sustainable Flatbush are proud to present Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening.
Sycamore Bar and Flowershop
1118 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, NY, 11218
21 and over only
Directions: Q train to Cortelyou Road
Talk One: Dirt and Soil
Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 7-9:30pm
With Speakers Jay Smith and Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener)
$5 suggested donation. Proceeds benefit Prospect Farm and the Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative of Sustainable Flatbush.
Event on Facebook
2011-02-01
Dare we Dream of Spring? Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2011
Update 2011-02-02: Flatbush Fluffy didn't see his shadow this morning. He did see his reflection in the sheet of ice that covers everything. Not sure what that means.
The snow in the backyard - undisturbed by shoveling, snowblowers, drifts, and pedestrian traffic, save for a few small, furry quadrupeds - is above my knees, about two feet. As I write this on the eve of the last day of January 2011, there is yet another Winter Storm Watch in effect, the billionth this Winter.
For the first day of February, the National Weather Service predicts snow, snow and sleet, freezing rain, sleet and snow, ice, freezing rain, snow and sleet, snow, then freezing rain, in that order. That's just Tuesday. It continues into Wednesday, Groundhog Day, with much the same result. The sole consolation is that come Imbolc morn, Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will not see his shadow. Dare we dream of Spring?
The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.
The snow in the backyard - undisturbed by shoveling, snowblowers, drifts, and pedestrian traffic, save for a few small, furry quadrupeds - is above my knees, about two feet. As I write this on the eve of the last day of January 2011, there is yet another Winter Storm Watch in effect, the billionth this Winter.
For the first day of February, the National Weather Service predicts snow, snow and sleet, freezing rain, sleet and snow, ice, freezing rain, snow and sleet, snow, then freezing rain, in that order. That's just Tuesday. It continues into Wednesday, Groundhog Day, with much the same result. The sole consolation is that come Imbolc morn, Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will not see his shadow. Dare we dream of Spring?
The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.
2010-02-22
11th Hour for Campus Road Garden
2010-02-23: Added a brief history of the Garden.
Last Fall, Brooklyn College announced plans to destroy the Campus Road Community Garden, located at the western end of Brooklyn College's athletic fields since 1997, for a parking lot. This Wednesday, February 24, the Brooklyn Community Board 14 Committee on Education, Libraries & Cultural Affairs is having a public hearing:
View Brooklyn Community Gardens in a larger map
Last Fall, Brooklyn College announced plans to destroy the Campus Road Community Garden, located at the western end of Brooklyn College's athletic fields since 1997, for a parking lot. This Wednesday, February 24, the Brooklyn Community Board 14 Committee on Education, Libraries & Cultural Affairs is having a public hearing:
When: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7 PMThe "Brooklyn College Garden" is part of Brooklyn College's greenwashing campaign. On February 3, they posted this announcement (since removed) on their Web site:
Where: CB14 District Office, 810 E 16th Street, Brooklyn, NY
Agenda:
1. Update on Brooklyn College Garden – Representatives of Brooklyn College and South Midwood Residence Association
2. Presentation on Brooklyn Public Library initiatives – Tambe Tysha-John, Cluster Leader, Brooklyn Public Library
3. Other business
If you would like to speak during any of the public hearings or during the public portion of the board meeting, please call the CB14 District Office at 718-859-6357 to register for time. You may also register to speak on the evening of the meeting.
Brooklyn College announced today the creation of the Brooklyn College Garden that will serve as the basis for a broad spectrum of academic and sustainability initiatives for faculty and students. Members of the surrounding community will also be welcome to plant on individual plots, which will be assigned to them on a yearly base.which is where the Campus Road Garden, occupying more than twice the area, already exists.
The garden, to be situated at the campus’s Avenue H entrance and bordering the college’s athletic field, is designed to be approximately 2,500 square feet.
View Brooklyn Community Gardens in a larger map
2010-02-19
Sunday, 2/21: Greening Flatbush - Garden Where You Are!
Sustainable Flatbush presents the second annual "Greening Flatbush" on Sunday, February 21.
Join us for a fun-filled & information-packed afternoon. Meet your neighbors and get your hands dirty. "Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are" is an afternoon of short demonstrations and hands-on workshops including:
- gardening for kids
- starting seeds indoors
- growing herbs and microgreens on your windowsill
- vertical gardening (Windowfarms)
- growing sprouts in your kitchen
- composting with worms in your apartment
- how to join the Flatbush Farm Share CSA
- preparing healthy food (cooking demo with a Just Food Community Chef)
Snacks and coffee will be available. Bring your own mug (BYOM)!
Worm composting, at the first Greening Flatbush event, in 2008.
"Garden is a verb," says Chris Kreussling, Director of Sustainable Flatbush’s Urban Gardens & Farms Initiative, which is sponsoring the event. "It's not just a place you visit. It's something you do." The Urban Gardening and Farming Initiative is centered on modeling sustainable horticulture practices, promoting urban agriculture and food sovereignty, and building community through neighborhood gardening and beautification.
Sustainable Flatbush programs provide opportunities for residents to learn about and get involved in working toward the goal of a sustainable neighborhood, while simultaneously building community and fostering local self-sufficiency.
“Hearing about what others are already doing can inspire people to work with their neighbors to take action," says Kreussling, who also authors a local gardening blog, Flatbush Gardener. "We want to build community through gardening."
Snacks and coffee will be available (courtesy of Flatbush Food Co-op and Vox Pop Café). Bring your own mug!
Greening Flatbush is Sunday, February 21, from 2:00 to 4:00pm at the Dorchester Senior Center, 1419 Dorchester Road, located on the corner of Dorchester Road and Marlborough Road. Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road.
$3 suggested donation.
Space is limited. To register go to http://www.sustainableflatbush.org/greeningflatbush
If you have questions about this event, please contact Sustainable Flatbush: email - info@sustainableflatbush.org, phone - (718) 208-0575
A big thank you to our sponsors: Kings County Nurseries, Flatbush Food Co-op, and Vox Pop Cafe
2010-02-02
Will the Flatbush Loew's Kings Theatre finally be saved?
Updates, 2010-02-03: Added more links and images.
Loew's Kings Theatre, Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, October 2007
From today's NY Times City Room:
For some amazing photos of the interior, see marioletto's Flickr set.
Loew's Kings Theatre, Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, October 2007
From today's NY Times City Room:
A developer has signed an agreement, made a down payment on a $70 million renovation of the Kings and plans to turn it back into a functioning entertainment venue, this time presenting live performances, city officials said Tuesday.Loew's Kings Theatre Exterior Then and Today. Credit: NYC EDC
- Crumbling Movie Palace Finds an Angel
For some amazing photos of the interior, see marioletto's Flickr set.
2010-02-01
Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2010
Update, 2010-02-02: Swing, and a miss. It's overcast this morning. The sun is up, and visible over the rooftops, but no shadows. Spring will arrive on time! (Oh, and my neighbor's Snowdrops are up, if not yet in bloom.)
If the National Weather Service forecast for tomorrow morning is correct on this point, the sky will be clear for dawn in Flatbush. Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow, promising six more weeks of Winter.
If the National Weather Service forecast for tomorrow morning is correct on this point, the sky will be clear for dawn in Flatbush. Flatbush Fluffy, the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow, promising six more weeks of Winter.
2009-02-27
Spring has Sprung
The first Spring flowers bloomed today in my yard. This is Crocus chrysanthus, I believe, growing in the lawn in front of the house.
2009-02-18
Woodland Garden Design Plant List
Over the weekend, my Twitter stream reflected the progress I was making on my final class project for the Urban Garden Design class with Nigel Rollings at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Despite battling a wicked head hold and racking cough, I put the finishing touches on my design late Monday night.
A cultivar of Lonicera sempervirens, the native Trumpet Honeysuckle, growing on a metal arbor at the entrance to my backyard. The specific epithet "sempervirens" refers to the evergreen, or nearly so in my Zone 7a/6b garden, foliage.
In last night's class we each presented our designs. There was a lot of warmth, humor, and enthusiasm among the class. Not to mention wine (though not for me). The night ran late, so there wasn't time for close inspection of all the designs.
Some of my fellow students wanted more information about my plant selections. Here is the plant list, without further explanation for now, that I used in my design. Most of these are shrubs. Many of these I've collected over the past several years, and some are now several feet high and wide. Many, but not all, are species native to New York City. The most precious to me are those that have been propagated from NYC-local ecotypes.
This is just a candidate list, not a final one. As I mentioned in last night's class, I'm not satisfied with the planting plan. I would like a couple more evergreen plants; I'd really like an Ilex opaca, but the native form gets too large for my site. There are many plants in this list that provide winter interest, in bark, form, berries, and so on, including some that are semi-evergreen. I want to place more vines in the design, and I already have some ideas for where to do that. And I didn't spend much time specifying perennials. There's still plenty of room for them in this design; there are at least a hundred to select from, and I just ran out of time to specify and draw them all.
Shrubs
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Lonicera sempervirens, Trumpet Honeysuckle (Flickr photo set)
Flickr photo set of my backyard
A cultivar of Lonicera sempervirens, the native Trumpet Honeysuckle, growing on a metal arbor at the entrance to my backyard. The specific epithet "sempervirens" refers to the evergreen, or nearly so in my Zone 7a/6b garden, foliage.
In last night's class we each presented our designs. There was a lot of warmth, humor, and enthusiasm among the class. Not to mention wine (though not for me). The night ran late, so there wasn't time for close inspection of all the designs.
Some of my fellow students wanted more information about my plant selections. Here is the plant list, without further explanation for now, that I used in my design. Most of these are shrubs. Many of these I've collected over the past several years, and some are now several feet high and wide. Many, but not all, are species native to New York City. The most precious to me are those that have been propagated from NYC-local ecotypes.
This is just a candidate list, not a final one. As I mentioned in last night's class, I'm not satisfied with the planting plan. I would like a couple more evergreen plants; I'd really like an Ilex opaca, but the native form gets too large for my site. There are many plants in this list that provide winter interest, in bark, form, berries, and so on, including some that are semi-evergreen. I want to place more vines in the design, and I already have some ideas for where to do that. And I didn't spend much time specifying perennials. There's still plenty of room for them in this design; there are at least a hundred to select from, and I just ran out of time to specify and draw them all.
Trees
- Sassafras albidum, Sassafras. This would become the focal point of the garden; the design "rotates" around it. This will be a canopy tree, providing primary shade to the house and garden.
- Amelanchier arborea, Common or Downy Serviceberry. This is an understory tree from the Rosaceae, the Rose Family, tolerant of the shade the Sassafras will provide. In my design, its placement will also grant it direct afternoon sun from the West during the summer months, which should help in fruit-set. It's a "replacement" for the old apple tree that grew on the other side of the fence on my neighbor's property, which they had to take down last winter. I miss that tree; it was a bird magnet. This tree is a better selection, better placed, and with fewer maintenance issues.
All Amelanchier species, commonly known as Serviceberries, are desireable landscape trees and shrubs and provide food for wildlife, especially birds. Alternatives to A. arborea are A. canadensis, Canada or Shadblow Serviceberry, or Shadbush, or A. laevis, Allegheny or Smooth Serviceberry, which is recommended for its human-edible fruit.
- Prunus variety. This is an existing tree, the only one remaining from the eight trees that were in the backyard when we bought the property four years ago. It's healthy, and adds some interest to every season, so I'm happy to keep it as long as it does well. But my design doesn't depend on it, so when the time comes and it needs to go, the design will remain whole.
Vines
- Lonicera sempervirens cultivar (existing), Trumpet Honeysuckle. Semi-evergreen, twining vine. Flowers best and grows densest with full sun. Grows well, just less vigorously, in partial shade. Mine is visited by hummingbirds every year, but they always seem disappointed by it; it's not the Hummingbird magnet I hoped it would be. I suspect I would need a local ecotype, one adapted to the phenology of hummingbird migration through this area, to attract hummingbirds well.
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virgina Creeper. deciduous vine, climbs by holdfasts to any vertical surface; can also grow as a groundcover. A native alternative to P. tricuspidata, Boston Ivy. Deciduous. Brilliant red color in the fall. Fruit are an important food source for birds.
- Vitis labrusca, Fox Grape. Deciduous vine, climbs by tendrils. One of several native grape species, this is the source of the Concord Grape.
Shrubs
- Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissimum' (existing)
- Clethra alnifolia 'September Beauty' (existing)
- Cornus sericea 'Cardinal' (existing)
- Ilex verticillata cultivars, male and female (existing)
- Juniperus horizontalis
- Kalmia latifolia 'Minuet' (existing)
- Lindera benzoin
- Myrica pensylvanica
- Prunus maritima
- Rhododendron viscosum NYC-local ecotype (existing)
- Rosa carolina (or R. virginiana)
[TinyURL]
Related Content
Posts
Growing a native plant garden in a Flatbush backyard, 2007-08-06Photos
Ilex verticillata, Wiinterberry (Flickr photo set)Lonicera sempervirens, Trumpet Honeysuckle (Flickr photo set)
Flickr photo set of my backyard
2009-02-05
"The Mystery of the Maple Syrup Mist"
That's the title Mayor Bloomberg gave to the investigation into the recurring maple syrup smells that have been reported sporadically in New York City over the past few years. The City closed its investigation with the conclusion that the smell is caused by an ester escaping from the processing of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seed by a New Jersey plant owned by Frutarom. The ester occurred in concentrations of only one part per billion or less, making identification difficult.
Fenugreek seeds. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Credit: Humbads
Trigonella foenum-graecum, Fenugreek, is in the Fabaceae, the Pea or Legume Family.
Fenugreek seeds. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Credit: Humbads
Trigonella foenum-graecum, Fenugreek, is in the Fabaceae, the Pea or Legume Family.
2009-02-02
Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2009!
The sun has not yet risen this morning, but the sky is clear as dawn lightens to day. It's likely that "Flatbush Fluffy", the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow today, if only he would get out of bed.
It's a very different Imbolc than last year. Yesterday and today are the first days since December that I remember we had nighttime temperatures above freezing, which is a deep freeze for us. Last year was the first NYC January without snow in 75 years. This Winter we've been hit with multiple snow storms. I think we're up to five. Also unlike this time last year, there's been no sign of my Spring early warning system: snowdrops and crocuses. So I guess we really are in for a few more weeks of Winter.
It's a very different Imbolc than last year. Yesterday and today are the first days since December that I remember we had nighttime temperatures above freezing, which is a deep freeze for us. Last year was the first NYC January without snow in 75 years. This Winter we've been hit with multiple snow storms. I think we're up to five. Also unlike this time last year, there's been no sign of my Spring early warning system: snowdrops and crocuses. So I guess we really are in for a few more weeks of Winter.
2009-01-23
Community Blogging at HDC Coffee Talk, February 2
I am very proud to have been invited to speak at the Historic Districts Council's (HDC) next event in their Coffee Talk series on the morning of February 2, on the topic of "Community Blogging".
Site of a teardown of a detached Victorian house in Ditmas Park West, Flatbush, Brooklyn
Community Blogging
Monday Morning Coffee Talk, with the Flatbush Gardener
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
8:30-10:00am
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
Community bloggers are increasingly the voice of local neighborhoods. As larger newspapers focus less and less on the day to day, neighborhood-based blogs have assumed the role of providing updated, detailed accounts of the issues that directly affect built environment and quality of life. With little more than an internet connection and a digital camera, these activist reporters monitor communities with a passion and in the process end up mobilizing their fellow neighbors to take action and make change.
Join Chris Kreussling, otherwise known as the Flatbush Gardener, as he recounts his blogging experiences since launching his site in 2006. Mr. Kreussling's blog covers a number of local issues in great detail - including the proposed Flatbush rezoning, citywide greenspace concerns, and Brooklyn community gardens - and he's learned a great deal along the way.From attracting new readers, to launching related email list-serves, to understanding what "Twitter" and other social media sites are all about, February's talk will tackle the blogging industry head-on and give you the tools for starting your own.
This event is FREE to the public. Reservations are required, as space is limited. For more information, please contact Lauren Belfer at (212) 614-9107 or lbelfer@hdc.org.
The Historic Districts Council Neighborhood Partners Program is sponsored in part by Deutsche Bank, The New York Community Trust, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Assembly Members Deborah J. Glick & Richard N. Gottfried, and State Senators Thomas K. Duane, Liz Krueger, Andrew J. Lanza & Diane J. Savino.
Basic Research: The State of the Forest in New York City, 2007.11.12
Landscape and Politics in Brooklyn's City Council District 40, 2007.02.14
NASA Earth Observatory Maps NYC's Heat Island, Block by Block, 2006.08.01
Historic Districts Council Web site
Site of a teardown of a detached Victorian house in Ditmas Park West, Flatbush, Brooklyn
Community Blogging
Monday Morning Coffee Talk, with the Flatbush Gardener
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
8:30-10:00am
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
Community bloggers are increasingly the voice of local neighborhoods. As larger newspapers focus less and less on the day to day, neighborhood-based blogs have assumed the role of providing updated, detailed accounts of the issues that directly affect built environment and quality of life. With little more than an internet connection and a digital camera, these activist reporters monitor communities with a passion and in the process end up mobilizing their fellow neighbors to take action and make change.
Join Chris Kreussling, otherwise known as the Flatbush Gardener, as he recounts his blogging experiences since launching his site in 2006. Mr. Kreussling's blog covers a number of local issues in great detail - including the proposed Flatbush rezoning, citywide greenspace concerns, and Brooklyn community gardens - and he's learned a great deal along the way.From attracting new readers, to launching related email list-serves, to understanding what "Twitter" and other social media sites are all about, February's talk will tackle the blogging industry head-on and give you the tools for starting your own.
This event is FREE to the public. Reservations are required, as space is limited. For more information, please contact Lauren Belfer at (212) 614-9107 or lbelfer@hdc.org.
The Historic Districts Council Neighborhood Partners Program is sponsored in part by Deutsche Bank, The New York Community Trust, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Assembly Members Deborah J. Glick & Richard N. Gottfried, and State Senators Thomas K. Duane, Liz Krueger, Andrew J. Lanza & Diane J. Savino.
Related Content
Flatbush Rezoning
New Flatbush Rezoning Proposal Gets It Right, 2008.10.07Community Gardens
Gardens are not Parks, Parks are not Gardens: New challenges facing Brooklyn's community gardens, 2008.11.06Green Space
Barbara Corcoran Hates the Earth, 2007.11.18Basic Research: The State of the Forest in New York City, 2007.11.12
Landscape and Politics in Brooklyn's City Council District 40, 2007.02.14
NASA Earth Observatory Maps NYC's Heat Island, Block by Block, 2006.08.01
Links
HDC Community Blogging: HDC Monday Morning Coffee Talk, February 2ndHistoric Districts Council Web site
2008-02-24
Greening Flatbush a success!
Update 2008.02.25: News12 has an extended segment on Greening Flatbush in this morning's lineup. Catch it now before more important news pushes it off their schedule! I didn't get to see the whole thing, myself.
Also, see the Links section at the end of this post to follow up on yesterday's event, learn how to stay informed of future events, or get involved to help us plan them.
Greening Flatbush 2008
We had about 50 people attend Greening Flatbush this afternoon. This was the inaugural event for the Gardening Committee of Sustainable Flatbush, and we're all pretty pleased with ourselves.
Na'eem Douglas of News12 Brooklyn, our local cable news channel, covered the event. They started airing the segment around 5:45 this evening.
We got underway later than we wanted, around 1:50, but everything went smoothly after that. We started with a panel of speakers with quick introductions of themselves, their experiences, and the resources they had to offer. We held question until after the break, and kept most of the time available for unstructured and joyfully chaotic milling around, meeting neighbors, questions and answers, and so on.
We had presentations and experts on hand for container gardening, composting with worms, tree identification, Asian Longhorned Beetle/Anoplophora glabripennis, and GreenBridge, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's community horticulture program.
Flatbush CSA
Gardening Committee (Note: This is our Google Group for planning our events. If you want to help us plan, great! Just request to join through the link on the group page, or send an email to greeningflatbush [at] gmail (dot) com and let us know you want to join. If you just want to be informed of future events, join the Sustainable Flatbush mailing list.)
GreenBridge, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Sustainable Flatbush
Trees NY
Also, see the Links section at the end of this post to follow up on yesterday's event, learn how to stay informed of future events, or get involved to help us plan them.
Greening Flatbush 2008
We had about 50 people attend Greening Flatbush this afternoon. This was the inaugural event for the Gardening Committee of Sustainable Flatbush, and we're all pretty pleased with ourselves.
Na'eem Douglas of News12 Brooklyn, our local cable news channel, covered the event. They started airing the segment around 5:45 this evening.
We got underway later than we wanted, around 1:50, but everything went smoothly after that. We started with a panel of speakers with quick introductions of themselves, their experiences, and the resources they had to offer. We held question until after the break, and kept most of the time available for unstructured and joyfully chaotic milling around, meeting neighbors, questions and answers, and so on.
We had presentations and experts on hand for container gardening, composting with worms, tree identification, Asian Longhorned Beetle/Anoplophora glabripennis, and GreenBridge, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's community horticulture program.
Container Gardening
Trees NY
Brooklyn Compost Project
BBG Greenbridge
Related content
Flickr photo setLinks
Brooklyn Compost Project, one of the programs of BBG's GreenBridgeFlatbush CSA
Gardening Committee (Note: This is our Google Group for planning our events. If you want to help us plan, great! Just request to join through the link on the group page, or send an email to greeningflatbush [at] gmail (dot) com and let us know you want to join. If you just want to be informed of future events, join the Sustainable Flatbush mailing list.)
GreenBridge, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Sustainable Flatbush
Trees NY
2008-02-22
Snow!
This is why I don't cut everything to the ground in the fall. This is a non-heirloom grass in my front yard garden.
Update 09:00: My waking estimate of 3" was conservative. After shoveling my steps, walkway and 250 square feet of sidewalk, I think we already have 5 inches on the ground.
More of the front yard:
And the backyard:
This is the Gardener's Nook in the corner. You can see the Winterberry in the container still has lots of berries on it.
This is the view from the second floor tree fort. This is a lot more open than in past years. Over the winter, our next-door neighbor had to take down their old maple in the middle of their backyard, and the apple tree which reached over the fence. Sad, but necessary.
Woke up this morning to find everything covered with a couple inches of snow.
And it's still falling. I'll try to get some pictures.
The National Weather Service is calling for 1-3 inches for my area. Yet they also have a winter storm warning in effect predicting 5-7 inches. Local news services are estimating 5 inches total, which seems more likely. It looks like we already have 3 inches on the ground.
Update 09:00: My waking estimate of 3" was conservative. After shoveling my steps, walkway and 250 square feet of sidewalk, I think we already have 5 inches on the ground.
More of the front yard:
And the backyard:
This is the Gardener's Nook in the corner. You can see the Winterberry in the container still has lots of berries on it.
This is the view from the second floor tree fort. This is a lot more open than in past years. Over the winter, our next-door neighbor had to take down their old maple in the middle of their backyard, and the apple tree which reached over the fence. Sad, but necessary.
Woke up this morning to find everything covered with a couple inches of snow.
And it's still falling. I'll try to get some pictures.
The National Weather Service is calling for 1-3 inches for my area. Yet they also have a winter storm warning in effect predicting 5-7 inches. Local news services are estimating 5 inches total, which seems more likely. It looks like we already have 3 inches on the ground.
Related posts
My Flickr photo set of this morning's snow
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