free digger
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Cypress turns ????
Community gardens are important sites for all kinds of community celebrations and rituals. They blend the public and domestic spheres in ways that are very unlike public parks. Whenever anybody chooses to mark an important transition in a community garden, it can be magical. That’s why I was pleased when my main girlfriend, Cypress, chose to hold his birthday party in the Dias y Flores Community Garden. Here are some photos. I won’t tell you how old Cypress now is--if he wants, he can tell you himself in a comment. All I’ll say is take a look at him, and then add 10 years and you might be near the ballpark. He’s the cutie in the middle in the red shirt up above. And in case you’re wondering, he’s taken. By Andrew. Who was at the party being exceedingly pretty in pink.
The ever lovely Dias y Flores Community Garden is on 13th Street between Avenues A & B. This is really an old school East Village community garden, very much about found materials and community creativity. Elizabeth, our garden host, complained about all of the objects in the garden. And while I can see how they can get out of hand, I found them charming. But I know how it goes, in the city it seems its always a battle to prioritize plants rather than buildings, or pavements, or sculpture. So Elizabeth, fight the power.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Homage or Insult
This page on the website for the group opposed to a huge development a few short blocks from my house demonstrates the insensitivity of the developer, Bruce Rat-ner, and the architect, Frank Gehry (check the Enron sponsorship on the last link). One of the worst impacts of this development will be the feisty Bears Community Garden, which is smack-dab across the street. Here’s a July 5, 2005 posting from my pal Jon Crow on the Cybergardens discussion list:
Hey all. Wanna get really depressed?
Pick up today’s issue of the NYTimes (otherwise known
as Bruce RATner’s PR firm) and see the latest drawings
of his proposed mega-development.Can you see the bear’s garden? In the picture on the front page
it seems to be drenched in light from the 8 story basketball
across the street. Later inside another photo shows us
clearly in the shadows surrounded by towers that feel
like they’re falling.your tax dollars at work… and apparently both our heroes
Spitzer and Sanders are supporting this land grab.
Hugely disappointing.Crow
Develop, Don’t Destroy, indeed.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Brooklyn Garlic
I harvested the soft-necked garlic yesterday, the kind that you can braid. I made lots of braids of three heads--we have a lot of gardeners at the Garden of Union. Me, I’m looking forward to some homemade aioli made from Brooklyn garlic. You can’t get any more pungent than that.
Stolen Roses, Saved Color Scheme
It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, and I know this is a cheap shot, but I had to comment on a story in the New York Times about stolen rose bushes. I think the thieves might have been offended by the color scheme (not to mention those tacky trellises). Come on: orangey/rusty/deep maroon coleus with red roses? How awful is that? Also, they could pick up some tips from 80s era community gardeners, who (a) avoided red plants, because that’s the color that thieves seem most attracted to and (b) would wrap the root balls of plants with barbed wire and/or chain them to buried cinder blocks. Much more discrete than above-ground chicken wire.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Losing It
I put in two solid days of gardening this weekend, despite 90-plus degree, sticky, sticky weather. Mostly it was pleasant, and uneventful. Nice work session for the pond in the Garden of Union on Sunday morning with Matthew Lore and Chris Murta. Maybe it was the heat, but I really went ballistic later that day while at GreenSpace @President Street. The great thing about that garden is the filtered shade in the front, even though it’s exposed on two sides to the street. I looked up from my work to see a long, white car trying to get into a too-small parking space. And they were using the tree pit for maneuvering room. Big heavy tires against delicate tree roots.
I yelled “Out of the tree pit!”
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Links at Last
I’ve been wanting to put a list of friends and useful links in the sidebar. Problem is, the sidebar is already pretty cluttered. Plus I have to figure out how to do it. So, ok, a design issue I have to solve. In the meantime, here’s the beginning of the list. Warning: I will be going back and adding to this list, breaking blogging protocol.
More Gardens! Coalition - Yeah, we want to save gardens. And we want more gardens, too. These are my friends, on so many levels.
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition - The hardest working greening organization of them all. They host the very useful, sometimes heated Cybergardens discussion list and the award-winning Urban Outdoors newsletter. Highly recommended.
Gotham Gazette, Parks Page - This whole website is pretty nifty, but Anne Schwartz is the must-read writer on issues affecting city parks. Registration required.
GreenThumb - An actually friendly website from the actually friendly city agency that administers New York City’s community gardening program.
Garden Mapping Project - A superb job by the good folks at the Council on the Environment.
Trust for Public Land gardens in New York
New York Restoration Project gardens