The second of the stops on the third Green With Envy tour of Bed-Stuy community gardens this past October was the Cedar Tree Garden at 305 Greene Avenue.
Tour Bed-Stuy Community Gardens, Saturday, October 4
Flickr photo set
Winter is a good time to dig into my photo archives. October seems so warm right now.
This is a slideshow from the Madison Street Block Association Garden at 88-90 Madison Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This was the first stop on the third of the Green With Tours of Brooklyn community gardens I attended during 2008. GWE 2008 III visited gardens in Bed-Stuy.
Tour Bed-Stuy Community Gardens, Saturday, October 4
Flickr photo set
Slideshow of my photos from Day 1 of Mulchfest 2009 at Park Circle in Prospect Park.
Gotta crash now! More info later.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory to replace the earlier Winter Storm Watch. The predicted amount of snow has been reduced, but freezing rain is now predicted for much of the area, including Brooklyn.
THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS
MORNING TO 8 AM EST SUNDAY.SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER THIS MORNING…BEFORE SPREADING
FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE TO
FALL INTO TONIGHT…THEN MIX WITH RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN. THIS
WINTRY MIX ENDS SUNDAY MORNING.TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL RANGE FROM 2 TO 5
INCHES WITH LOWER AMOUNTS WITHIN A FEW MILES OF THE ATLANTIC
WHERE THERE IS THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR A PERIOD OF RAIN OR
FREEZING RAIN. SOME ICING IS EXPECTED AS WELL LATE TONIGHT INTO
EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.
The Louisiade Archipelao in Papua New Guinea, Oceania. Source: NASA Earth Observatory
Dr. Susan Pell, Plant Molecular Systematist with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is leading an expedition to explore the Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. The expedition team also includes researchers from the New York Botanical Garden, as well as the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Conservation International, Old Dominion University, and the University of Papua New Guinea:
For five weeks in early 2009, BBG’s Dr. Susan Pell is leading a field research team in remote areas of Papua New Guinea. The team will work with local naturalists to survey the flora of the little-explored Louisiade Archipelago and compile a conservation assessment. …
The botanical field reconnaissance will include both intensive collection of forest plants around Alotau and targeted species enumeration studies. The purpose of the fieldwork is to expand knowledge of the biodiversity of the Milne Bay Province. The Louisiade Archipelago is of specific interest because of its large number of native species.
– About the Expedition
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Pell as one of the instructors for the Plant Taxonomy class I completed at BBG in December. Thanks to her, I now have some idea of what a plant molecular systematist does! I would bet she’s currently the most remote correspondent of the Brooklyn blogosphere. She started blogging about the expedition just three days ago:
I’ve spent five years planning a field expedition to Papua New Guinea—and it’s now underway.
Every time I go out into the field there are so many great stories to tell. So I’m going to try to use this web diary to share some of the things that come up over the course of our six-week exploration.
Once we head into the remote island areas I’ll be blogging by satellite phone, so the posts may get a little succinct. I’ll have time at the start and the finish to share some longer stories. Enjoy!
– Blogging PNG, 2008-01-07, Susan Pell, BBG
We’ll be able to track the team’s progress on a map on BBG’s Web site. After 30 hours of travel, Dr. Pell is now in the capital of Port Moresby. From there, they’ll travel to Alotau:
After convening in Alotau, PNG, to provision and confirm final plans, the team will depart January 15 on a charted boat for the three-week exploration of the three main islands of the Archipelago, Misima, Rossel [Yela], and Sudest [Vanatinai]. These islands are home to many species found nowhere else in the world. The expedition will wrap up outside of Alatou, the capital of Milne Bay Province, which located on the island of New Guinea.
– About the Expedition
Expedition: Papua New Guinea, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Happier Days, September 2007
I just read on the New York Times that Astroland has been physically dismantled.
Astroland closed last year. The Albert family, which opened the park in 1962, still owns the fixtures but not the land, which it sold. Now, the property must be vacated. It is subject to a rezoning measure and may eventually be redeveloped by Thor Equities, though probably not in the foreseeable future.
– Blasting Off From the Coney Island Boardwalk, David W. Dunlap and Ann Farmer, City Room, New York Times
Rest In Peace, Astroland.
Rot In Hell, Thor Equities.
Here are some of my images of Coney Island in recent years.
Gay Pirate
Feed Me
Scary disco clown
Disturbingly racist bee
Sunset
“The Future of Coney Island”
Endangered Coney Island Community Gardens, 2008-02-04
Walk Coney Island’s endangered Surfside Gardens with Kinetic Carnival, 2008-04-29
April 15, 2006
September 4, 2006
September 8, 2007
Astroland Rocket Takes Off From Coney Island, Kinetic Carnival, 2009-01-06
Astroland Rocket from inside Astroland, Gowanus Lounge, 2009-01-08
Update 2009.01.10: Changed to a Winter Weather Advisory
Likely to put a damper on this weekend’s Mulchfest activities, a Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Saturday morning through Sunday morning for the NYC Metropolitan area. Snow will be greater the more north you are, but we’ll still have enough to shovel here in Brooklyn:
SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST
AREA BEGINNING EARLY SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE SPREADING FROM WEST
TO EAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE TO FALL
THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES…ESPECIALLY
ACROSS THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT.DEPENDING ON THE TRACK OF THE LOW…SOME SLEET MAY MIX WITH THE
SNOW…ESPECIALLY ACROSS NEW YORK CITY AND SURROUNDING COASTAL
LOCATIONS. THIS WILL HELP LIMIT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL RANGE FROM 6 TO 8
INCHES ACROSS THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND INTERIOR CONNECTICUT…
AND FROM 5 TO 7 INCHES ACROSS NEW YORK CITY…WESTCHESTER COUNTY
AND COASTAL PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.
Update: I chatted with “Prospect Park” on Facebook and confirmed that they’re still on for tomorrow:
FG: Mulchfest still on despite winter storm watch?
PP: so far, yes! if the weather turns extreme and they do have to scale back the event, we will post on our homepage, www.prospectpark.org. Seems unlikely though.
FG: Thanks! I plan to dress for the weather and hope to be there. At Park Circle location
Dino Pets illustration by Gideon Kendall, author: Lynn Plourde, publisher: Dutton/Penguin
Neighbors and colleagues, the Kensington, Brooklyn blog interviewed the multi-talented Kensington resident Gideon Kendall. And my neck of the woods get a mention:
KB: Do you draw any inspiration from the neighborhood?
GK: Absolutely. In Dino Pets, all of the houses and scenery are based on Ditmas Park [Victorian Flatbush].
– Local Spotlight: Gideon Kendall, Kensington, Brooklyn, 2008-01-08
Must … have … Dino Pets …
Raptors on gables – DO NOT WANT!
I’m not aware of any exact match for the houses in the illustrations, but it’s easy to see the influences in the neighborhood. Check out these examples from Prospect Park South.
170 Stratford Road, Prospect Park South
1203 Albemarle Road, prospect Park South
143 Buckingham Road, Prospect Park South
Prospect Park South
Victorian Flatbush
MorBark in action at Park Circle, Prospect Park during Mulchfest 2008
This is a reminder that Mulchfest, NYC’s recycling program for holiday trees, has begun. Your tree will be chipped and used as mulch in parks and gardens across the city. All trees must be free of lights, stands, ornaments, tinsel, and so on.
View Larger Map
Starting last Thursday, New Year’s Day, you can drop trees off at Greenwood Cemetery.
Starting tonight, you can leave trees out for curbside pickup. Blog Widow and I dismantled out tree earlier this evening and set it out.
And on Mulchfest weekend, January 10 and 11, you can drop off trees at sites throughout the city. You can also pick up free mulch at chipping sites.
A young raccoon in my backyard in Flatbush, Brooklyn in June of 2008. My post about them was in the top five of 2008, measured both by visits and number of comments.
It was a year of great changes and terrible losses for me. I began 2008 by taking classes at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden toward a Certificate in Horticulture, which I hope to complete by the end of this year. I remain involved in the gardening activism of Sustainable Flatbush, both in the Gardening Committee, and in the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden. I organized a Brooklyn Blogade, a meeting of bloggers, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and helped with the 2008 annual Blogfest. I also lost two of my best friends: my cat, Spot, at the beginning of the year, and my father, Jerry, just four weeks ago.
To see out this old year and welcome in the new one, I thought I’d review and recap some of what I’ve written for this blog during 2008, and your responses to it.
Number of posts published: 236 (averaging 2 posts every 3 days)
Busiest month: April, with 38 posts (more than 1 per day)
Slowest month: November, with only 10 posts (1 every 3 days)
22,896 people visited this blog during 2008. There were 32,073 visits, an average of 88 per day. About 70% were first-time visitors.
The most popular content on the blog.
According to Google Analytics, from which I’ve collected these stats, “unique page views” are the number of visits during which a page was viewed. Page views are higher, since the same page may be viewed multiple times during a single visit. Unique pageviews, however, doesn’t distinguish multiple visits from the same person or IP address.
Special mention goes to my tutorial on the OASIS mapping service. Although I wrote it in February of 2007, almost two years ago, it was the third most popular page during 2008, with 433 unique page views. It’s got “legs”.
It’s interesting to me that my two most commented posts this year were both obituaries. It’s been a year of big changes in my life.
Here are some other posts that remain relevant, interesting, or which I’m otherwise proud of.