Event, March 24: GreenThumb Conference

Posted on 2007-03-23 by admin

Tomorrow, Saturday, March 24, GreenThumb will hold its 23rd Annual GrowTogether Conference at Hostos Community College in the Bronx:

The theme this year is “Farming the Future.” …

The day will be jam-packed with over 45 workshops, many new this year, more hands on training and loads of opportunities to network and rub shoulders with all the greening groups represented in the tabling foyer. Offering lots of kids and teen programming, this conference promises to be fun for the whole family, and is an excellent educational resource for the city’s many teachers.

Participants are encouraged to sign up before the conference. Please fill out the form and mail the $3.00 registration fee to pre-register. Check-in will begin at 9:00am and a free continental breakfast is provided from 9:00 to 9:45am. All pre-registered participants will receive a lunch box and a t-shirt! Participants may also register on the day of the conference, but we will not guarantee a lunch box, and t-shirts will be $5.00 each.

Via Wendy Brawer at WorldChanging New York.

News: Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance Recommending Brooklyn Neighborhoods

Posted on 2007-03-23 by admin

The Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance (FBNPA), working with local advocates, has come up with a list of 18 buildings and nine potential historic districts in the borough that it would like to see designated by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). …

Among the Brooklyn neighborhoods that FBNPA is recommending for landmark status are Canarsie’s Seaview Village, two Victorian Flatbush enclaves (Ditmas Park West and West Midwood), Prospect Heights, and streets in Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn.

– Group touts new ‘landmarks wish list’, March 22, Courier-Life Publications

Ditmas Park West is immediately south of my neighborhood, Beverley Square West, and west (surprise!) of the Ditmas Park Historic District. West Midwood is south of Ditmas Park West and west of Midwood Park and Fiske Terrace, which have already been proposed, but not yet approved, as new Historic Districts.

They are also recommending the expansion of the tiny Carroll Gardens landmark area.

Among the structures on the list are several in Canarsie, Gravesend and Williamsburg, as well as one in Bay Ridge, one in East Flatbush, and one in Bushwick.

I’ve never heard of the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance (FBNPA) before reading this article. I can’t find a Web site or any other contact information for them online. I would provide a link if I had one. If you know of anything, please leave a comment.

Event, May 10: 2nd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest

Posted on 2007-03-22 by admin

Old Stone House. Credit: Paul Kostro

Back in February, Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn (OTBKB) announced that the Second Annual Brooklyn Blogfest will take place May 10th at 8pm. The theme is “The Impact of Brooklyn Blogging.” It will be held at the Old Stone House in J. J. Byrne Memorial Park in Park Slope, near the middle of 3rd Street between 4th and 5th Avenues.

In today’s follow-up announcement, OTBKB provided contact information. I’m signed up for the “new blog on the block” open mic. If you have suggestions on how I should describe this blog, please leave a comment! (Be nice.)

There will be special guest speakers, an OPEN MIC FOR ALL NEW BROOKLYN BLOGGERS and lots of time to meet and greet.

Meet all of your favorite Brooklyn Bloggers, including Gowanus Lounge, A Brooklyn Life, Seeing Green, Brownstoner, Creative Times, Brooklyn Record, No Land Grab, AYR Report, Streetsblog, Rabbi Andy Bachman, Pastor Daniel Meeter, Joe’s NYC, No Words_Daily Pix, Mommy 101, Special Focus, Shiksa From Manila, Mrs. Cleavage’s Diary and many more …

Donation (Tip Jar): $5.00 (to defray costs).

I’m wondering if the Old Stone House is gonna be big enough for this event:

The great hall comfortably accommodates 80 standing, 60 seated. When rented in conjunction with the first floor gallery the House holds 125 people. Adding a tent expands our capacity.

– Site Rental page, Old Stone House Web site

Tree Tubes Trap Birds

Posted on 2007-03-22 by admin

On their blog, Bootstrap Analysis, Nuthatch describes a problem which would never occur to me. The common landscaping practice of enclosing the trunks of newly planted trees with plastic tubes to protect them from browse damage can trap and kill birds looking for nesting sites:

It’s a good time to warn all bird lovers about tree tubes. These are used to protect saplings from deer. Usually consisting of a plastic tube about 4′ high held up by plastic ties and wooden stakes, these tubes are attractive nuisances for bluebirds: the male bluebird wants to explore all possible nesting cavities, so he will go into the tube and fall to the bottom and not be able to get out.

The post goes on the describe two possible solutions: exclude birds from the top of the tube with a physical barrier, or lift or open the bottom of the tube to provide an escape hatch:

The tree tube manufacturers sell (or include) woven plastic tops, or “socks” to go over the tops of the tubes. These will effectively prevent male bluebirds from going into the tubes. If not, you can use some means to create a small exit slot or hole at the bottom of the tube, such as pulling the stake out of the ground 1.5 inches.

I imagine that panty-hose or other stretchy fabric across the top of the tube would also serve well as a barrier.

Nuthatch cites an original source for this, but doesn’t provide a link.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are migrating north

Posted on 2007-03-21 by admin

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Sightings and vegetation.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Okay, NASA does have some pretty powerful satellites, but they can’t identify hummingbirds from space just yet.

Every year in March, the first ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive in Gulf Coast states from their wintering grounds in Central America. Fattened on insects, the tiny birds fly 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and arrive in the United States hungry for nectar from early spring flowers. As spring progresses into summer, the birds follow maturing vegetation northward into the eastern United States and Canada. During this journey north, students across the country track the birds’ progress. When a student sees a bird, he or she records the sighting. Teachers report their students’ sightings to the Journey North web page, where it is logged on a map. At the end of the week, Journey North staff members review the sightings and publish a weekly summary.

The dots on this image mark student sightings of the first adult ruby-throated hummingbirds of the spring 2007 migration. White dots indicate confirmed sightings prior to March 15, while the purple dots show sightings reported (but not yet confirmed) between March 15 and March 19. The earlier sightings are along the southern coast, where the birds first come ashore after crossing the Gulf. The northernmost sightings are the most recent records. The birds are clearly concentrated in the areas that have started to green up, where nectar-laden flowers would be available. New vegetation is only beginning to reach the northern section of the image, and as a consequence, the birds have yet to migrate to those areas.

On her blog Burning Silo, Bev Wigney noted on March 16, an equivalent effort, the Hummingbird Migration Project:

As of today, both efforts have recorded sightings as far north as South Carolina on the Atlantic seaboard, and far western Tennessee along the Mississippi. By the end of the summer, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will make their way to New York City and Long Island. My trumpet honeysuckle and scarlet runner beans will be waiting for them.

Happy Vernal Equinox

Posted on 2007-03-21 by admin

The Return of Persephone (1891), by Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

The vernal equinox of 2007 occurs at 00:07 UTC on March 21, or 20:07/8:07pm my time this evening.

“Vernal” instead of “Spring” because:

It’s okay to use for both hemispheres.
Also, you could use this term on any other planets on which you should find yourself.

Vernal equinox and autumnal equinox. These names are direct derivatives of Latin (ver = spring, autumnus = autumn), and as such more apt to be found in writings. Although in principle they are subject to the same problem as the spring/autumn names, their use over the centuries has fixed them to the viewpoint of the northern hemisphere. As such the vernal equinox is the equinox where the Sun passes from south to north [across the equator], and is a zeropoint in some celestial coordinate systems. The name of the other equinox is used less often.
– Wikipedia:Equinox:Names

Field Trip, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, November 6, 2005

Posted on 2007-03-18 by admin

Stone basin with cherry leaves, outside the entrance to the Japanese Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Another “lost” set of photos which I’d uploaded to Flickr, but never blogged. These are from a year-and-a-half ago, in November of 2005. Again, irritating that the “improved” Blogger won’t let me back-date them to the date I took the photos.

My parents were visiting with us, so they show up in several photos.

My parents walking toward the entrance of the Japanese Garden

Pond and bridge in the Japanese Garden

Torii seen from the Viewing Pavilion in the Japanese Garden

My parents in the viewing pavilion

Pond and Torii from the Viewing Pavilion

Pond and Hill

Southern approach to the entrance to the Japanese Garden

Sundial near Magnolia Plaza

Shrubbery in the mixed border, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Lily Pool Terrace

My parents sitting by the Mixed Perennial Border

Orange (#3 of 8)

Posted on 2007-03-18 by admin

Anthurium infructescence with fruits, from BBG, March 3

The third of eight in a series. Pink and Red preceded. Yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet/purple will follow.

Leaves on a shrub in the mixed border at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, November 6, 2005

Trumpet Vine, from South Midwood Garden Tour, July 30, 2006

Butternut Squash, from Squash and Pear Soup, October 7, 2006

Maple Trees, from The 2006 New York Sheep & Wool Festival

Leaves on Rugby Road in Prospect Park South

Lily Pool Terrace, from BBG, November 4, 2006

Still Life, Picket Fence Restaurant

Gowanus Canal at 9th Street, Brooklyn

Posted on 2007-03-17 by admin

Gowanus Canal, looking north from the 9th Street Bridge

Last Sunday, the Historic District Council‘s Walking Tour of Red Hook began with all of us gathering on the “plaza” outside the Smith & 9th Street station. This station is the highest point above sea level in the NYC subway system. The reason: it has to cross the Gowanus Canal.

The Gowanus Canal has had a deserved reputation for polluted, even toxic, waters. Several years ago, a circulation fan at the head of the canal was repaired, returning water flow to the canal for the first time in decades. Almost immediately, water conditions improved, and life began to return to its waters.

Gowanus Canal, North of the Bridge

All along the New York waterfront, bulkheads and piers are failing. For decades, water pollution preserved the wooden pilings. With improved water quality, shipworms have returned and are devastating the wood. You can see a bulkhead failure in the photo below.

I think this planter qualifies as a defiant garden. There were a couple of them along the edge on the northwest side of the bridge. I want to come back in the spring to see what’s growing in them.

South of the Bridge

South of the bridge, the Gowanus Expressway crosses over the canal.

Earlier this week, the Gowanus Lounge noted that the Revere Sugar Dome demolition material was being carted to a scrapyard on the Gowanus. When I was there on Sunday, I noticed activity at the scrapyard south of the bridge. I think it’s the same one. If so, here’s the remains of the Revere Sugar Dome in action.

The Bridge

The Gowanus Canal is a working waterway. There isn’t enough room for the street bridge beneath the subway station to tilt up, so it lifts vertically, straight up. You can see the cables against the column on the left of this photo.

Here’s the hardware connecting the counterweight, the top of which you can see here, to the cables.

The understructure of the subway platform is completely wrapped to contain concrete spalling off beams and trusses.

Every public structure in NYC is a branding opportunity.

The View from Above

The station platform, and the approach on either side, of the Smith & 9th Street station provide wonderful views of Brooklyn and New York Harbor.

Links:

New Web Resource: Global Restoration Network (GRN)

Posted on 2007-03-15 by admin

Today the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) announced the launch of a new Web resource, the Global Restoration Network (GRN):

A unique industry resource, the interactive website is rich with data, information, expertise and the latest techniques and innovations in restoration. Freely accessible to anyone in the world who has an Internet connection, users can now find the exact information they need to research, implement and improve their ecological restoration projects in three clicks or less.
– SER Press Release

This will be bear watching to see how objective it is. One of their funding sources is Chevron.

The Global Restoration Network (GRN) – a project of the Society for Ecological Restoration International – offers the field of ecological restoration a new database and web-based portal to trustworthy and hard-to-find information on all aspects of restoration, from historic ecosystems and recent causes of degradation to in-depth case studies and proven restoration techniques. The overriding mission of the GRN is to link restoration projects, research, and practitioners in order to foster the creative exchange of experience, vision and expertise.

The field of ecological restoration is currently experiencing an explosion of ideas and practices as the number of experts and practitioners increases, and more and more restoration projects are being undertaken around the world. And now that the field has been established, there is great need for a single, comprehensive source of information for governments, individuals, corporations and nonprofit organizations on the current state of degradation and the best restorative practices.

The GRN is fast becoming the central hub for ecological restoration – a vital resource for policymakers, professionals and community stakeholders alike: whether researching options for ecosystem restoration, writing a project proposal, or looking for educational programs and funding. Perhaps the most exciting feature of the GRN is the innovative Database where you can make a specific query and find restoration case studies and annotated links to a wide variety of relevant resources including experts, organizations and literature.
– GRN Home Page

Flatbush Gardener

Urban Habitat Gardening with Native Plants

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