We Are the Champion … Trees!

Posted on 2009-10-26 by admin

Via Press Release from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Brooklyn, New York—October 26, 2009—On Tuesday, October 27 at 2:45 p.m., the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will award two trees at Brooklyn Botanic Garden “State Champion” status, affirming that they are the largest of their species on record in the state. The trees, a Kansas hawthorn (Crataegus coccinoides) and a Carolina holly (Ilex ambigua var. monticola) are the first trees in New York City to receive this honor. Only native or naturalized, nonhybrid species are eligible for champion designation. These specimens were nominated by a private citizen and their dimensions verified by the DEC.

At the presentation, which will take place in the shade of one of the champion trees, Brooklyn Botanic Garden president Scot Medbury and DEC regional director Suzanne Mattei will make remarks, and educators from the DEC will lead a group of students from BBG’s affiliated high school, Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment, in a workshop on the techniques used to measure big trees.

For more information on the New York State Big Tree Register and champion status, please visit www.dec.ny.gov/animals/5248.html. For more information on big trees at BBG, please visit bbg.org/exp/bigtrees/info/what.html.

NYSDEC RECOGNIZES NEW YORK CITY’S FIRST CHAMPION TREES
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 | 2:45 p.m.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn
2/3 to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum or B/Q to Prospect Park

To arrange press credentials for the award ceremony, please contact Kate Blumm, BBG Communications Manager, at 718-623-7241 or kblumm@bbg.org.

Saturday, October 24: Meet the Trees

Posted on 2009-10-17 by admin

Fraxinus americana, White Ash, one of the street trees that will be on the tour.

On Saturday, October 24, Sustainable Flatbush will host its first Fall Street Tree Walking Tour. And I’m looking forward to once again be one of the guides for the tour.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brooklyn, NY October 16, 2009

SUSTAINABLE FLATBUSH FALL 2009 STREET TREE WALKING TOUR
Saturday, October 24, 2009—Rain or Shine

Based on the success of the annual walking tour events in celebration of Arbor Day and spring in bloom, Sustainable Flatbush is now introducing the inaugural Fall Street Tree Walking Tour. The tour guides will be Tracey Hohman, professional gardener, and Chris Kreussling, aka Flatbush Gardener, both neighborhood residents.

Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour, Arbor Day 2009. That’s me in the middle, next to the tree. Photo by Keka

Throughout the tour, your street tree guide will:

identify trees and their characteristics
share interesting facts
explore local tree history
discuss the many ways street trees benefit the environment
explain how to obtain and care for street trees
and much more!

This free event is a perfect opportunity to visit Victorian Flatbush in the heart of Brooklyn and experience the neighborhood’s breathtaking street trees—including some that are more than 100 years old!

Location:
Tours start at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Road, just south of Cortelyou Road

View Sustainable Flatbush Fall 2009 Street Tree Walking Tour in a larger map

Directions:

Take the Q train to Cortelyou Road Station and walk west after exiting the station toward Argyle Road.
Buses that stop on or near Cortelyou Road include the B23, B103, B68, and BM1,2,3,4 and x29 express busess.
As a reminder, check the MTA website for schedule and service advisories before you head out.

Time:
Tours depart at 11:00 AM and 12:00 NOON.
Tours take about 2 hours to complete and are 1 mile in length.
This is a rain or shine event – please dress for the weather!

For more information, please contact Sustainable Flatbush

Foliage Report

The New York State Fall Foliage Report for the week of October 14-20 is reporting that NYC is “just changing.”

I can confirm that, with Dogwoods, White Ash and now Locust trees all in full color. Sweet Gum and Oaks are starting to turn. If cooler weather persists through the week, peak colors will probably arrive just in time for Halloween on the 31st. Still, there should be lots of color for us to enjoy on the 24th.

A Japanese Maple on Marlborough Rad in Prospect Park South, part of the tour, November 2007

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Links

Fall Foliage Walking Tour October 24th!, Sustainable Flatbush

Trees for the Future, Blog Action Day 2009

Posted on 2009-10-16 by admin

Like Garden Rant, global warming and climate change is a recurring topic on this blog:

It’s too late, but it’s not too late, is it?, 2008-01-16
Gardening as if our lives depended on it, 2007-11-23
Barbara Corcoran Hates the Earth, 2007-11-18
The IPCC Report: Grief & Gardening #6, 2007-02-04
Buying Indulgences: The Carbon Market, 2006-11-23
The Bemidji Statement On Seventh Generation Guardianship, 2006-07-22
NASA Earth Observatory Maps NYC’s Heat Island, Block by Block, 2006-08-01

The impacts of climate change to urban areas, such as New York City, will be extreme. Today, a typical NYC summer has 15 days with temperatures over 90F, and 2 days over 100F. By the end of this century, even optimistic scenarios, in which we reduce emissions and greenhouse gases starting NOW, NYC will have 39 90F days, and 7 100F days. In a typical summer. Some summers will be worse. People will die. If we do nothing, it will be worse.

I’ve written a lot about more immediate benefits of city trees, such as reduced flooding, summer cooling, and improved air quality. There remain opportunities for nurturing our urban forests. Addressing climate change is one more reason to do so:

Urban trees help offset climate change by capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide in their tissue, reducing energy used by buildings, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel based power plants. Our City’s trees store about 1.35 million tons of carbon valued at $24.9 million. In addition, our trees remove over 42,000 tons of carbon each year.
– Benefits of NYC’s Urban Forest, MillionTreesNYC

Planting trees is one thing a gardener can do that will outlive them. But what world will my tree grow into? And what are its chances for survival in that world? I must avoid trees that are already at the southern limit of their range in NYC; by the end of the century, the climate will have escaped them. Trees can’t move fast enough to keep pace with the changes that are coming, that are already happening. They will need our help to survive.

I feel compelled to act as a guardian of my little area of the world, for as long as it, and I, last. Though I have always had, and expect I always will have, a troubled relationship with “community,” perhaps there is one I can be part of which will “watch over a much larger area.” It is my belief, my hope, that collectively we will create, and find in each other, that community.
– July 26, 2006: The Bemidji Statement On Seventh Generation Guardianship

The whole world is now our Ark, and we are its Noah. It’s going to be a long ride.

Links

Benefits of NYC’s Urban Forest, MillionTreesNYC

Ancient Forest to Modern City: Mapping Landscape Change in the United States, NASA Earth Observatory, 2008-02-01

Climate Choices: The Northeast

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

A Tree’s Response to Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over the Next 100 Years?, NASA Earth Observatory, 2009-10-06

Daffodil Project 2009

Posted on 2009-10-15 by admin

Update 2009.10.18: Kensington date of 10/18 was rained out. Rain date is 10/25.

The Daffodil Project 2009 distribution at the Greenmarket in Grand Army Plaza, outside Prospect Park, Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Daffodil Project was originally created to commemorate September 11. … The Daffodil Project is made possible in part by the generosity of a Dutch bulb supplier, Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Flowerbulbs, who has pledged to donate 500,000 daffodil bulbs to the project each year as long as there are volunteers willing to plant them. More than 20,000 volunteers have responded to his challenge so far. And thanks to their efforts, more than 3 million yellow daffodils [bloomed] in over 2,000 individual sites across the five boroughs in the spring of 2009.
– The Daffodil Project, New Yorkers for Parks

Here are some locations in Brooklyn where you can get your bulb on with the Daffodil Project this season.

Kensington, Sunday, October 25

PICK UP A SHOVEL AND MAKE KENSINGTON GREENER (AND YELLOWER)!
WATCH CHURCH AVENUE BLOOM!

Sunday, October 25th, is Daffodil Day in Kensington. (18th was rained out)

Join your neighbors as we plant daffodil bulbs on Church Avenue and its side streets. In the spring, watch the flowers that we planted bloom!

From 9:00 a.m. to noon, volunteers will:

loosen soil in tree pits
plant daffodil bulbs
go to Connie’s Cafe for free coffee and a muffin!

Wear clothing and shoes that you don’t mind getting some dirt on. If you can, bring:

a hand cultivator
a trowel
a bulb borer
anything else that’s useful for digging and planting
extra gardening tools, if you have them, for your neighbors to use.

We’ll meet at 9:00 a.m. in front of Astoria Federal Savings, at the corner of Church and McDonald avenues.

Connie, the owner of Connie’s Cafe (corner of Church Avenue and E. 5th Street), has graciously agreed to donate coffee and muffins for the volunteers.

This neighborhood event is sponsored by KARMABrooklyn (Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance) and WKAG (West Kensington Action Group).

Flatbush, Saturday and Sunday, November 7&8, and November 14&15

Again this fall, Sustainable Flatbush will sponsor Daffodil bulb plantings at locations throughout Flatbush. As we get closer to the dates, we’ll announce the locations and times and how you can get involved.

Links

Daffodil Day in Kensington, Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance (KARMA)

Sustainable Flatbush

The Daffodil Project, New Yorkers for Parks

Blessing of the Animals, Chelsea Community Church

Posted on 2009-10-12 by admin

Update 2009-10-12: Added story about Smokey.

Blog Widow and Annie, the new kitten, at the Blessing of the Animals service at Chelsea Community Church earlier today.

An off-topic, i.e. non-gardening, post.

In some recognition of National Coming Out Day, some non-gardening factoids about me:

I’m an atheist.
My partner, known as Blog Widow, is an ordained minister, among many other talents.
People who’ve known me a long time think that’s hysterical.

It takes some enticement to get me into church. Filling the pews with dogs and other companion animals kinda does it for me.

This is also an opportunity to introduce Annie.

Annie is a six-month old kitten we adopted two weeks ago from Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Kensington. We’ve been wanting to adopt a second cat, thinking that Ripley, the old soul, would do better with some companionship when we’re out during the day. Ummm, yeah. That’ll work. Eventually.

Today was Annie’s “coming out,” as we took her to the Blessing of the Animals service at Blog Widow’s church, Chelsea Community Church. Mostly dogs were present; Annie was one of four cats, by my count, in attendance. She even made an appearance on stage when Blog Widow introduced her to the congregation for his general blessing over those assembled, human and otherwise.

Smokey

I shared this story here two-and-a-half years ago. This is an appropriate context to revisit it.

My atheism is life-long, forged in the fires of Catholic catechism during childhood, such as this exchange:

Me: When I go to Heaven, will my dog, Smokey, be there?
Nun: No.
Me: Why not?
Nun: Animals don’t have souls.

Smokey was a magnificent animal, a German Shepherd we obtained as a puppy. I named him during the ride home. Sitting in the back seat, trying to hold onto him: a writhing mass of long, shaggy fur all the colors of smoke. He became my companion, my protector, my model of perfect love. Setting aside, for the moment, the overweening confidence that I would go to Heaven, as a child I recognized that any place that would not grant Smokey admittance was beneath my interest and unworthy of my attentions.

Certainly, there were other, more pernicious, influences that drove me from religious indoctrination. Conversion to active disbelief became a logical extension; without the possibility of evidence, there is no reason to believe. It’s taken me a long time to accept that, nevertheless, I am a spiritual person. There’s no life after death, but there is life; that’s remarkable enough to celebrate it, and reason enough to grieve its inevitable end. Events such as the Blessing of the Animals remind me that, on this point at least, I share some common ground with others, regardless of the differences in our beliefs, or disbeliefs.

Slideshow

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Links

Chelsea Community Church
Sean Casey Animal Rescue

Save the Campus Road Garden in Flatbush

Posted on 2009-10-08 by admin

Update, 2009-10-09: The Daily News has picked up the story, a few days after it’s been in the Brooklyn Blogosphere.

Campus Road Garden, South Midwood, Flatbush, Brooklyn, August 2008

The fate of the Baltic Street Garden in Park Slope was, unfortunately, sealed months ago. And now Flatbush’ 14-year old Campus Road Garden is threatened by Brooklyn College’s plans to build a parking lot in its place.

View Brooklyn Community Gardens in a larger map

The garden has a [long] history and a lot of love, sweat and passion went into creating the garden and sustaining it through the years.

The college has made beautiful new additions to the campus: building, walkways, etc.

However, the garden, which lies at the foot of the athletic field, is going to be bulldozed to make room for a small parking lot.

As you can imagine we are all saddened by this. Each member joined for their own reasons, but the bottom line is, we all come together as a community and we cherish the friendships we have made with fellow gardeners, the Brooklyn College community and, of course, the neighborhood.
– Letter from the author of Snowballs and Candy Corn

Here’s how you can help.

Sign the online petition: Stop the Demolition of the Campus Road Garden. (You’ll be prompted to contribute through PayPal, but you can ignore that.)
On Facebook, join the group Stop the Demolition of Campus Road Garden! to stay informed.

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Links

Stop the Demolition of the Campus Rd Garden, online petition

Snowballs and Candy Corn: Our Garden, a collection of blog posts from one of the Campus Road gardeners, a neighbor and friend

Saving the Campus Road Community Garden from Parking Lot Fate, 2009-10-19
Brooklyn College to pave over popular garden to expand track, Flatbush residents not pleased, Daily News, 2009-10-09
Campus Road Community Garden – Petition, Ditmas Park Blog, 2009-10-05

City Council Approves Demolition of Historic PS 133, Historic Districts Council Newsstand, 2009-07-01

Fall Approaches, 2009

Posted on 2009-09-26 by admin

September Dogwood, Beverly Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 2009

My clear signal for the onset of Spring is the blooming of Snowdrops, Galanthus species. The reddening leaves of Dogwoods, Cornus species, tell me that Fall has really begun in my neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. Soon to come are the yellows of the Locust trees, Gleditsia and Robinia species, and the psychedelic rainbows of White Ash, Fraxinus americana. The big show is put on by the Maples and Oaks.

Conditions are ideal for spectacular foliage this year. We’ve had ample rains over the summer following near-record Spring rains. The NY State Foliage Forecast predicts that peak foliage will reach New York City around the last week of October. This timing couldn’t be more perfect. On Saturday, October 24, fellow gardener Tracey Hohman and I will be guiding the first Fall Foliage Street Tree Walking Tour for Sustainable Flatbush. We’ll be walking the same route we’ve visited the past two Springs, so participants can see the same trees this Fall that they’ve seen in the Spring.

Sustainable Flatbush Street Tree Walking Tour, Arbor Day 2009. That’s me in the middle, next to the tree. Photo by Keka

Brilliant, near-peak foliage will make its first appearance in New York State this weekend in parts of the Adirondacks, while rapidly changing colors in the Catskills will bring most of the region to around the midpoint of change …
– I Love NY Fall Foliage Report, week of September 23-29

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Links

I Love NY Foliage Forecast

Sustainable Flatbush

Happy September Equinox 2009

Posted on 2009-09-22 by admin

Bas-relief in Persepolis. On the day of an equinox, the power of an eternally fighting bull (personifying the Earth) and that of a lion (personifying the Sun) are equal. The September equinox marks the first day of Mehr or Libra in the Persian calendar. Photo: Anatoly Terentiev

The September equinox (autumnal in the northern hemisphere, vernal in the southern) occurs today, September 22, at 21:18 UTC. Daylight Savings Time puts me at UTC-4, so 17:18, or 5:18pm, local time.

Illumination of the Earth by the Sun on the day of an equinox

Persephone with her pomegranate. Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Proserpine (Oil on canvas, 1874) – Tate Gallery, London

Equinox
Solstice

Persephone Rises, 2009-03-19

Links

Wikipedia:Equinox

Cortelyou Road Park, Park(ing) Day NYC

Posted on 2009-09-18 by admin

Park(ing) Gnome, Cortelyou Road Park, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 16:42 (4:42 pm)

Worms!, 16:26 (4:26 pm)

Bulldog Puppy, 15:27 (3:27 pm)

Solar-powered Boom-box Experiment, 13:24 (1:24 pm)

Ronny Wasserstrom and his amazing egg-juggling egg puppet, 12:54

Biophilia in action, 11:29

Cortelyou Road Park, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 11:09

An international event, with 55 sites this year in NYC, Park(ing) Day highlights the public space that is devoted to streets and parking. For one day only, groups transform a parking space into a public park. These creative and active sites suggest alternative purposes for such space that can benefit more people in a wider range of uses than storing an empty personal transportation vehicle.

Cortelyou Road Park is a project of the Livable Streets initiative of Sustainable Flatbush. As the Director of the Urban Gardens & Farms initiative of Sustainable Flatbush, I loaned much of my garden furniture and container plants to help transform a parking space on busy Cortelyou Road into a garden room.

We’re having a great time, and the day is not quite half over as I write this first post of the day. I’ll be trying to update during the day. You can also follow me today on Twitter.

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Slideshow

Links

Cortelyou Road Park
Park(ing) Day this Friday, September 18th!, Sustainable Flatbush
Cortelyou Road gets a new park–for the 3rd year in a row!, Park(ing) Day NYC

Park(ing) Day NYC: A Garden Grows in Flatbush, Brit in Brooklyn, 2009-09-18

Park(ing) Day (International)

Bring me the head of the Juniper Valley Tree-Killer

Posted on 2009-09-17 by admin

Over the weekend, 12 newly planted trees were destroyed at Juniper Valley Park in Queens. This incident marks the fourth case of tree damage this year at the park and a $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in this arborcide. It is believed that the trees were cut with an electric saw, either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. They were just planted in the park this past spring. Ten were cherry trees and two were oaks.
– Parks Asks the Community’s Assistance in Nabbing Juniper Valley Park Tree Killer, Press Release, 2009-09-16

View Larger Map

Juniper Valley Park has been victim of tree arborcide and vandalism four times this year, with more than 20 trees victimized. In April, low branches were torn off a number of trees overnight. In June, two trees were found damaged in the park and in July, seven trees were damaged, leaving four uprooted, two completely destroyed and one with trunk damage.

If you have any information on this crime, please call the NYPD Crime stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

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Links

Parks Asks the Community’s Assistance in Nabbing Juniper Valley Park Tree Killer, NYC Parks, Press Release, 2009-09-16
Vandals Attack Trees Again in Juniper Park, Juniper Park Civic Association, 2009-09-13

Flatbush Gardener

Urban Habitat Gardening with Native Plants

Category Archives: 2009

We Are the Champion … Trees!

Saturday, October 24: Meet the Trees

Foliage Report

Related Content

Links

Trees for the Future, Blog Action Day 2009

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Links

Daffodil Project 2009

Kensington, Sunday, October 25

Flatbush, Saturday and Sunday, November 7&8, and November 14&15

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Links

Blessing of the Animals, Chelsea Community Church

Smokey

Slideshow

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Links

Save the Campus Road Garden in Flatbush

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Fall Approaches, 2009

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Happy September Equinox 2009

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Cortelyou Road Park, Park(ing) Day NYC

Slideshow

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Bring me the head of the Juniper Valley Tree-Killer

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