Clifton Place Block Association Community Garden, Green With Envy Tour, II.7

Posted on 2008-08-11 by admin

Green With Envy Tour at the Clifton Place Block Association Community Garden in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

Planting areas

The usual raised beds, but laid out in an unusual manner, almost mazelike.

Here’s a view from the street entrance area.

Here’s a view from inside, near the rear of the garden.

A hint of the maze.

Composting

They had some brand-new, still-shiny compost bins.

Glam

Are we sick of sunflowers, yet? I hope not.

Bee on Sunflower

Kale. Almost looks good enough to eat. Almost.

Moss on Rock

I know, you’re sick of Echinacea by now. But it’s hard to take a bad shot of them. They reward close inspection.

And the bees like them some Echinacea, too.

Lily. As fragrant as it looks.

Classon FulGate Block Association Garden, Green With Envy Tour, II.6

Posted on 2008-08-10 by admin

Green With Envy Tour at the Classon FulGate Block Association Garden in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

Classon FulGate was the oldest community on the tour, possibly the oldest in Brooklyn. The unusual name derives from its location: Classon Avenue between Gates Avenue and Fulton Street. It’s been in operation for more than four decades, under the guidance of this man, whose name I cannot recall. I’m better with plants than people.

Street Entrance and Common Areas

Street entrance

Most of the common area is located at the rear of the garden, beneath the only tree. As you can see in the opening photo, the shade was a welcome relief, as were the refreshments at this stop.

A community mural depicting residents of the block covers the back wall. The smaller portraits along the top of the wall depict deceased residents.

Growing Area

Nearly all the space of this comparatively small garden – the area of two townhouses – is devoted to growing food crops.

The growing beds are sunken rather than raised, relative to the central path. Everything is grown in impeccably neat rows in one of two large communal growing areas, one on each side of the path.

Glam

Watermelon leaf

Bee on Canna

Marigold

Zinnia

Hibiscus syriacus, Rose-of-Sharon

Hollenback Community Garden, Clinton Hill, Green With Envy Tour, II.5

Posted on 2008-08-08 by admin

The Green With Envy Tour gets an explanation of the water collection system at the Hollenback Community Garden.

Skipping over stop #4 (we’ll wrap that up with some other short stops at the end), we come to Hollenback Community Garden, stop #5 on Tour 2 of the Green With Envy tour of Brooklyn community gardens. Hollenback is another large community garden. They have the largest and most sophisticated rainwater collection system I’ve seen yet. They have an community composting program. They provide multiple channels for folks to contribute, including their so-far-unique composting toilet.

Street Entrance and Common Areas

Compared to the lush Prospect Heights Farm, in this garden, the common areas near the entrance are spartan.

Ornamental plantings line the paths leading into and through the heart of the garden.

Composting

I was impressed with the scale of these open silos, and the temperatures they achieved.

Each silo was carefully labelled.

And monitored.

The silos were out in the middle of the garden. They had a sweet aroma. There was another composting area, located in the rear of the garden, as is more common.

The finished material is beautiful.

This custom-made compost-mobile is an important element in their collection system. They partner with the GreenMarket, NYC’s farmers’ markets, at Fort Greene Park. They have drop-offs there on the days the Greenmarket operates. They load up garbage cans in the front crate and pedal them back to the garden for composting.

They also have garbage cans at the entrance, just inside the gate, where neighbors can come by and drop off their kitchen scraps even when the garden is not open.

Composting Toilet

This high-end outhouse addresses all the concerns you might have about a composting toilet. There was absolutely no odor around or in this, even when they opened the “basement” lid so we could take a look at the “nightsoil” they’ve collected so far.

The woman on the left seems not so sure of the whole setup.

This sign reminded me of the scene in 2001 regarding the zero-G toilet.

Beneath the base is the finished product. The lid is necessary for periodic maintenance, mainly raking and leveling out the, um, “material”, as well as eventually harvesting the compost. The black lid on the left covers another trap for removing excess liquid. The gray box and white plumbing provide ventilation.

Water Collection

Massive tanks collect water off the flat roof of the adjacent brownstone.

This big “U” trap behind the main tanks is an important part of the system. It collects the initial flush of water off the adjoining roof, which will have the most airborne contaminants. Only when the trap fills does the flow begin filling the tanks. The trap can be drained independently of the tanks.

Glam

Bee on Sunflower.

Very familiar, some kind of Hibiscus, but I can’t place it.

Echinacea and Bee

Rose

Elephant Garlic, I think

Gomphrena

Hollyhock in bud

Links

Hollenback Community Garden

Prospect Heights Community Farm, Prospect Heights, Green With Envy Tour, II.3

Posted on 2008-08-08 by admin

The Green With Envy Tour at the Prospect Heights Community Farm.

All the common patterns were present in this garden, writ large:

Common areas of ornamental plantings at the street entrance
Raised beds with individual planting areas, mostly devoted to food crops
Composting area

And something else in this garden that we’ll see more of later: rain-water harvesting.

Street Entrance and Common Areas

Nearly every garden has a charming, hand-painted “The Garden Is Open” placard that sits out on the sidewalk and invites passersby in.

Regular open hours are almost always also posted at the entrance. I think this is a requirement for gardens operated by the Trust for Public Land, locally represented by the Brooklyn-Queens Land Trust.

Step inside, and you’re enveloped by the lushness of the garden.

At the rear of this garden is another common area for composting, tool storage, and relaxing in the shade.

Individual Plots

Composting

Demonstrating another common pattern, this production line arrangement of sturdy, uniform bins helps organize the work, minimizes the need to move heavy compost around, and keeps a steady flow of materials moving through the system.

Water Collection

The fact that something different is going on inside is announced by this big sign at the entrance.

This is the beginning of the water collection system, so well-camouflaged I almost walked past it. The downspout from the adjacent building is on the left, the storage tank is on the right.

This all leads to some serious tankage.

Glam

Just ’cause it’s not all compost and rainwater.

Echinops

Rudbeckia

Sunflower, detail

There were several chairs and benches placed in the shade of common areas, painted in bright colors, and adorned with a hand-painted, smiling sun.

Shed Door, detail

St. Mark’s Avenue Community Garden, Prospect Heights, Green With Envy Tour, II.2

Posted on 2008-08-05 by admin

The Green With Envy Tour at the St. Mark’s Avenue Community Garden in Prospect Heights, July 26, 2008.

Biking was definitely the preferred mode of transportation on this tour. I don’t have a bike, so my feet and legs got a workout.

As soon as we arrived, our hostess proudly informed us that the garden was not only a butterfly sanctuary, but a praying mantis sanctuary.

Emptied egg case on the front gate

In the flesh.

This photo illustrates a pattern realized by many of the community gardens we visited: a common area, just inside the entrance, comprised largely of ornamental plantings. This is part of the “community” aspects of these gardens: putting your best face forward makes both the street and the garden more inviting, and helps keep good relations with the neighbors.

Seating in common areas.

I was charmed by this child-scaled seat composed of salvaged building materials.

Stepping past the threshold you come to the raised beds with vegetables.

Here’s a detail of that window visible in the photo above. A church is next door.

The ubiquitous composting area was located at the rear of this garden, furthest from the street, another common pattern. I wonder what all the rear-yard neighbors think of this arrangement.

Glam shots.

Squash leaf.

Nasturtium.

Solenostemon (Coleus)

Wasp on Dill.

A Picnic at Prospect Park (the Brooklyn Blogade)

Posted on 2008-07-28 by admin

The July 2008 Brooklyn Blogade was a picnic at Prospect Park this past Sunday. Mother Nature smiled upon us, as thunderstorms bracketed, but did not interrupt, the picnic proper.

We did, however, get delayed in undertaking a walking tour of Prospect Park, guided by my neighbor Brenda Becker, whose Year in the Park was recently highlighted in the New York Times. While we waited out the rains, we sheltered in the Music Pagoda.

The Tour

At the Dongan oak Monument

Battle Pass

Sullivan Hill

Because we set out 45 minutes later than planned, we had to cut short our tour. But we did make it to the top of the Ravine.

Rustic Shelter

Rock Arch Bridge

Ambergill Falls.

The Picnic

Our hosts, Dave Kenny (Dope on the Slope) and Brenda, organized an awesome spread. Everyone contributed something.

The Shout-out

Nay-chuh

We enjoyed some of the idyllic ideal envisioned by the Park’s creators, Olmsted in particular. Mostly insects, but some other orders, as well. There were also lots of chipmunks about, but I didn’t get any good shots of them.

The Nethermead

Halysidota harrisii, Sycamore Tussock Moth, Caterpillar. Thanks to Mthew (Flickr) for the id!

Dog-Day Cicada

Thanks to Dave for the id of this Xenox tigrinus, the Tiger Bee Fly.

Catbird

Crayfish

Links

Brit in Brooklyn
Dope on the Slope
Luna Park Gazette
Prospect: A Year in the Park
Self-Absorbed Boomer

Tour Brooklyn community gardens this Saturday, July 26

Posted on 2008-07-24 by admin

El jardin esta abierto / The garden is open

This is a reminder that the second leg of the Green With Envy Tour of Brooklyn community gardens is this Saturday, July 26. Tour Two kicks off at 10am from the Brooklyn Bear’s Pacific Street Garden, in the triangle at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Pacific Street in Park Slope, near the Atlantic Avenue station.

This is an opportunity to hear about the history of Brooklyn’s community gardens, speak with gardeners at each of the gardens, and learn how they organize and operate.

I posted 160 photos from Tour One two weeks ago. Tour Two promises to be just as extensive and interesting.

Pacific Street Brooklyn Bear’s Garden at Flatbush Avenue
St. Marks Avenue Blk. Assn. Community Garden btwn Carlton & Vanderbilt
Prospect Heights Community Farm, St. Marks btwn Vanderbilt & Underhill
Fulton Revival Garden, Vanderbilt at Gates
Hollenback Community Garden, Washington btwn Gates & Greene
Classon Ful-gate Community Garden, Classon btwn Fulton & Gates
Clifton Place Community Garden, Grand btwn Clifton & Greene
Pratt/Clinton Hill Community Garden, Hall St at DeKalb
The Greene Garden, DeKalb at Portland
Carlton Avenue Brooklyn Bear’s Garden between Fulton & Greene

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Flash Flood Watch for NYC through tomorrow morning

Posted on 2008-07-23 by admin

Just in from the NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM):

JULY 23, 2008 – FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NYC

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch beginning Wednesday
evening, July 23. The Flash Flood Watch is expected to stay in effect until Thursday
evening, July 24. Rainfall totals may reach six inches in New York City, with
localized flooding possible.

New Yorkers should exercise caution, as heavy rain may knock down trees and power
lines, and may create hazardous driving conditions. People should avoid walking or
driving through moving water, as six inches of fast-moving water can knock people
off their feet; two feet will cause most vehicles to float.

Floods

Links

NYC Hazards: Flash Flooding, NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM)

Brooklyn Blogade this Sunday, July 27, in Prospect Park

Posted on 2008-07-22 by admin

Music Pagoda, Prospect Park, Brooklyn

The July 2008 Brooklyn Blogade is sponsored by Brenda of Prospect: A Year in the Park and Dave Kenny of Dope on the Slope. The site is Prospect Park:

Brenda of Prospect: A Year in the Park and I are co-hosting this month’s Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow, which will be held in Prospect Park near the Music Pagoda (map). Brenda will be offering a guided walking tour of the park prior to the picnic (meeting point TBA). Learn why the park serves as an “oasis for the city soul,” the title of a recent New York Times article describing Brenda’s labor of love.

There is no charge for the event, although we are soliciting volunteers to bring food (see below) and will be passing the hat to defray expenses.

Come share Brooklyn’s backyard with your fellow bloggers. Friends and family welcome, but please let us know you’re coming so we can gauge how much jello salad to bring.

Please RSVP at blogade.rsvp@gmail.com.

– July Blogade: Prospect Park Picnic, Dope on the Slope

What: Brooklyn Blogade Picnic In Prospect Park
When: Sunday, July 27th
Time: 12:00 noon – 3:00pm (walking tour @ 11:00 am)
Who: bloggers, prospective bloggers, their family and friends

Blogade

Links

July Blogade: Prospect Park Picnic, Dope on the Slope

Planting areas

Composting

Glam

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Growing Area

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Composting

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Water Collection

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Water Collection

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The Tour

The Picnic

The Shout-out

Nay-chuh

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