Posts categorized as Gardening

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! By now everyone’s garden is in full swing! These are tomatoes from the Beach 91st Street Community Garden (now on instagram) which I’m a member of. What are you going to make with all of your tomatoes this season? Here’s a great canning tutorial we posted a while back. Send me your tomato photos and I’ll post them on twitter. Another beauty from the community garden. Cooking with zucchini flowers is […]

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! I went to a free watercolor class this week at the library here in Rockaway. They  have many free classes. Check them out! Your looking at a serviceberry tree in my front yard! Delicious for the birds as well as you. This tree thrives in our costal zone. Edible gardens are beautiful and useful! More garden photos. This is an Oak  hydrangea which can grow six feet tall. Since last year, mine […]

Sweet William* (Dianthus Barbatus) is a hearty perennial flower used as an ornamental in gardens. It originated in southern Europe, spread through Asia and somehow made it to Rockaway. If you look around the neighborhood, you may start to notice the red, white, purple and/or pink floral in your neighbor’s garden. The first spring my husband and I had the house (2014), we were in the midst of a hellish renovation. (I’ll have to fill you in on that epic project at some point.) The front garden was far down on […]

I was walking back from the YMCA last week and noticed the dandelions have flowered. Time to forage in the great wilderness, or as I like to call it, the median of Shore Front Parkway. I know what you’re thinking, “Gross!! Dogs pee there!!” Whatever. I bet gophers pee on asparagus and kale in the organic farms. Either way, I still feel natural, locally grown foods are healthier for us than the pre-packaged produce in the supermarket. God knows what they spray on those greens! Besides, germs make your immune […]

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! Last Thursday I was cleaning out the backyard. We have a bunch of scrap wood and concrete bits that need to go. Obama was so adorable just hanging out with me in this planter. He’s a good cat! I like to drive fast Italian cars when I’m on Lawng Island #Maserati This week I noticed many daffodils have bloomed in Rockaway. There seems to be many more this year than last. So beautiful!

I’m getting a strange feeling that at the Parks Dept. quarterly round table, while deciding what trees to plant near the new boardwalk someone said, “Lets plant black pines and junipers for Rockaway resident Paula DiGioia, she loves Christmas and booze!” If only our climate allowed for grapevines… I’ve been walking to the YMCA when the weather permits and I’ve noticed new tree plantings around the boardwalk, from 90th-70th. It’s the dead of winter, but the weather has been mild. I’m guessing that’s why the Parks Dept. decided to get’em in! Props to Parks! […]

Last November I wrote about the tree the city finally planted in my sidewalk tree pit. It wasn’t doing well despite my daily watering and compost. I hadn’t given up on it, I was planning on trimming the tree next spring and giving it another year but the city came and pulled it out this week! I don’t get the tree planting system – the money it must cost the city in contracts! The tree didn’t look good when we got it, is there any oversight? Now I’m left with this! Anyway, the contractor […]

If you remember, in the spring we implemented Cousin Lesley’s garden design –  the flower beds thrived and looked beautiful all summer. In fact, it still looks great now. But one thing was missing – the magical Foxtail Lily. This floral is a bulb, so I couldn’t plant it until now! As the common name dictates, this plant looks like a fox’s tail. It’s stunning with an impressive hight up to 8 feet! It is native to semi-desert areas in Asia – so perfect for the sandy soil conditions in Rockaway. I’ve never […]

Very proud of my Mother-in-law Maureen (and Tomato Gal contributor!). She’s been recognized in The Wave for her dedicated service in the beatification of Veterans’ Circle. Check it out! Photo Credit Dan Brown: https://www.facebook.com/skininkmag    

Matt came across this article and I wanted to share it with you. I had know idea that a fig was actually a flower and that it is pollinated by only one type of tiny insect, it’s fascinating! All kinds of critters, not only humans, frequent fig trees, but the plants owe their existence to what may be evolution’s most intimate partnership between two species. Because a fig is actually a ball of flowers, it requires pollination to reproduce, but, because the flowers are sealed, not just any bug can […]