Posts Tagged ‘roof deck’

We’ve had a hell of a time throughout the years on the roof deck. Thanks to all our friends and family who made them so memorable. Gokce’s going away party. Drawing art party, we created some great work that day. Photo by Katie Sokoler/Gothamist) Listening to The Hold Steady –  Live from Gothamist House recording. (thanks Jen!) Photo by Katie Sokoler/Gothamist) My friend Jackie introduced me to the band Live one weekend when I was visiting her at college in New Paltz. I became a fan then and still am. I’ve seen Live in concert […]

This week I had planned to post a final RD recap but then I found this… Nature is so fascinating, I spent almost an hour observing these paper wasps last night. Paper wasps are 0.7 to 1.0 inch (1.8 to 2.5 cm)-long wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct water-resistant nests made of gray or brown papery material. Paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, due to the distinctive design of their nests The nests of most […]

I’m sure many of you have had this experience; you buy onions, don’t use them for a while and they sprout. This happened to me recently. I thought the shoots looked pretty neat so I blasted out a picture on The Glorified Tomato’s instagram.  My Sister-in-law commented “Can those be planted to grow more onions, similar to how it works with garlic?” I didn’t have an answer for her, but the truth machine did. Once an onion sprouts it’s quality for eating slides downhill quickly. You could use it, but […]

It was pretty nice out a few weeks ago so I decided to take Fiver out for some playtime on the RD. He loves being outdoors, as do I. While Fiver was investigating… everything, I took some snaps… A rainy but warm day. Dried hydrangea – always beautiful Fiver exploring! View large, it’s worth it.    

Lucky for Fiver we rescued him from the street life or he wouldn’t be a happy cat today. Fiver rejected the snow! Usually he loves going on the RD but he’s not into the cold, wet weather. He was tempted though…

Okay, so maybe our last garden update was perhaps a tad morbid. I’d had a bad day. It turns out that it was also a little premature. The garden is full of surprising late bloomers! Mary’s area has had a nice early fall rejuvenation! Some of the cosmos I grew from seed took a while to get going and grew to be very tall, without blooming. Until now! And we’re getting several large tomatoes and dozens of cherry tomatoes every week. They make a great snack while watering.

Summer is wrapping up and the evidence is visible… The echinacea looks beautiful even as its flowers are dying. Maybe I should try a dried flower DIY project with them. The leaves on my grapefruit mint are turning red, unexpected and delightful. I picked this up and others like it at Green Village Used Clothing & Furniture. If you have patience, this thrift store is a gem.

We have so much basil – I really need to start making pesto with this! It’s harvest season. We have a rat munching on our tomatoes (not cool). It makes perfect sense, since Ridgewood has been overrun by them this year. My theory is that our intruder scales the climbing vines on our building and makes his (or her) way up to the RD for a midnight snack. Considering I rarely see squirrels on our block, I’m 90% sure it’s a rat.  Urban gardening is not easy, gosh!  We have a […]

I saw a grapevine growing up a telephone wire above the ghost yard, and no one believed me. “Look closely– you can see ten or fifteen bunches of grapes!” Eventually, I convinced all the “hataz”. Take a look. They actually look really good. Paula hopes they will continue to grow up the wires and land themselves onto the RD so she can have a perpetual supply of grapes and grape leaves.  This picture shows that potential path. The grapes are currently on the diagonal wire closest to the building. The […]

This post is primarily about baby fruits, of which there seem to be many on the deck! This is a dark cherry varietal we bought as a seedling. But we’re more excited about the Roma plants we grew from seed — they’re also fruiting! I’m so proud of them. We also have baby eggplants, and baby Italian peppers! And while this isn’t technically part of our garden, the pear tree two yards over is beginning to fruit. I have a feeling Paula will work up the gumption to ask them […]