Posts Tagged ‘Garden’

Over the past few weeks in the community garden, I’ve heard many people say some version of, “I’m so happy to have my hands back in the soil.” Gardening is good for wellness. It reconnects us to the earth, to nature, and to our natural state as human beings. All the sensory experiences associated with gardening or just being outdoors are calming—the scent of the soil, the texture of the plants to our touch, the warmth of the sun on our skin,  the colors of the flowers focused in your […]

This Saturday, May 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., visit the Beach 91st Street Community Garden for our Plant Sale Fundraiser! Soak in the spring, connect with neighbors, and make a day of it. We’ll have a mix of plants to inspire your garden. There will be veggie starters and culinary herbs, perennials, including walker’s low, autumn joy, milkweed, daylily, and coastal grasses. We’ve also got some houseplants and garden pots! Adding to the fun this year: Holland Ave Soap Co. (@hollandavesoapco) will be on-site, offering ocean-inspired cold-process bar soaps—some made […]

After my stamping art project with compostable foods, including the potato, I started to wonder… How do you grow a potato from a potato? I’m a gardener, and I’ve never grown potatoes. Embarrassing to admit, but here we are. I checked in with fellow Beach 91st Street Community Garden members last Sunday during our second meeting of the season. Kilee and Dan have both grown potatoes from sprouting spuds found right in their kitchens. They confirm it’s totally easy. Store-bought potatoes (Red Bliss) like this aren’t as disease-resistant as certified seed potatoes since […]

Earthworms work slowly, deeper in the soil, and help structure and enrich soil over time. Let’s talk about worms. I know, I know—maybe not the most loved creature, but bear with me—because they are the unsung heroes of healthy soil and your garden. There are 30 species of worms in New York State, and only five are native. I’d like to focus on the few you’re most likely to see in your garden here in Rockaway Beach. There are the everyday earthworms —the kind you find chilling in the garden […]

April is staying true to its word, showering our land with the right amount of skywater to encourage vibrant greens and the early bloom of summer color. This weekend, the Beach 91st Street Community Garden held its season kick-off meeting, and I finally had the chance to touch the earth. Free compost from the Queens Botanical Garden (Queens Rep! Thank you!) was the afternoon task. I shoveled out the top three inches of soil from my garden plot and replaced it with rich compost. The scent of pure earth! I was amazed by how […]

The time is now. The ground is thawing and the first bulbs of spring are breaking through the surface soil. What do you want your garden to look like this year?  What do you want it to yield? Think about edible landscaping, where food plants double as beautiful design features. Consider garden themes: like planting a tea garden, herb gardens, or a culture garden inspired by your heritage or in honor of someone else’s. Think outside the garden box. Make sketches of your veg layout and keep a garden journal to house […]

My thought was that winter would be weird, lonely, and slow. I’m not sure about the weird and lonely part yet, but it’s definitely not slow. I’m slammed with graphic design work, which is awesome (cha-ching) but also very, very stressful. Freelancing is a cycle of feast or famine. I’m at feast. On top of that, I’m doing numerous other things, like being an art teacher at Rockaplay; being a columnist; trying to be a good daughter, visiting my parents weekly; selling a car, helping friends cat-sitting; remembering to shut off […]

The warm colors and intricate textures of an autumn garden are often overlooked, but not by nature enthusiasts, earth lovers, mystics, and our witches. We see the world in a different way. We see the big beauty in the small bits. We know the less popular and tainted hold more wonders. Just the other week, while puttering around the Beach 91st Street Garden, I spotted a songbird feeding on a spent sunflower, its seeds neatly tucked into their own little compartments. How is that even possible? A sleepy grasshopper rested […]

A few folks from the Beach 91 Community Garden reached out to me with a great question: “What can I plant in the fall?” There are many cold-weather crops we can plant for harvest before the frost, especially now in late September, as well as options for early summer harvests. It’s a common misconception that our growing season here in NYC is short.  Learning beyond the typical spring-summer vegetable plantings is a fun challenge. You will become a better gardener for it. Wanna give it a try? Make soups or sautées with […]

Some years our garden harvest does better than others. Why? Many factors come into play, including weather, temperature, soil, planting time, pests, and the gardener’s consistency and effort. I’d like to share about what’s happening in my garden: The parsley in my plot overwintered. Other gardeners mentioned that theirs did too. It’s not the best sign as it means we had another mild winter. I use all parts of the parsley plant in my red sauce and in homemade dressings. This is a lovely dressing recipe from my friend and fellow gardener […]