Posts filed under ‘gardening’
Compost in the City
Most people probably don’t find compost very sexy, but I’m actually quite passionate about it. Organic waste, like food scraps, sticks, leaves, dried flowers, etc. aren’t really “waste” at all – they’re potential dirt. And dirt is good. All you really need is a bin and some worms, and you can trun your food waste and yard scraps into nutrient-rich soil for your garden. And in New York, which is plagued by soil shortage and an expensive waste disposal system, compostable garbage should be coveted.
Unfortunately, most New Yorkers send these nuggets of nutrients to the dump rather than keeping them around. And I really can’t blame them. There isn’t much space in the city for composting – even if you have the cahones to set up an indoor worm bin, most New Yorkers don’t have enough space inside their apartments to squeeze one into. The city should really set up a more effective system for collecting yard and food waste (right now all we’ve got is a yard waste collection program). But that’s not the point of my writing today – I’m here to discuss a more urgent and somewhat personal matter.
My apartment, as you may know, has an outdoor deck area with plenty of space for composting. As you may not know, however, is that Boyfriend and I are leaving the city at the end of this month and heading out on a road trip (more on that later). This means that I have to somehow get rid of my compost before the next tenants arrive to take over our (beautiful) home and garden. And I can imagine that they’re not going to want to deal with this: (more…)
Winter Greenhouse Update
I just thought I’d post an update about my mini greenhouse experiment. I planted lettuce, broccoli, oat grass (as a winter cover crop) and a transplanted rosemary bush in the greenhouse earlier in the fall (here’s the original post about it), and today the rosemary and grass are doing quite well, but unfortunately the broccoli is pretty non-existent and the lettuce leaves are only about an inch tall.
So far I would call it a semi-success, because the space inside the greenhouse has stayed warm enough to sustain plant life. I’ve had to open up the greenhouse on warmer days to air it out, because the damp weather has caused it to get a little moldy in there, but overall it’s been very low-maintenance.
And, as you can see, my cats are pretty fond of it.
Junk for Christmas
I think that a lot of us are probably uncomfortable with the idea of giving people junk for Christmas (or Christmakah or Festivus or whatever you celebrate). So here’s a simple crafty and relatively inexpensive way to make some junky gifts this year that everyone will love and you will be proud to give. (more…)
Our first snow and last harvest
Last week we got our first real snow here in New York, which meant that I had to run outside and salvage what was left of my herb garden. I managed to clip some sage, parsley and a little rosemary. It’s sad to admit that I won’t be getting any fresh herbs for several months, but I managed to dry some of the herbs that I grew and hopefully those will last a little while.
But check it out! My mini greenhouse is still standing, and there’s even some greenery staying alive inside it!
I transplanted a rosemary bush in there and it’s doing well, and the broccoli and spinach that I planted (from seeds) a few weeks ago have sprung up already – hopefully they’ll grow to full-fledged veggies someday. It’s exciting to see that my little experiment is working so far – it’s actually keeping the soil and air inside the house warm!
More updates to come, as well as my winter potato garden experiment (which I have yet to commence but will probably get to around the New Year.
My Uncle’s Farm
Over Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of spending a day upstate at my aunt and uncle’s farm near Cooperstown, NY. It’s not a commercial farm, but they’ve got a lot of cool stuff up there and I wanted to share a bit with you. (more…)
Mini Greenhouse!
This past weekend I finally got around to building my mini greenhouse, and I must say I’m pretty proud of it. All of the materials I used were scrap, either scavenged from my home and neighborhood or purchased from this really amazing store called Build it Green located in beautiful Astoria Queens:
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Indoor Greenery
As my outdoor plants wither and die before my very eyes, I’m trying to keep it together by moving some things indoors and “greening-up” my apartment. (and yes, I still plan on making the little greenhouse, maybe next weekend…). I haven’t gotten very far with my indoor gardening, but I thought I’d share this much:
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Another Brooklyn Garden
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to take a moment and introduce you to my garden:
The truth: that’s what my garden was like back in July. Here’s what it looks like these days: (more…)
