my weekend in pictures

Saturday


The bluebell hyacinths were in full bloom at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.


Chris Roddick, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's chief arborist, teaches us how to plant companions for street trees in the Trees NY Citizen Pruner course. This clematis will climb the trunk - but care needs to be taken to prevent it from encroaching on the canopy (it'll deprive the leaves of light and hide potential damage to the tree).


Mulching is a group effort.


A fellow student uses the pole saw to prune an oak tree. Don't try this without your Citizen Pruner certificate!


You may have to squint, but the leader branches (those at the top) are co-dominant stems, which could be a problem for this tree in the future.


These brilliant azaleas were at the end of their bloom.


Sunday


After brunch, I brought some friends to Green Depot to check out their cleaning product refill station.


An edible green wall caught my eye when walking passed Valcucine.


Strawberries ripe for the picking. Hmmm... I want to try this at home.


My friend Jane had to drop off her bike for repairs and this beauty was outside: the electric hybrid Ultramotor A2B bike.


Same friend Jane lives in The Solaire. I asked for a tour of the building's green roof.


A rooftop oasis awaits...


Green roofs provide habitat for birds and butterflies...


They keep buildings cool in summer and insulated in winter...



They prevent storm water run-off and heat island effect...


And there just so darn inviting. If it were a nicer day I don't think I would've wanted to leave.


Another green building, The Verdesian across the way.


And for the green dwelling trifecta, The TriBeCa Green.


The park they all share below. It's much more intriguing when you're down there (sorry I missed that photo op).


Back on terra firma, a sign for the latest car-sharing service, Mint, caught my eye. (Move over zipcar, now there's something fresher...)


NYC is slowly becoming more bike-friendly. Sans bicycle, I rode the subway home.

milliontrees nyc announces volunteer opps

[Tree and me]

Just the other day as I stared out my apartment window, I thought about how lovely it was that the trees back there have grown closer our building. The lush green branches and perching birds were a great comfort to me, considering we have no outdoor space in our place. This morning I awoke to the sound of chainsaws. Half the tree is gone. I just hope they made a clean cut at the branch collar so the tree will "heal" properly (tomorrow I have my field day with the Trees NY Citizen Pruner course). 

If you appreciate trees and wildlife as much as I do, maybe you'll be compelled to help the city take care of our little bits of green habitat. MillionTrees NYC just announced their upcoming schedule of events. Maybe I'll see you at one of them...

SPRING INTO ACTION WITH MILLIONTREES NYC
Natural Resources Group: Forest Stewardship Days: Citywide
This spring take part in the restoration of forests in natural areas in NYC. We will be removing invasive weeds, watering and mulching. Volunteers will learn the history and ecology of the sites and help ensure the future of the forest!

Registration is currently open to volunteer with MillionTreesNYC in our reforestation areas!

• Saturday, May 30, 2009, 9:00am-2:00pm: Ocean Breeze, Staten Island Kissena Corridor Park, Queens
  
• Saturday, June 20, 2009, 9:00am-2:00pm: Pelham Bay Park, Bronx Canarsie Park, Brooklyn Idlewild Park, Queens Clove Lakes Park, Staten Island Mt. Loretto Unique Area, Staten Island Randall’s Island, Manhattan
  

Sign up at http://milliontreesnyc.org/html/involved/nrg_registration.shtml
Children under 16 must be accompanied by a guardian. Not recommended for children under age 12.
Contact Ellen Arnstein Ellen.arnstein@parks.nyc.gov with questions

Conference House Park, Staten Island: Forest Stewardship Volunteering
Looking for interesting and meaningful activities in the great outdoors? Experience nature, learn plant and animal species and volunteer at Conference House Park. Activities will include planting, invasive plant removal, and tree-care activities.

• Saturday, May 16th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Wednesday, May 20th, 9:00am-12:00pm 
  
• Saturday, May 30th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Saturday, June 27th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Wednesday, July 8th, 5:00-7:30pm 
  
• Sunday, July 26th, 9:00am-12:00pm 
  
• Monday, July 27th, 9:00am-12:00pm
  

Stewardship events begin at the Conference House Park Visitors’ Center. For questions, directions, and to RSVP, contact Cheri at:cheri.brunault@parks.nyc.gov or 718-390-8021.

rally to stop coal plant financing

Join Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group this coming Tuesday - May 19 - to rally against the financing of dirty coal by JPMorgan Chase. Be sure to bring your banners, signs, and voice to let CEO Jamie Dimon and other JPMorgan Chase shareholders know you won't stand for dirty coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Full details below:

Groups to Rally at JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting on May 19th
New Yorkers Ask CEO Jamie Dimon to Stop Financing Coal Plants

WHEN: May 19th,
Rally, 9:30 am - 10:30 am
JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting - 10 am

WHERE: One Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York, NY [map]

WHAT: Rally outside the JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder meeting, questioning Jamie Dimon, one of the leading financiers of coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Despite Mr. Dimon’s rhetoric on the need for clean energy and strong environmental policies, JPMorgan Chase continues to underwrite Massey Energy, one of the biggest and most heavily criticized mountaintop removal coal mining companies in the country. JP Morgan Chase also continues to fund expensive and highly polluting coal plants throughout the United States, including the proposed AMP-Ohio coal plant, one of the most financially risky coal proposals in the country.

WHO: Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group.
- Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action,
- Larry Gibson, President of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation
- Dana Clark, Director of Global Finance for Rainforest Action Network

this saturday, the great american book drive!

This Saturday, May 16 from 10am to 3pm at the Brooklyn Public Library, it's the Great American Book Drive. Bring your old, your tired, your weary books to the steps of the grand ol' library in Grand Army Plaza and give them a new home. Full details from BPL below:

As many of you know, this Saturday, May 16, is our second Great American Book Drive, held in conjunction with Better World Books (BWB). Better World Books, is an environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible company that collects and sells books to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. This event at Central Library offers you a chance to clean out your bookshelves and donate unwanted materials to a good cause -- your library!

But before you pack up that shopping back full of old textbooks and Windows '98 user manuals, we wanted to clarify our policy regarding donations:

1) Our first step when we receive a donation is to check the ISBNs of the books we receive with BWB's database to see if they're "sellable"
2) We send "sellable" ones to BWB, which they sell and give proceeds back to us
3) We recycle those books BWB cannot sell
4) We also weed our collections so that we recycle worn-out books, or those that do not circulate to make way for more popular materials

So before you come, please review our donation policy as it would be a shame for you to herniate a disc carrying old items to Central that we ultimately can't use.

introducing the first LEED-certified bowling alley in the US

[Not my shot: images via Brooklyn Bowl flickr page]

Manhattan has Chelsea Piers, Bowlmor, and the Port Authority bowling alley. But what about Brooklyn? The only bowling alley I know of in Brooklyn is Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, and the miniscule lane or two at Brownstone Billiards in Park Slope. Until now - and this one will blow all of those other alleys out of the water. 

It's not open for business yet, but Williamsburg's Brooklyn Bowl looks like a great place to knock down some ten pins and a few pitchers of local beer. The great thing is, it's not just a fun spot to recreate with friends, it's also got eco cred.

Brooklyn Based got a sneak peek of the new bowling alley/music venue, and here are some of its sustainable features:

• Salvaged Brooklyn Navy Yard windows that decorate the banquettes and tables fashioned from the former Woodhaven Lanes in Queens (by Ferra Designs)
• A stage made from recycled truck tires
  
• Salvaged or sustainably harvested wood throughout
  
• ...plus many other green details that make Brooklyn Bowl the first LEED-certified bowling alley in the country

And if that's not enough, some more eco features (from their site):

• 100% Wind-powered electricity
  
• Pin-spotters use 75% less energy than a typical pin-spotter
  
• No bottles, no cans. All our soft drinks and beers are on tap
  
• Our 10 draught beers are all brewed locally in Brooklyn, New York
  
• LED stage lights use 90% less energy than the typical draw
  
• Energy Star Certification wherever possible
  
• HVAC Johnson Controls are the most efficient units available
  
• HVAC also features CO2 sensors, variable frequency drive motors, air-side economizers
  
• Four “Big Ass Fans” brand ten-foot fans to augment HVAC system
  
• 100% reclaimed cork floors in Bowler’s Lounge
  
• 30+ capacity bike racks
  
• 16 trees planted in and around property
  

All this from Peter Shapiro and Charley Ryan of Wetlands, an environmentally conscious music and activist venue.

I'm not a great bowler, but I can't wait until they open, just to check out the space.

Brooklyn Bowl * 61 Wythe Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211 * 718.963.3369

buy handmade and local in brooklyn

This weekend, support local artisans peddling their handmade goods.

@ The Brooklyn Flea

[Map]

Bonbon Oiseau
Great Brooklyn-based jeweler who has a penchant for vintage baubles and beads
Check 'em out at the Brooklyn Flea (Fort Greene)
This Saturday, May 9th, 10am-5pm
(just in time to buy mom something pretty!)

Check out their adorable Petit Buddha Necklace (at right)
It's not just cute, it's for a good cause:
$20 from each sale will go directly to the Food Bank, providing over 100 meals to people in need.
Get one while supplies last.


@ The Bell House

[Map]

The Handmade Cavalcade
With over 30 local designers
This Saturday and Sunday
10am-4pm

Full details in the flyer below (click to blow up)

freemeet this saturday!

Does your home look like this? [not my shot, image: smoke & mirrors]

Have you been decluttering and Spring cleaning like I have? If so, you probably have a pile of stuff that needs a new home. Relocate your stuff at a Freecycle FreeMeet!

This Saturday, in Flatbush, Brooklyn, free your home of clutter and maybe find something "new" you can use (I'll have to use all of my strength not to bring anything home!). Any unswapped items will be donated to local charities or recycled.

Flatbush FreeMeet

Saturday, May 9, 2009
11am - 3pm
P.S. 217 Playground
(1100 Newkirk Avenue at Coney Island Avenue)
Flatbush, Brooklyn

Co-sponsored by: Sustainable Flatbush

Closest Public Transportation
SUBWAY: Q train to Newkirk Ave or F train to 18th Ave
BUS: B68 to Coney Island Avenue and Newkirk.

You will find the FreeMeet on the playground next to the school.
Check out HopStop.com or Mapquest.com to find the best route for you.

Not in Brooklyn? Find a Freecycle group near you!

get somethin' nice for your mama

Mother's Day is Sunday, and I'm writing this post to remind myself to send my mama some beautiful flowers from Organic Bouquet.



Last time I sent her flowers from Organic Bouquet, she wouldn't stop talking about how beautiful they were. So the fact that their flowers are all grown without pesticides just put it over the top. By supporting organic flower growers, you keep flower farmers and workers from being exposed to toxic chemicals used in conventional flower growing practices.

If your mom's not into flowers, consider giving to a cause in her honor. Here are some ideas:

Sponsor a wild place through the Sierra Club
Choose from national parks like Sequoia or Yellowstone and get a cute little stuffed creature like a bear or moose to give to mom ($25).



Sign her up for a membership to Friends of the Earth
For as little as $15 you can help mom save Mother Earth with a charitable gift membership.



Plant trees in her name through the Nature Conservancy
Help protect one of the largest and most endangered forests in honor of mom (50 trees for $50).



Get her goat (symbolically) through Oxfam Unwrapped
By adopting one of the animals through this org, you support the work they do in 100 countries around the world.


No matter what you get mom, be sure to consider the impact of your gift on her health and the health and well-being of others on the planet.

loomstate sale at greenloop

This Swan's for You!

These days, I'm trying to focus on buying less, especially new things. But there are a few things I'll buy new - underwear and Loomstate 100% organic cotton t-shirts. They might be the softest t-shirts I've ever owned.

I just got myself one on sale (along with some Pi organic cotton undies) at Greenloop.


And in case you didn't know, Greenloop recently won best online fashion shop from Treehugger's Best of Green Contest.

So take advantage of this great sale and stock up on some super soft organic cotton goodies at the Greenloop!

leda reads from botany, ballet, and dinner from scratch

If you're curious about eating locally and foraging for food, or maybe you just have a penchant for dance, head on over to the Community Bookstore in Park Slope this coming Tuesday (Cinco de Mayo). Leda Meredith will be reading from her book Botany, Ballet, and Dinner from Scratch.

If you don't get a chance to catch her there, sign up for one of Leda's foraging tours in Prospect Park. The next one is on June 20th - prime berry picking season. Get the deets at GreenEdge NYC.

Read about Leda's adventures on her blog, Leda's Urban Homestead

Event info
Tuesday, May 5th @ 7:00 pm
Leda Meredith reads from Botany, Ballet, and Dinner from Scratch
@ the Community Bookstore 143 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn btwn Carroll & Garfield
718.783.3075

In August 2007, Leda Meredith stopped eating bananas. And lemons, chocolate, soy sauce, and avocadoes. On the day after her 45 birthday, she started “the 250,” a year-long experiment in eating foods grown within a 250-mile radius of her Brooklyn apartment. Thus began the process of retraining herself—planning every meal ahead, scouring the city for local beans and flour, canning countless jars of tomatoes so she could eat something other than potatoes all winter. Now, over a year later, Leda has emerged unscathed—healthier, she says, and a better cook—from her experiment in eating locally. And as if canning and dehydrating food weren’t enough to keep her busy all winter, she’s also written a book. Botany, Ballet and Dinner from Scratch is the story of Leda—from wild-haired kid to world-traveling professional ballet dancer to experienced botanist and forager—and of the recipes she uses to make saving the environment a delightful culinary adventure.

the wild lunch

Last weekend we (my bf and I) ventured out into the wilds of Prospect Park to go a-foraging with Leda Meredith. So far this is our third foraging tour, the first time we've searched for wild edibles in Spring. This year, I feel especially aware of the seasonal changes - the sprouting leaves, the blooming flowers, the increasing cacophony of bird song.

A lot of the tour was a review of plants I knew, though in some cases, I didn't recognize them in their Spring habit. Here are some of the new things I learned:

Every flowering tree with edible fruit has an edible flower. If a tree blooms in Winter then experiences a deep freeze, it won't fruit that year. This can become a serious problem for farmers (and us) as our climate shifts.

Cherry blossoms in full effect!

There's a tree we've admired every Spring that grows little clusters of tiny pink flowers around its branches. Found out it's called Redbud (Cercis canadensis) and the little flowers and buds are edible. They taste a little bit like green beans.

Redbud


Close up of Redbud

The last couple of weeks of April are Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) season. The thick stalks can be prepared like rhubarb - they can go sweet, like in a pie, or savory, like in a soup (Leda brought some Japanese Knotweed soup for us to taste). The plant contains reservatrol, the same beneficial substance that's in red wine.

Japanese Knotweed

The stalk of cattail (Typha) is like hearts of palm (you just have to peel off the harder outer layer). The male cattail produces something similar to baby corn. Cattail pollen is a flour substitute. According to Leda, cattail pollen pancakes are delicious.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flowers are only available for a couple of weeks as well. The whole plant is edible, and it's the only diuretic that does not deplete potassium. It's also delicious beer-battered and thrown in a salad.

Fryin' dandy-lion

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a mild little flowering plant that's good in salads. Some think that it dissolves fat in the body (still waiting for the clinical trials on that claim!). These were in our salad as well.

Chickweed



Yummy foraged salad!


Check out last year's foraging adventures

• foraging with the wildman
• exploring, gathering
• foraging find: spicebush berries
• yesterday's brooklyn foraging tour

go plant a tree!

Did you know that tomorrow is Arbor Day? I hadn't a clue until I just got this email from MillionTreesNYC. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd be doing this (boo to work!):

Still looking to do something green this Arbor Day – Friday, April 24?

Join New York Restoration Project (NYRP) in celebrating MillionTreesNYC Month with presenting sponsor BNP Paribas by planting over 200 trees in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Friday, April 24. By volunteering, you will be helping MillionTreesNYC create a cleaner, greener New York City, while also having some fun under the Brooklyn sun! So dig in and demonstrate just how green you can be by registering today!

Only 100 volunteer opportunities remain available for our Arbor Day celebration tomorrow. So, register today.

Friday, April 24
9:00 am to 3:30 pm
Volunteer sign-in begins at 8:30 am

Sternberg Park – East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(On Lorimer Street, between Montrose Ave and Boerum Street)

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION: All volunteers must be 18 years or older. To volunteer you must register in advance by contacting Olivia Chen at ochen@nyrp.org. Upon registration, you will receive an e-mail confirming your participation.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided for registered volunteers. Tree-planting will end at 3:00 pm and culminate with an ice cream social in NYRP’s Heckscher Foundation’s Children Garden.

Not in NYC? Find Arbor Day activities in your neck of the woods.

earth day events from just food

In keeping with the Earth Day theme today, here are some more ways to get involved - through education - from local food advocacy group Just Food.

Garden Maintenance, Planting Techniques and Growing for Market: April 22, 6-8pm, East New York Farms! 613 New Lots Ave corner of Schenck Ave, Brooklyn

Cooking demonstrations and legalize beekeeping outreach at the Earth Fair 2009: April 24-25, Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall (inside) and 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue (outside)

McKinley's Children's Garden Earth Day Celebrations' Seed Saving Workshop: April 25, 12-1pm McKinley's Children's Garden, 108-56 Union Hall Street at 109th Avenue, Jamaica, Queens

Garden Planning: April 25, 1-3pm Hattie Carthan Community Garden 654 Lafayette Ave at Clifton, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn And check out Just Food board member and La Familia Verde Garden Coalition member Karen Washington talk about turning a vacant lot into a thriving community garden at Mayor Bloomberg's new volunteerism project, NYC Service. What step will you take this Earth Day for food justice?! Share your commitments/ideas.