Author Archives: admin

Spring Colds, etc.

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All winter-long, we have been congratulating ourselves on making it through the entire winter without getting sick. I’m sure you can guess what’s coming…pride comes before the fall, and all those other pearls of wisdom.

Neil brought the cold home, then I got it and now it looks as though Lindsay has it. Although at the age of 6, she’s cluing into the whole “if I’m sick I won’t have to go to school” thing, so I’m not sure exactly how sick she is. I thought I was better and then yesterday I got sick again. Don’t ask me what it is, I have no idea. We usually say we’ve been bitten by the tse-tse fly when we get one of these mysterious illnesses. Achy joints, tired and probably a bit feverish. Today is better, but I’m still mostly flopped on the sofa. I’m even watching daytime tv, which I’m not sure helps to make one feel better.

I decided to watch the Martha Stewart show because next tuesday I will be in the audience. They are doing an urban farming segment (and I think its even specific to chicken keeping) and they want all audience members to be urban farmers. The even asked if we would bring a chicken with us to sit on our laps. The thought of having a chicken struggling and pooping on my lap for 2 hours isn’t too appealing, so I think I’ll go solo. I’ll figure out when the show airs so I can see if they pan to the audience.

The other thing I didn’t do while I was sick was to hold my book giveaway. So today I would like to announce that the winner is Jess. I will be in touch with Jess to get her address.

Thanks for the comments. I love hearing about unusual wildlife interactions. I think I posted in the fall about our stand-off with a raccoon. We had friends over for dinner and were eating in the garden when a raccoon climbed down the ivy on the side of the building next to us. It kept trying to eat my chickens and they were running around freaking out. The little bugger was determined and not scared of us at all. We were spraying it with the hose and tossing bricks near it, but it was determined to eat chicken that night. In the end it gave up and left, but it came back several more times after that. I’m sure we will see it again now that the weather is warming up and we’re trying to eat outside more often.

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First and last harvest

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One of the signs that summer is ending and fall has taken over, is when we have to cut down our basil. Neil always makes a huge batch of pesto that we freeze and enjoy all winter. On Sunday, we had friends over and made a batch of pesto pasta, from some of the last of the pesto. I also harvested the first greens in my garden for a salad. I planted the mache lettuce in the fall and covered the planters with a plastic tarp. There they sat all winter under snow and in the cold. It is amazing to me that anything could grow at all. But grow they did and the salad was delicious. I adore mache greens and have taken to growing them because they are so difficult to find in the store. I have found them at Trader Joes in my neighborhood.

Mache salad with pear and walnuts

Toast about 1/3 c. walnuts. Peel and thinly slice a bosc pear. Thinly slice a shallot. Use a vegetable peeler and shave about 1/3c. parmesan cheese. Add everything to the salad.

Dressing: Mix 1T dijon mustard with 2T sherry vinegar and 1/4c. olive oil. I put them into an empty jam jar and shake it until it emulsifies.

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It’s now legal to keep bees in NYC!

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March 16, 2010

NYC Abuzz: Sweet Deal Makes Bees Legal

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:53 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) –Urban beekeepers in New York City no longer have to keep the honey of their labors a secret.

The city’s health board voted Tuesday to overturn a longtime ban on beekeeping within city limits.

Previously, the city’s health code had placed honeybees in the same category as about 100 other creatures deemed too hazardous to be kept in town, including ferrets and poisonous snakes. Bees do sting, after all, and their venom can be dangerous to some people with severe allergies.

Yet, over the years, the ban was both little-known and lightly enforced. Some New Yorkers have secretly tended hives on rooftops and gardens for years in either defiance or ignorance of the regulations.

And lately, bees have picked up political cache among a growing number of green-minded folk interested in seeing organic agriculture return to big American cities. The movement to end the ban picked up after Michelle Obama had a hive installed on the South Lawn of the White House.

”The bees are a great way to start that conversation,” said David Vigil, a coordinator at the urban agriculture group East New York Farms!, which conducts seminars on beekeeping and has two hives at its youth garden in Brooklyn.

A hive can produce as much as 100 pounds of honey per year, he said, and the bees are useful for pollinating all sorts of crops.

”There are very few instances of people being stung,” he added. Honeybees, he said, ”are naturally defensive, but they are not aggressive at all.

People interested in starting a bee colony will need to register their hives with the city, but no license will be required. Health officials said the register will mostly be used to help resolve any complaints that may arise.

Previously, the city had investigated a few dozen complaints a year about illegal hives, and issued fines to some violators as high as $2,000.

The city lifted the ban for only one type of bee, the honey-producing Apis mellifera. Wasps, hornets and other types of stinging insects are still banned.

——

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Sunday in the park with Ruth

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Although it was raining on and off today, my friend Ruth and I decided to take a walk through Central Park. We spent most of our time on the Northern end, which has fewer people and feels a bit wilder. There were signs of spring, such as snowdrops and robins and almost blooming daffodils. We saw quite a few different birds: pairs of bufflehead ducks, swans, a robin, bluejay, common grackles, downy woodpecker, canada geese, mallard ducks, starlings and 2 domestic white ducks. What?? I have an Audubon bird guide application for my iphone, so I was sure they weren’t wild ducks. I came home and searched online and found out that it is pretty common for people to get pet ducks (bunnies, turtles, etc.) and then abandon them in a local park. I thought the woman feeding the mallards bread was bad enough. Come on people! It should be a big decision as to whether or not you get a pet. And then once the decision is made, it is a big commitment to that animal. Domestic ducks don’t have flight feathers like wild ducks and cannot survive in the wild. Even the wild of NYC. The international bird rescue research center has a great site which goes into further detail. Now that I’m on my soap box, let me also mention that should you find some “abandoned” baby animals/birds this spring, please continue walking. The parents that you think have abandoned their babies are too terrified to come back while you are standing there.

When I returned home I let the hens out to peck around my back yard. I noticed that the few garlic cloves I planted in the fall are starting to sprout up. I eagerly looked for signs of my asparagus sprouting and when I went to that bed, the hens eagerly followed me. As I was pawing through the layer of leaves and mulch, the girls decided to do the same. Much to our mutual satisfaction, they found and ate about a dozen baby slugs. It was pretty gross to watch, but very gratifying. My future basil and I thank them.

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Crow Planet by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

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This weekend promises to be a dreary, rainy weekend here. The perfect weekend to curl up on the sofa with a book and a pot of tea. Should this sound inviting, I will go so far as to recommend a book to read. Crow Planet by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.

Lyanda lives in Seattle with her husband and young daughter. Her vast knowledge of birds stems from working at Seattle Audubon, the Fish and Wildlife Service (researching seabirds) and working in raptor rehabilitation (She identified the hawk in my backyard as an juvenile Coopers hawk). Somehow Lyanda (or maybe her husband) found my blog and asked if I would like a review copy of her book.

Have you ever had a friend invite you to hear his/her band, or go see their art exhibition? I felt the same way while waiting for Lyanda’s book to arrive. Nervous and thinking, “God I hope it’s good, because what will I say if it stinks?” I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package and saw the beautiful cover art by Daniel Cautrell. A mix of the lovely and the slightly creepy that totally appeals to my aesthetic. I also thoroughly enjoyed the book. Lyanda takes her reader on her journey to study urban wildlife (the crow in particular) as her way to connect to “every day” nature. The mix of her personal explorations, scientific research and folklore meld beautifully together.

Along the way I learned a lot about crows. I won’t spoil the book, but I will share one piece of learned crow wisdom…Don’t piss a crow off. They recognize individual faces and hold a grudge!

Anyway, I recommend the book. It’s a really thought provoking read. I also recommend visiting Lyanda’s blog The Tangled Nest. I am ready to share my copy with a reader (in the US). Please write your favorite urban/suburban wildlife encounter in my comments section and I will randomly choose someone on Wed. 3/17 to receive the book. Right now my favorite encounter was the hawk munching on the pigeon in my backyard. One less pigeon in the world!!

If you want to read a much more in-depth review of Crow Planet, please click here to see the LA Times review.

Have a great weekend, drink some tea and stay dry!

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Race Car Fueled by Chocolate

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DeBrand Chocolate racecars

Here’s something funny. A race car that is fueled by leftover chocolate. Can’t figure out how there’s any leftover chocolate, but that’s another story. Also I have images of premenstrual women lining up to work as pit crew!

BOSTON (Reuters Life!) – Fueled by leftover chocolate and with components made from carrots, potato starch and flax, the world’s first sustainable Formula 3 racing car has a top speed of 135 miles per hour and can go from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds.

Sound nuts? Not yet — brake pads made from cashews are still under development.

Meet Lola, the England’s University of Warwick’s blend of muscle and eco-friendliness and the world’s first racing car retrofitted with renewable and sustainable materials.

Researchers from the British university showed off their prize possession at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) energy conference in Boston.

“She’s incredibly green, taking materials that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. It lets people engage with recycling without the finger-wagging,” said Kerry Kirwan, one of the car’s designers at the university.

“The public has really taken the car to its heart, because she’s fun,” he said.

Many of the car’s components would more usually be found at a farmer’s market — or in a trash bin, since most of the materials are actually industrial waste.

The 2.0-liter BMW engine has been converted to diesel from gasoline and configured to run on fuel derived from waste from chocolate factories or other plant-based oils.

Among Lola’s other unique features is a radiator that converts ozone back to oxygen.

“It’s a racing car that cleans up as it goes along,” said Steve Maggs, another member of the design team.

The WorldFirst Formula 3 racing car took the university more than nine months to develop and cost around $200,000.

Kirwan said that the thinking behind the project was to find a way to really put recycled materials to the test.

“A lot of these technologies were a huge leap of application, something that shows the material under a really demanding application.”

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Patricia Reaney)

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Renew Clothing

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My daughter Lindsay has the idea that my husband and I can repair anything. She gives Neil her toys and I get her clothing. We usually are able to fix her things in a way that works for her. Cute patches on knees of jeans, etc. Neil jokes about starting a company called “Made in China, Repaired in Brooklyn.” I like that Lindsay likes us to repair items, rather than tossing them out.

I just read Lyanda’s The Tangled Nest  post about patching a favorite pair of pants. Lyanda is the author of a lovely book called Crow Planet, which I will write about soon. (It’s been in my reading list on the sidebar here for ages) She calls me her East coast soul sister and I think she’s right. In her blog post, she asks people to write about things they have creatively rescued. Many posts were about people taking old large-sized clothing to turn into new small-sized garments. It made me think of a blog that was devoted to just that. And I can’t think of the blasted name of that blog. They asked people to take a pledge not to buy new clothing, and instead bring new life to their existing wardrobe. They had great ideas for converting t-shirts and other things into pretty hip new garments. Somebody please help me with the name of this blog.

So while I was searching for the blog online, I came across this article in NYU News about Project Design, which is a program designed to teach low-income women how to reclaim used/vintage clothing. They teach the young women how to design, sew, etc. Take a peek at the article. It is a really nice idea.

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Making Brooklyn Bloom

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Here’s a Brooklyn Eagle article giving information about an event at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

BROOKLYN — The urban gardening community will kick off the spring gardening season at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) with the 29th annual Making Brooklyn Bloom, a daylong conference on how to green up the borough.

It will be presented on Saturday, March 13, by GreenBridge, the community environmental horticulture program at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

This year’s Making Brooklyn Bloom, “Soil in the City: Growing Healthy Neighborhoods from the Ground Up,” will focus on revitalizing our soil, the foundation of life in the garden. The free event features a keynote address by Dr. Nina Bassuk, director of the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell University, developer of Cornell Structural Soil, and author of Trees in the Urban Landscape.

Exhibits and workshops on rooftop farming, community composting, and soil testing will be offered—all presented by members of BBG’s horticulture staff or experts from other greening organizations in New York City.

“For 29 years, Making Brooklyn Bloom has introduced urban gardeners to sustainable practices and encouraged ecological awareness in city gardens—whether those gardens are on windowsills, in backyards, or in community gardens,” says Robin Simmen, director of GreenBridge.

“Focusing on soil this year addresses an issue that pertains to everyone interested in cultivating green space in the city. GreenBridge is proud to bring together leaders in sustainable horticulture and environmental science to share their knowledge on this critical issue—and in doing so, strengthen the community of Brooklyn gardeners,” she adds.

To celebrate its centennial, BBG is commemorating the renewal of Brooklyn’s urban environment by sharing before-and-after photos of local community gardens.

Attendees are encouraged to bring photos of their gardens on the day of the event; BBG staff will be on hand to scan and share them on the web throughout our centennial year. Like many of Brooklyn’s gardens, BBG itself started from scratch, transforming its grounds from a derelict coal ash dump into an emerald gem in the heart of the borough.

For more details on Making Brooklyn Bloom, please call (718) 623-7250 or visit bbg.org/vis2/2010/mbb/.

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Brooklyn Hawk

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Over the weekend, Neil looked out our kitchen window and spotted this beautiful hawk. It has visited our backyard before and it is always very special to see such a glorious bird here in the city. It generally sits in this tree, which grows above our chicken coop. Fortunately this time the hawk was too engrossed with the pigeon it was eating to notice the chickens. Conversely, the chickens were still in their covered run, so they didn’t see the predator sitting right over them. You can see what’s left of the pigeon on the branch the hawk is sitting on.

We have friends who live right around the corner from us who have seen and named this hawk (Hank). They have a view of our yard from their apartment, so I called them and helped them to spot the hawk. We live along a street that became a restaurant row about 10 years ago. It’s been interesting to see how the abundance of food has affected the natural world in our neighborhood. We first started noticing rodents. Sigh. Then we got raccoons. And now we have hawks feasting on the vermin that’s been attracted to the area. I was very happy to see the hawk eating a pigeon. Hopefully our friend decides to hang around.

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Snowy Weekend

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This weekend turned out to be a 3-day weekend with Lindsay getting a snow day on Friday. Thursday was weird snowy, slush, which turned to snow during the night. When we woke up on Friday, we had over a foot of snow.

We stayed in the immediate neighborhood and played in the snow. It’s fun going down the street in a sled. It makes the grown-ups who are trudging off to work, break out of their funk and smile. It’s good to be a kid!

While Lindsay was playing, I made this little snow kid.

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