Graduation!

I did it! I officially graduated from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a Certificate in Horticulture!

I took night classes at the Garden for almost two years and they were AMAZING. Anything I talk about or do on this blog I learned in theses classes:

Botany for Horticulturists

Soil Management

Urban Garden Maintenance

Herbaceous Landscape Plant Identification

Woody Landscape Plant Identification

Pest Management

Plant Propagation

Urban Garden Design

If anyone is interested in taking classes you can check out the BBG's website: Classes & Workshops at BBG

And then eight classes later, this could be you:

A person shaking someones hand in a very dark photo!

All kidding aside, taking these classes have been a very special experience for me and I highly encourage everyone to take at least one class and expand your knowledge of the natural world.

Bulb Planting

As I have mentioned before I am a Zone Gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Even though it is currently winter and there is not much going on horticultural-wise, we can still do small things to prepare the Park for spring. This week we planted 8,000 Spanish Bluebell bulbs in the hope that, come spring, my zone on Pier 1 will be filled with a vibrant blue.

So, how do you plant 8,000 bulbs?

With a small shovel, a pair of gloves, and some hot chocolate.

First, I cleared some of the fall debris away to make it easier to dig in the ground and also mark where I already put bulbs.

Because we want these bulbs to naturalize, or return year after year, we had to make sure that we planted the bulb right-side up. Like a clove of garlic, the bottom is discernible by small hairs and the top is usually marked by an emerging stem.

Next, hold the shovel like a dagger or ski pole and dig into the earth. Then pull the shovel towards you creating a hole about four times as deep as the bulb's size.

Drop the bulb in oriented the correct way.

Start your next hole directly in front of the bulb you just planted and follow the same dagger/dig move. The soil you remove from your second hole will automatically cover your first hole, eliminating any need to cover it yourself. Magic!

Here are some of my fellow volunteers digging away.

Hopefully by May this area will be full of bright, blue petals!

Check out Brooklyn Bridge Park's blog for more information and photos! Brooklyn Bridge Park

Wreath Making

I had a little "Martha" moment this weekend when I was home in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. Every year my mom hosts an advent wreath making event at our church and I thought I would share how you could make one for yourself at home. For space strapped New Yorkers, wreaths are the perfect alternative to Christmas trees and a great way to decorate for the holidays.

We used a collection of evergreens that my mom ordered or clipped in the yard, but you could purchase some of these at bodega flower stands or ask the sidewalk Christmas tree sellers for their scraps. Look for a mixture of textures to make the wreath more interesting. I used fir, holly, pine and boxwood.

For the wreath itself you can purchase a foam circle at any craft store and, for this advent wreath, I used four, plastic candle holders and some ribbon.

Dampen the foam wreath form with a paper towel so that it is easier to puncture with the greens. If making an advent wreath, place the four candle holders at 12, 3, 6, and 9, as if it was a clock. Then start from the bottom and work your way up. I usually do a layer of fir since it is the most basic evergreen I am using and makes a good base.

Peel off the needles at the bottom of the branch in order to puncture the foam easier.

Once you have a good base, start to add some of the other evergreens. Here is a layer of pine.

Next, some boxwood.

And then more fir. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Just try and keep a circular shape by inserting each piece at a slight diagonal and the foliage will do the rest of the work.

Now, it is time to start to fill in the top. Just like the first layer at the bottom, I like to start with a clean base of fir.

If some of the pieces you insert in the top are too long, do not be afraid to give them a little trim in order to achieve the desired look. I then added some holly and used the boxwood to fill in any gaps.

This is where my wreath went totally Advent and I added some pink and purple ribbons to the candle holders as well as some plastic holly berries.



Ta-da! Here is mine from last year too.

For further wreath design inspiration and instructions check out the mother of crafts: Martha Stewart.



CANstruction

In a totally different, unrelated topic to gardening and horticulture, this is how I spent my Wednesday night:

Every year I participate in CANstruction which is a nonprofit organization that holds annual design and build competitions to construct giant structures made entirely out of canned food. At the close of the design competition all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to the local food banks for distribution to community emergency feeding programs. Just in time for Thanksgiving!

The eyebrows were the hardest part! It had to look CANgry!

Our structure will be up until November 21st at The World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan. The public is invited to bring canned foods to the exhibit to donate to City Harvest. For more information check out CANstruction.



Perennial vs. Annual

When preparing his fire escape garden for the coming winter months, my friend Reilly wasn't sure which plants would come back next year and which ones were ready for the compost pile. Here is a handy list for him and you to decipher which plants constitute as "Perennials" and which ones are "Annuals."

Definition:

per·en·ni·al

[puh-ren-ee-uh'l]

adjective

1. lasting for an indefinitely long time; enduring: her perennial beauty.

2. (of plants) having a life cycle lasting more than two years.

3. lasting or continuing throughout the entire year, as a stream.

4. perpetual; everlasting; continuing; recurrent.

noun

5. a perennial plant: Daffodils and tulips are perennials.

6. something that is continuing or recurrent.

We are more concerned with definition number two: a plant having a life cycle lasting more than two years. Perennials are the plants that bloom year after year. So in one growing season it emerges from the ground, grows and flowers, then dies back to the ground. Its roots are still alive, but dormant, in the winter and come spring it starts the whole growing-flowering-dying cycle over again. Trees and other woody plants count as perennials, but some other common perennials that you might have in your garden are:

artichoke (some varieties), asparagus, basil (some varieties), black pepper, broccoli, chives, dill, eggplant, fennel, garlic, ginger, hops, horseradish, lavender, leek, mint, okra, onions, oregano, potato, radicchio, rhubarb, rosemary, sage, shallot, spinach (some varieties), sweet potato, and thyme

Any plant that germinates, flowers, and dies in one season is then considered an annual. A lot of the flowers you can buy at garden centers and hardware stores are annuals as well as many food crops like corn, wheat, lettuce, rice, peas, and tomatoes. Whenever you purchase a plant, it should say it on the label.

And just to confuse the whole thing, there are biennial plants too! These are plants that in the first year of their life grow the basics: leaves, stems, and roots. They then become dormant in the winter and during the second year of their life, flower, produce seeds, and die. Some examples of biennials are parsley and carrots. Hope this helps!

Watercolors by Alison Hilary Corbalis

Aleebird

In Season: November

Halloween has come and gone, it already snowed in New York City, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and Starbucks is already shilling their Christmas-themed cups. The days of fruit and foliage are slipping away from us in New York City and we are instead left with root vegetables and squash. It is not as depressing as it sounds though. Root vegetables like beets, radishes, turnips, and carrots are extremely good for you and are amazing when roasted in the oven. Also, there is a new cookbook out from Melissa Clark at The New York Times called, "Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make." The book is divided by seasons and then by month so you can be sure to cook seasonal meals with fresh ingredients, even in the dead of winter. It's on my Santa list. :)

So what's in season in November? Beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, radishes, turnips, winter squash. Stay warm and enjoy!

mmmmm purple.

Pygmy Bamboo

I am a zone gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park which means I am responsible for a small part of Pier 1 near the entrance (outlined in purple below). I tear out weeds, pick up trash, remove fallen debris, tell people where the bathroom is...you know, just overall park maintenance.

For those of you who have not been to Brooklyn Bridge Park yet, I highly recommend it. There are two lawns to picnic and play, a number of pedestrian and bike paths, as well as wetland and rain water gardens. And the views of Manhattan are breathtaking! There are events all year round that you should check out too: Brooklyn Bridge Park. OK now back to my zone.

Horticulturally speaking, my zone is pretty simple. There are a lot of shrubs like hollies, hydrangeas, and witch hazel and some trees like maples, lindens, and magnolias. Right now, the fall color is starting to poke through the leaves and it is a really pretty mix of greens and reds.

However, there is one plant that is terrorizing my zone! Pleioblastus distichus or Pygmy Bamboo. It is an invasive ground cover that is spreading like crazy and suffocating my other beautiful shrubs.

Bamboo grows shoots in the spring and roots in the fall. From September until now I have been pulling the bamboo's roots, called "rhizomes," out of the ground in order to try and control their spread. It's not an easy task as these rhizomes spread pretty far from the mother plant and create a tangled latticework five inches beneath the surface.

Scary right? I've pulled out some runners that are three feet long and counting. At the end of these "runners," the tips are extremely sharp and help to navigate quickly through the soil. Overall, it is a handful to contend with and if you choose to plant bamboo I highly recommend that it gets planted in a container. Or else you will have to eventually pull out these tentacles and I promise you will curse yourself for planting it in the first place.

Namaste

In honor of Simon's impending trip to Mumbai I decided to carve the "Om" symbol in my pumpkin this year. Not sure if it is sacreligious to use this sacred Dharmic symbol to celebrate our hedonistic interpretation of All Hallows Eve, but it turned out pretty good!

On Sunday, Simon leaves for a 10-month long fellowship in Mumbai, India. As a World Partner for the American Jewish World Service, he will be working at the non-profit Dasra. For more information check out his Donation Page and Dasra's website. Warning: with Simon gone, the photography of my blog is going to seriously suffer! It's hard to take pictures with one hand. ;) I'll try to make do. I'll also miss you very much...Namaste.

Bottling the Pumpkin Ale

The time has come to bottle the Pumpkin Ale we brewed back in September. A home brew kit or home brew store will have unlabeled bottles, caps and a capper for this part of the process. You can also save old beer bottles and wash them thoroughly before re-bottling them.

Before you bottle, you must first add dextrose, which is a sugar, to your beer. The yeast will eat the sugar and give off the bi-product carbon dioxide, and thus carbonizing your beer. Science! So until you add the sugar, there is no carbonation. (Dextrose can also be purchased at any home brew store.)

First, boil the dextrose with a small amount of water for 5-10 minutes and then add it to the bottling bucket. Next, make sure your bottles are clean (a rinse through the dishwasher will do) and then siphon the finished beer from the bottling bucket into the bottles and cap.

(had to steal these pictures because we forgot to photograph our process: photos . Pardon the man-hands)

In about a week you will have ready-to-drink, carbonated beer. You can store the bottles at room temperature or in the refridgerator, but make sure to keep the bottles out of direct sunlight. In total, we made about five gallons of Pumpkin Ale for around $35.00. Just in time for Halloween!

Roses Are Red

Last night as Simon was so sweetly picking me up a bouquet of flowers, he was asked by two NYPD officers if he knew what each color of roses meant. He didn't and, when he got home, I explained them to him so that next time he would know! I am not sure what the origin of these rules are or if anyone really abides by them, but here is a simple break down of how it works:

Red = "I Love You"

White = Reverence, Innocence or "I Am Worthy of You"

Pink = Admiration or "Thank You"

Yellow = Friendship or "I Care"

Orange = Desire or Enthusiasm

Peach = Appreciation

Black = Death or Farewell

Lavender = Enchantment or "Love At First Sight"

Apparently a single, thornless rose also says "Love At First Sight." Now you know, so pick your colors carefully!

In Season: October

I took advantage of having a car in the city this weekend and journeyed to Fairway in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Whoa. It was amazingly overwhelming. It's as if Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Costco got together to make a super grocery store with a stellar selection. Their produce section is an engineering feat, with vegetables and fruits teetering on the brink of collapse. I could have spent a whole week in there tasting and exploring, but alas I only had an hour. In addition to amazing olives, cheese and craft beer, I did manage to pick up some in-season October produce:

Apples, Celery, Grapes, Lettuce, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Radishes, Spinach, Turnips, and Winter Squash. An interesting point I just noticed: our produce is starting to come from the ground where it is still warm, instead of from bushes and trees where it is growing colder...

"Winter is Coming"

"Winter is Coming" as the Stark Family motto goes (Game of Thrones fans, anyone?). The nightly lows are creeping down to the 50s and it is time to get your plants and pots ready for the colder weather. You can remove your summer flowers and vegetables now as their season has passed and replace them with heartier greens for the coming months. Plants from the Brassicas Family: Kale, Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli,  Rutabaga, Turnips and Mustard are the perfect Fall crops. Unfortunately, I do not get enough light this time of year on my fire escape so my outdoor growing season is over until spring. I will still be growing things in my apartment though, and sharing of course, don't you worry!

If you have land (lucky you!) fall is the time to mulch. The idea of mulching now is not so much to keep the soil warm as it is to keep the soil temperature even throughout the winter season. This is also the time that you plant your spring bulbs.

If you do not have land (like me!) and are the proud owner of a container garden it is time to compost and/or dispose of your summer annuals and prune your perennial flowers and vegetables. For example, my lavender plant is a perennial, which means that it comes back each year. By pruning it after it is done flowering, I am encouraging root growth throughout the winter and, come spring, it will be, "hard(ier), better, faster, stronger." Kanye would be proud.

One way to prune your lavender is to let your cat go to town on it...

This is actually not advised!! Instead, cut back not only the flower stems, but also about a third of the gray-leaved stems as well.

Avoid pruning back so far that only woody stems with no leaves are showing. Make sure that what you are pruning with is sterilized! It may look like it has a "bad haircut," as Simon noted, but I promise that come spring it will look 10x better!

To prepare your container garden for the Winter, you not only have to worry about your perennials surviving the cold, but also your containers. Once you remove your plant debris and soil, thoroughly wash the container to prevent any harmful pathogens that might survive the winter and ruin your spring plantings. This next part is hard for space-strapped New Yorkers, but it is not a good idea to keep terra-cotta, glass or glazed pots outside. These pots will absorb moisture throughout the cold, snowy months which will then freeze and cause your pot to break. If you do not have room to bring your pots inside for the winter (this is when a garage would be handy) you can carefully stack them inside the largest pot and place the stack against your apartment wall so that the radiant heat from the building will keep them slightly warmer. Other people suggest wrapping the pot with bubble wrap and covering the pot with leaves or straw. You do not have to worry about this though if you have any plastic, polyurethane, fiberglass, wood or concrete pots. Preparing your pots and plants for the winter now will make spring easier and more rewarding.