GuestPeek: Butterfly Garden

My friend Karen and her daughter, Kalena created a butterfly garden in their back yard!

Karen is a Librarian (woo hoo!) at Riverview Branch Library in Florida and she'd hosted a Master Gardener program on butterfly gardens at her branch a couple of months ago. She thought it sounded like an easy gardening project for non-gardeners as well as being good for the environment, so decided to gave it a try!
 

Why is this exciting?

Due to destruction of their native habitats or the plants they eat, butterfly populations are decreasing or even going extinct. The creation of a butterfly garden represents an intentional act to try and create or restore habitats favorable to their life cycle and survival. 

Since butterflies also happen to be flower and plant pollinators, they are an essential part of the food cycle. Environments that attract butterflies also tend to attract other types of insect pollinators. 

Basically, if WE want to keep eating,
we need the pollinators!

As you can see, Karen and Kalena already have a few visitors!

Hat tip to Karen and Kalena for taking on this project, and thanks so much for sharing, with us here at Permie Peeks! If you live down in that area, and want to learn more about the Master Garden Extension programs, click here.

Muscota Marsh: A "Meeting" Place

At the northern tip of Manhattan lies the Muscota Marsh.

It is a place of many "meetings". . .

where land MEETS water. . .
     . . .the Munsee tribe of the Lenape Indians fished, farmed and hunted there. "Muscota" is a Lenape word meaning "meadow by the water" or "where the reeds grow" (see Thomas Rainer's wonderful blog post, Muscota Marsh Park: A Lucid View of Troubled Waters for an in depth discussion of the marsh's cultural impact and history).

where fresh and salt waters MIX. . .

     . . . or estuaries-- a place where rivers, streams, creeks, etc., empty out into the sea or the ocean. They are some of the most rich, diverse and productive of natural habitats.

For the Lenape, the marsh was a place abundant in oysters, clams, crabs and fish. They fashioned the reeds growing there, into "weirs" to trap the fish.

where the northern tip of Manhattan KISSES the western edge of the Bronx. . .
     . . .in the time of the Lenape, at tide's ebb, they could walk across the mudflats between the two land masses.  Centuries later it would be dredged to create the Harlem River Shipping Canal, thus effectively and finally separating them.

where culture and history CLASH. . .
     . . .here the Lenape would encounter the Dutch. And, like the insistent pull of the tide, so too would begin the  inexorable shift from one way of life to another. . .the Dutch gave the waterways bounding Manhattan their own names. . .Spuyten Duvil Creek. . .the Harlem River, which flow into each other there.

and, most recently, where Columbia University 

ENCROACHES upon the surrounding community. . .

     . . .the restoration of this green space is an amenity received through a community benefits agreement, in return for allowing Columbia to build a stadium and athletic center, down the street.

In this place of many meetings, an attempt has been made 

to reconnect the community to the waterfront. . .

the re-intersection of the urban and natural worlds.

Will it be successful? Only time will tell.

Flowers in Fall

PoetryPeek: Haiku

by Stephen W. Leslie
(originally published in the International "Kusamakura" haiku competition, 2011)

~~~~~~~~

Her far away look

Tire swing on a nearby tree

The missing children

Thanks Stephen!

GuestPeek: Fresh From the Balcony!

My friend Jennifer and her boyfriend, grow edibles on their balcony.  I'd been asking her to send pix for while and she finally did!

Pictured here are lettuce and kale.

Thanks Jennifer!

GuestPeek: Neighborly Gardening

A brief but unexpected break between posts at the Empathic Writer blog (authored by Erik Harris) prompted some concern on the part of her listeners/readers. In response, Erika was quick to assure us that all was well. Not to worry!

With the arrival of the warmer weather she had turned some of her attention to a few outdoor projects, one being several vegetable and herb beds she and her neighbors had planted in a shared residential yard.

 



Engagement with nature and one's neighbors in the real world, is a wonderful excuse for taking a break from the virtual one!

Erika, thanks so much for sharing these shots of your shared
gardening space with us here at Permie Peeks!

Pedal to the Metal

NYC launched its bike sharing program this week, with 300 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, for a total of 6,000 bicycles.

There's a station in the pedestrian plaza across from my office building, which seems to be getting a fair amount of use.

It is hoped that bike sharing, among other things, will help to reduce traffic congestion, while boosting air quality and physical fitness for users.

Just Getting Started!

At work, last month, we celebrated Earth Day by inviting Anne Pope (Founder & Executive Director) and Kady Ferguson (Director, Zero Waste Program) of Sustainable Flatbush to talk about the organization and all the great things they're doing to green their Brooklyn community.


As an added bonus, they showed us how to make little seed starter pots by wrapping newspaper around a jar and then tucking in the ends.

 

If all goes well, a few baby basil sprouts should be poking their heads out any day now.

Fingers crossed!

Where the Wild Things Are...

First there was The Cube...

. . . however, there are also lush planters

. . .strategically placed along the pedestrian plazas.









They provide a living, green curtain, separating










plaza visitors from the bustling mid-town, Broadway traffic.

Aaaahhhh....small delights!

Greenery: Cubed & Squared

Have we been invaded...!? 

No! 

It's a public art installation created by New York based environmental artists, Patricia Leighton and Del Geist.   


Earlier this summer, seven growing sculptures were placed in the pedestrian plazas along Broadway, between Times Square and 34th Street.  The sculptures vary in height between 10 and 12 feet and are propped up on three poles, in order to display each cube's growing greenery.

According to the artists:

"The raised cubes visually and contextually elevate nature, leading the eye upwards and creating a contemplative natural presence within the vibrant core of New York’s Fashion District. . ."

and

". . . We're elevating nature in relation to the vertical spaces in our city."

On display through November 2012. . .Check it out for yourself!

Down in Front

One of my neighbors is nice enough to take the time to plant flowers in the front of our building. 

They're just a couple of small planters. . .

 

. . .on either side of the entrance,



but I still enjoy them and that he makes this effort. 

GuestPeek: Royal Rest Stop

Each fall, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the U.S, down to central Mexico.

My friend Susan snapped these images last weekend down in Cape May, NJ which happens to be one of the places they stop to rest and refuel, during this amazing 2000 mile journey.


However, human activity (e.g. pesticide use) and encroachment and destruction of their habitat and breeding sites (e.g illegal logging at monarch reserves) pose threats to their survival. You can read more about some of the research being undertaken regarding this annual migration via the Monarch Monitoring Project at BirdCapeMay.Org.

 
Thanks again Susan!

Sisotowbell Lane. . .

". . .Noah is fixing a pump in the rain..." 

This solar water fountain was on display at last week's New New York DIY Block Party.





Unfortunately for the fountain, the sun only made the briefest of appearances and then we got rained out. :-(

Sisotowbell Lane - from Joni Mitchell's 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull.

The New New York DIY Green Block Party

Save the Date!

Last year I attended an innovative street fair sponsored by GreenHomeNYC (a great local non-profit, BTW), called the New New York DIY Block Party.

Instead of the typical cookie-cutter event with the usual suspects for vendors, selling pretty much the same ubiquitous, bland merchandise (e.g. tube socks, sunglasses and gyros), the New New York focuses on teaching the public how to

"green their built environment -- while having fun . . .[and is committed] to hands-on presentations by vendors, programming woven into the surrounding neighborhood, and a sustainable approach to event production."

I mean at what other street fair would you expect to see a bus with a green roof!?!

Hello!!!


Well, in less than a month, the 2nd Annual New New York DIY Green Block Party will take place:

    When: Saturday, October 1, 2011
    Time: 11am to 5pm
    Where: Williamsburg, Brooklyn - N 11th Street at Wythe, in front of Brooklyn
         Brewery & around the corner from Brooklyn Bowl, 4 blocks from the L 
         train Bedford Street stop      
     Admission: Free!

Some of the fun activities that await:
    * learning how to install and plant a green roof
    * taking an outdoor yoga class with Hosh and Go Yoga instructors
    * learning how to capture and reuse rain water to water plants
    * vendors showcasing exciting new environmental products and technologies, like:
               * Brooklyn-based Vokashi compost system and kits
               * Eco-friendly kitchens presented by NYC's own Pure Kitchen
    * Bring the kids!  They'll learn how to
               * build a solar car
               * make jewelry out of bike parts by Recycle‐A‐Bicycle

But most importantly the New New York will also practice what they preach by
    * trying to minimize water and paper usage as well as other waste
    * including locally based small businesses & non-profits
    * utilizing bio-fueled generators
    * composting food waste
    * being bicycle friendly
    * providing drop-off points
        * for electronic waste (collection courtesy of the Lower East Side Ecology Center)
        * bicycles (collection courtesy of Recycle‐A‐Bicycle)
     * and much more!

You can learn more about their Green Street Festival Guidelines here or contact them newnewyork at greenhomenyc dot org for more info.

Trust me, this is one street fair that gives back as good as it gets to the public, the surrounding community and to the environment.

Don't miss it!

Flower Power: A Touch of Gold

Sometimes, nature pops up in the most unexpected and 
delightful ways. . .












. . .and on this lovely summmer day, it had the power to bring people together for a fun, delightful and whimsical afternoon. . .

. . .for the the Harlem Needle Arts' 2011 Blossom of Fiber Art Exhibition in St. Nicholas Park (135th Street).

(this park was also home to Ndebele {artist:Jenny Mazer} a pop-up piano!  Visit Song for Hope to learn more about this wonderful public arts program).

Look Both Ways!

I think these planters are trying to cross the street to get to the park.

They live in the pedestrian plaza, where 5th & Broadway converge @ 23rd St., near Madison Square Park (there's a similar plaza at Times Square - 42nd St., a block away from Bryant Park).

I think I would too.

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand this concept of carving out sitting areas in the middle of busy NYC streets when there are actual parks (and rather nice ones too), mere steps away. . .

 
. . .speaking of which, both of these parks were no-man's lands back in the '70's, but at some point were reclaimed for the public's enjoyment.

They are now thriving.

Subversive Blossoms

Sometimes a solution cleverly disguises itself
as a problem or adversity.

Some may view these plants tucked away behind bars with dismay, but I choose to look at it another way . . .

. . .as an unequivocal statement on the part of the residents

 on this block to include beauty and nature on their street. . .

One. Way. Or. The. Other.

YOU GO!