Monday, July 11, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Big Picture..
After learning the ins and outs of the NYC subway system I made it to the launch of Change by Us NYC, a website that connects New Yorkers to share ideas and create projects that improve the city. The speakers were from grassroots organizations, that have put huge amounts of time, effort and passion into projects that have improved the lives and well-being of New Yorkers. After hearing some of the speakers talk about their well established projects and organizations, it made me realize how easy it is to loose sight of the big picture. What I mean is the overall objective, in our case improving the health and atmosphere of a community in Staten Island that has been to frequently overlooked. I find myself getting caught up in small details and daily trials and tribulations. Its important to pull back and see all we have accomplished in the month the Roots of Peace Garden has been opened. A month ago the space couldn't even be called a garden and now we have tomatoes, eggplants and peppers thanks to the support of the community.
Group meeting tonight 7:30 pm at the YMCA Counseling Services Center (285 Vanderbilt Ave. SI, New York 10304) Come for deserts, dialogue and garden news!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Don't be fooled...
Transplants are like magic. One day, there was barely anything growing in the garden, and the next, it's full of 18 inch peppers and tomatoes. Are we suddenly gardening masters who have figured out how to make mature plants grow overnight? No, those are indeed the transplants that we delivered last week from New Jersey. However! The most exciting thing (so far) this week is that the seeds that were sowed last week by the fleet of volunteer gardeners at one of the evening work days are now starting to appear! Upon our visit to the garden yesterday to do some much needed watering, we noticed tons of beans, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and okra beginning to sprout out of the soil. So begins the lives of the first plants sowed directly at Roots of Peace! Excitement abounds.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
New transplants are in!
Hi all,
We successfully delivered transplants from the New Jersey greenhouse, including sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, herbs, and tomatoes. After a few days in the ground, these plants are getting used to their new homes and appear to be enjoying their first few days in the outdoors. Some of the tomato and pepper plants are already starting to fruit (pictures to follow...)! Yesterday was a lot of tomato plant-pruning, a task that feels a little bit like plant murder if you're not used to it, but it'll help the tall, gangly plants stay strong and fruitful. A few new gardeners sowed seeds directly into the soil, and we're all excited to see them come up.
We're certainly starting to develop a more regular routine in the garden each workday, a large part of which is setting up the long garden hose to water the plants. Our workdays lately have been well attended, which makes chores like this one much easier! With the holiday weekend coming up, we're looking for someone to water the new transplants- anyone interested?
Hope to see you Friday at 4:30!
Margaret
We successfully delivered transplants from the New Jersey greenhouse, including sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, herbs, and tomatoes. After a few days in the ground, these plants are getting used to their new homes and appear to be enjoying their first few days in the outdoors. Some of the tomato and pepper plants are already starting to fruit (pictures to follow...)! Yesterday was a lot of tomato plant-pruning, a task that feels a little bit like plant murder if you're not used to it, but it'll help the tall, gangly plants stay strong and fruitful. A few new gardeners sowed seeds directly into the soil, and we're all excited to see them come up.
We're certainly starting to develop a more regular routine in the garden each workday, a large part of which is setting up the long garden hose to water the plants. Our workdays lately have been well attended, which makes chores like this one much easier! With the holiday weekend coming up, we're looking for someone to water the new transplants- anyone interested?
Hope to see you Friday at 4:30!
Margaret
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Plants are in the ground!
Hi, all!
Today was a big, big day for the garden. We held our normal Friday workday hours from 4:30-7:30, and had a great turnout. Nearly fifteen community members and prospective gardeners came out on this drizzly afternoon to prepare more of the beds for planting! We resolved our soil shortage problem with a mixture of compost and mulch in each bed. Two of the plots are now home to several tomato seedlings, and many more seedlings are on their way from New Jersey this Monday. It was certainly an encouraging workday, we hope to keep the momentum going and the spirits high!
Tomorrow is our first Saturday morning workday, and will take place from 8:30-10:30. Hope to see you there!
Today was a big, big day for the garden. We held our normal Friday workday hours from 4:30-7:30, and had a great turnout. Nearly fifteen community members and prospective gardeners came out on this drizzly afternoon to prepare more of the beds for planting! We resolved our soil shortage problem with a mixture of compost and mulch in each bed. Two of the plots are now home to several tomato seedlings, and many more seedlings are on their way from New Jersey this Monday. It was certainly an encouraging workday, we hope to keep the momentum going and the spirits high!
Tomorrow is our first Saturday morning workday, and will take place from 8:30-10:30. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Soil, Compost, and Mulch. Oh, my!
We received three very important deliveries yesterday. Merry and her sister Robyn traveled to Queens early yesterday morning to pick up our soil donation from Green Thumb at their garden compound. We stuck around the garden in the early afternoon to receive a HEFTY batch of mulch, courtesy of a local landscaping company, and then drove to the Fresh Kills Compost Site to pick up a truckload of rich, organic compost. A mixture of these three materials will fill each of our raised beds to create a thriving environment for our plants. Once the beds are filled, we'll begin to transport and transplant our seedlings from New Jersey, and begin to seed even more veggies and herbs directly into the soil.
Our two remaining workdays this week, tonight at 4:30 and Friday at 4:30, will require much help. Please stop by if you are free! We promise a fun, messy time.
Our two remaining workdays this week, tonight at 4:30 and Friday at 4:30, will require much help. Please stop by if you are free! We promise a fun, messy time.
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