Regrowing Scallions

Last month, my cousin Kathy told me about re-growing scallions by putting the white ends in water near a sunny windowsill, I have been telling everyone I know about this amazing trick! It's so easy, everyone has to try it!  It's like a never ending supply of scallions and incredibly sustainable. I love it! My friend Jason happily showed me his bunch of scallions that he re-grew.

He told me that it takes about week in a very sunny window to re-grow all this! This is absolutely the most fun and best experiment ever!  Why have I never known about this before? I can't wait to try to re-grow celery by sticking the bottom crown in soil to try to re-grow it.  Have you every tried it before? Were you successful?

Unexpected Blooms

I saw something that literally stopped me in my tracks today.  The daffodil bulbs are blooming in my front yard. It's February 27th and I have blooming bulbs!  What the frak! We are an entire month and 1/2 ahead of schedule from last year's display of blooming daffodils. We've had such a warm winter, where temperatures sometimes went up to the 60s. This is extremely unususal for this time of the year in the Northeast.  This definitely startles me somewhat. I hate to say the words "climate change" or "global warming" because I've gotten into many disagreements with friends about whether climate change actually exists.  However, the fact that spring bulbs are blooming in winter, really kinda scares the beezus out of me.  I would be lying if I said it didn't.  It feels all very abnormal. This time last year, we were dealing with blizzards and this year, it feels like spring is already upon us.  One thing I know for sure, I'm pretty sad that the flowers are already showing off their blooms, what happens when April gets here?  I'm afraid that there will be no bulbs left to show off.  That makes me feel very, very sad.

Craft & Antique fairs

I'm a sucker for craft and antique fairs.  I love how uniquely creative people are when they make something by hand. Where I used to live in Greenpoint, the neighborhood is full of artists, designers, craftspeople who brim with creative energy. I also love to support local artisans in the community.  Whenever I can, I go to these local craft fairs to show my support. This is a blurry photo of The Love Birds Valentine’s Market crafts fair in Greenpoint.  Wow, my camera phone sucks. haha. There was a good turnout of people and vendors.

I love how this vendor is displaying her jewelry.  If you look closely, the jewelry is in a pan of dried beans.  Pretty cool!  I wonder if she eats the beans after the fair is over.

There was one vendor selling antiques.  I am a sucker for antiques.  I just love "saving" old junk.  I mean, they really don't make stuff like they used to.  The quality was so much better back then. The vendor had a whole box of antique agriculture prints that he was selling for $10 each.  I'm totally on a budget right now, but I had to get one.  Hell, I would have bought the entire box if I had the money.  I picked up this great print of raspberries.  How beautiful is this?  Now, I need to find the perfect frame.

Overwintering Plants on the Sun Porch

I'm lucky to have an enclosed sun porch where I can keep the citrus and tropical plants during the winter. The porch is not heated, so the temperature does drop to the low 40s at times.  The porch usually stays about 10 degrees above the outside temperature. Luckily, the citrus plants don't mind when the temperature drops. It's a great place for me to overwinter plants.  This is the dwarf lime tree that I have had for 3 years.  I have to learn how to fertilize it better.  I use Growmore organic citrus fertilizer, but I have yet to see this plant produce one lime!  I dream of the day that it will. Right next to the lime tree is my potted spearmint plant.

I bought this spearmint plant last summer as a 4 inch pot.  Look how big it is now!  I know other gardeners think that mint is an evil plant that will take over the garden.  I personally love mint, and I'm tempted to plant it in the ground.  Haha, I know, they take over like weeds.  For now, they reside in pots. I know mint will survive being outside for the winter and will grow back in the spring, but I do love access to fresh herbs to cook with all winter long.  So here it sits soaking up the sun on the porch.  The mint plant is thriving, every day it sends out new shoots.   Nothing beats fresh herbs!  The smell of fresh mint is intoxicating!  Now.... if only I had fresh limes from my lime tree!  I could make mojitos if I did!

Gutter Planters

Last week, I wrote about being at The Hort and I saw some cool gutter planters.  I really loved this look and want to replicate it at home.  I just didn't know how to make this. 

Then this week,  I saw on the Aha! Home and Garden blog an article on how to make a hanging gutter garden.  It was such perfect timing!  In the article, there are lots of great photos and it shows you step by step on how to make a hanging gutter planter.  I absolutely love the white gutter look. I have to see if my local hardware store carries these types of gutters!

Air Plants - Grow Without Soil

Earlier this month, I went to Weehawken to meet up with my friends so that we could have lunch together.  Isn't this view just of NYC from the Weehawken waterfront just stunning? I can see why she loves living here!

We drove down to Highland Park, NJ to meet up with our other friends.  I noticed this neat Air Plant hanging from my friend Mary's house.  Mary owns a florist called Redwood Florist, and she sells plants like these in her shop.  An Air Plant, also known as Tillandsia, are a type of bromeliad plant that grow without needing soil.  All of the nutrients from the plants are gathered from the air, water and sunlight. The roots that they do have cling to surfaces like rocks or trees.  These plants are very low maintenance and are great in terrariums or neat containers.  They are so neat, I have to get me one! If you want to read more on how to take care of plants like these, there is a great article on Treehugger.com written by Colleen Vanderlinden.  She also posted an informative video from Urban Dirt TV, which shows step-by-step on how to setup a terrarium and care for these plants. For folks like me who have a hard time keeping indoor plants alive, this is a perfect option!

Wearable Planters! I Love This!

Earlier this month, I wrote about Fab.com and their amazing highlight of beautifully designed products. Today, I saw these incredibly cute jewelry pieces.  Wearable planters!!  It's currently on sale here, but only for another 21 hours.  They have necklaces, pins, and bike planters for sale. Can you imagine wearing a necklace with a live plant on it?  How adorable!

Photo from Fab.com

These creations are by an Atlanta based designer named Colleen Jordan.  She also has an Etsy shop where you can find her entire collection including earrings.  Or a wearable lapel pin. I just love these!  I want them all!

Urban Beekeeping

Yesterday, I attended a class at The Horticultural Society of New York (The Hort) on Beekeeping. I've never been to The Hort before and was mesmerized by the plant setup they had there.  The room in which the lecture was held had the most amazing hanging planters on every window. I'm not exactly sure what these plant holders are made of but it looked like perhaps roof gutters of some sort.  This one featured some neat succulents and cacti.

I am so in love with this look!  I want to somehow rig one of these for my house.  It's such a beautiful way to do vertical gardening!

The planters were being held up by these metal bars attached to the wall. And each planter was drilled into the metal bars.

Here's a closeup of some of the succulents. They seemed to love the window placement. All the plants looked so healthy.

I also loved this lush large rubber plant and palm on casters.  I totally have to invest in rolling casters for my large plants.  What a great idea to be able to easily wheel these plants around.

The Urban Beekeeping lecture was given by Andrew Coté.  He is a 4th generation beekeeper and owner of Silvermine Apiaries in Connecticut.  I didn't get a good photo of him speaking since he was going through slides on a Powerpoint and the lights were dimmed.  In his lecture, Andrew discussed the history of beekeeping, the process of beekeeping and his own adventures as an urban beekeeper. He discussed how since 2010, beekeeping in New York City (and boroughs) is now legal and many beehives are in community gardens, backyards and even on city rooftops.  He told us how his next installation will be on the top of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.  So. Very. Cool.

He is also the founder of a bee-based international development nonprofit, Bees Without Borders.  From The Hort website describing the work of Bees Without Borders, "Andrew and a group of dedicated apiarists teach beekeeping skills to groups of people in economically depressed areas of the globe as a means of poverty alleviation. This involves developing culturally appropriate training programs and materials for local beekeepers to increase honey yield and providing them with the opportunity to learn about and create new markets for their products." It's amazing that this non-profit goes to these developing countries to teach them how to raise honey.  Training them with a skill that they can use to make a living and become self sufficient. He brought back organic honey from his recent trip to Mwingi, Kenya, where he and other beekeepers from Bees Without Borders taught beekeeping skills. After the talk, we all tasted the honey. It is delicious!

All of the jars of honey were for sale and all of the proceeds from the sale of the honey goes back to the apiary in Mwingi. The funds will go towards the cost of building a fence around an apiary in Kenya to protect the hives from honey badgers. I bought a jar of the honey to support this noble cause!

After the talk, I was so inspired that I ended up signing up for a 4-week beekeeping course with the New York City Beekeeper's Association a beekeeping organization that Andrew is a core member of. In the 4 week course, it will "teach you everything you need to know to safely start and maintain a beehive."  I don't know if I'll end up having beehives in my backyard here in Staten Island, but I do want learn more about it and maybe one day raise honeybees. I love the idea of making my own local honey. The class starts in 3-weeks, I can't wait!

Horses in Brooklyn?

Last weekend, I was in Prospect Park with a friend and off in the distance I saw horses!  What a cool surprise! I think I literally squealed in delight. I've never seen horses in Brooklyn before, not even those mounted police.  They are usually in Manhattan only.  My friend said that you can take horse riding lessons in Prospect Park. 

I had to get a closer look! How beautiful is this horse!  I have to find out how to get lessons.  I totally want to do this! It's so wonderful to know that even in this metropolis, we get access to this.  I hope that never changes.

Handmade Fun - 2012 Pay it Forward Challenge

In the last few years, I've been really into anything DIY and homemade. In the last year, I've learned how to can food, bake bread from scratch, brew beer, and crochet.  It started out as a hobby, and now it's a full blown obsession.  I'm always looking around my house thinking, can I make that?  Haha, a sickness I know! The homemade food and drink grew out of my desire to control what goes into the food I consume.  Knowing that I organically grew the berries, beans and cucumbers that I pickle and jam gives me peace of mind that there are no weird preservatives or toxic pesticide in my jarred food.  My new goal this year is to try to learn how to take my crochet skills to the next level.  Maybe there will be socks or knit hats in my future... we shall see.

Last month, I saw on My Freezer is Full's website a fun handmade Pay-it-Forward Challenge. Essentially, the goal is to make some fun handmade items that you send to your blog readers.  Hopefully, it will encourage others to go handmade as well.

Here's the challenge info that I pulled from My Freezer is Full.
I will send a handmade (by me!) gift to each of the first 5 commenters on this post. This can be something large or small, my choice. But, there is a catch... of course, you knew there would be a catch! The catch is that each recipient of my gift must also pass it on and give 5 gifts themselves... and so on and so forth for all eternity... or until people get burned out. There is a year to get your gifts sent out, so I'll have a year to concoct something- until December 2012. Who knows what you may receive from me: pot holders, socks, pickles, bottled beer, a jar of jam... there are so many possibilities. So, anybody out there want to play along?? Let's hear it for the 2012 Handmade Pay it Forward Challenge!

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter "Cookies"

 

I have a sweet tooth, I won't lie.  Here's the thing, I am no baker, I am the first to admit that. Even though I will follow a recipe exactly, somehow my cookies always turn out not as good as I hoped.  So when my brother-in-law told me about a no-bake peanut butter cookie recipe that his grandma makes, I totally had to make it.  A cookie that doesn't require baking?  Sold! It is so easy and boy are they sinfully good!  There are only 5 ingredients in this "cookie".  Sugar, Corn Syrup, Peanut Butter, Butter, and the key ingredient.... Cornflakes!  The cornflakes hold up to the syrupy mix and stays completely crunchy! I found two pretty good recipes online here and here.  Try it, you won't be sorry!

A Fun Experiment

My cousin Kathy told me about this fun experiment that she's been doing in her kitchen. When she uses scallions, she throws the bottom white parts of the scallions into a cup of water.

Over a week later, the scallions regrow the green tops!  How incredibly cool is that?  I've never tried this before, but from now on, every time I buy scallions from the supermarket, I will try this!  And to think, all this time, I've been throwing the white ends into the compost.  From this day forward, I'll try to regrow them!  Sustainable scallions, how cool is that?

Photos taken by Kathy

A Staggering Number

Yesterday, I told many of my friends about my recycled toothbrush and how excited I was to find a low-impact product that I could use everyday.   I felt like some of them didn't quite understand my excitement.  I sense that many people feel like I'm just the nerd that always talks about "saving the environment."  Last week, I wrote about how I was in disbelief that the temperature rose to a balmy 62F, and here we are in the beginning of February.  Walking around the city streets I actually saw people wearing short sleeves! Short sleeves, you would have thought we were in Miami rather than New York City.  Then I came across this giant billboard near Penn Station.  Whenever I see a digital clock, I always think it's a national debt counter.  However, on closer inspection, this counter shows the current metric tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The billboard definitely does it's job, I was shocked at this large number.  I stood there staring at it, and those words, "We're getting warmer."

Here's the more shocking part, the billboard belongs to Deutsche Bank, as in "one of the world's leading financial service providers." W O W.  I am so proud of a corporate company bringing this global warming issue to light in such a public forum, however I couldn't help but feel a little skeptical about why such a corporate entity would bring awareness to such a debatable topic.  A part of me feels that perhaps Deutsche Bank has interests in investments toward alternative energy like wind, solar etc. and that bringing attention to Global Warming may bring them future investors in these energy stocks.  However, I'm all for that strategy if that's what it is, since I'm all for greener energy! More info on the billboard can be found here. There has been such debate about global warming and whether it exists.  In fact, I've gotten into many arguments with close friends and family debating this exact issue.  Is the Earth getting warmer, is there such a thing as global warming?  I'm no scientist, but I do think that all the man made inventions and human activity on this Earth that produce emissions must definitely be impacting the atmosphere harmfully is some way.  One just has to look no further than the smog in Los Angeles to see that this is not normal.  And it's not just automobile emissions, the Energy Industry or the Manufacturing Industry that we should worry about, it also Agriculture.  In an article in The Independent, by Geoffrey Lean,  A "United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs...Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.  Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide. Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causes of acid rain."

Wow, it really makes me rethink beef consumption, milk drinking, and wearing leather.  After I told my friend Jason yesterday, about my 2012 goal of lessening my carbon footprint on the world, he said, "Mimi, you must first change your own mind, habits, ways of being, intentions. Vision the world you want to create." So in essence, changing the world, is done one person at a time, and it starts with YOU.  Change your lifestyle first, and "be the change."  Well said! 

A Toothbrush Made out of Recycled Yogurt Cups

I went food shopping at Trader Joe's yesterday and this package caught my eye.  A toothbrush made out of recycled yogurt containers!  How cool is that?  I needed a new toothbrush so I picked one up. I love supporting companies that make products that are eco-friendly.   It is produced by a company called Preserve and on their website they state that the handle of the toothbrush is made 100% entirely out of recycled #5 plastic.  Preserve also encourages you to help with the recycling efforts, they have in participating Wholefoods stores a recycling bin where you can bring your empty #5 yogurt containers (They will also collect Brita filters). They will collect the yogurt containers and recycle them into these toothbrushes.    I wish they had recycling bins at our local Trader Joe's. I would love to bring my yogurt cups there.

What do most people do with their old worn out toothbrushes?  They throw them out.  Not these bad boys.  On the back of the toothpaste package, is a return mailer envelope. After 3 months of using the toothbrush, you simply put the toothbrush back into the package and mail it back to the company where they will recycle the plastic handle and make a new toothbrush.  You don't even have to pay for postage, postage is free!  If you don't have a store that sells the toothbrushes, you can also buy the toothbrushes online.  I recommend doing a year subscription plan, for $15, they will send you 4 toothbrushes, one every 3 months!

When I opened the package, I saw that the design of the toothbrush has an ergonomic curved handle.  The curved handle gives it a comfortable grip and it makes it easier to reach the back of your teeth.  Beautifully designed and good for the environment... I LOVE IT.  If you like their toothbrushes, they also sell razors, tableware, and kitchen tools all made from yogurt cups.  You might be able to find some of their kitchenwares at your local Target.  Just look for the Preserve label!

 

(Disclaimer: I did NOT get any type of compensation from Preserve for endorsing or reviewing this product. I just like the toothbrush and proud to endorse it!)

Gardeners are the Best!

Last week, I wrote about how I was interested in doing a seed swap with other gardeners.  Since I made a pact with myself to try to be good with not buying every seed I come across in those seed catalogs. I am so excited, I received a few emails from other garden bloggers who are willing to swap!  Awesome!  I love sharing my extra seeds and I especially love getting seeds of different varieties of edibles that I haven't tried yet.  What's great about a seed swap is that you can try out something new without committing to buying a whole packet of seeds.  The worst is when you buy a whole packet of seeds, and then end up hating what grows. (ahem, Cosmos....I'm talking about you.) Trading with other gardeners is a great way to sample and try out different varieties of plants without breaking the bank. So when I received an email from Annie's Granny stating that she could send me some of her seeds to try out, I was so happy!  I asked Annie's Granny if I could return the favor and send her some of my seeds, but she said she had enough seeds for the season since she's a member of a seed of the month club.  She sent me a nice selection of seeds, I am so excited to grow Chinese Cabbage, Cubanelle Peppers, Cilantro and Summer Savory.  I haven't grown any of these before so it will be fun!  I've never eaten Summer Savory before, does anyone know what it tastes like?  I looked it up and it's a savory herb, I wonder if it tastes like Rosemary, it looks a little like it.  Thanks again Annie's Granny, I'll put the seeds to good use!

Do you Fab?

It's no secret.  I love a good deal.  One thing I've been addicted to are all those online discounted deals on Groupon, Living Social, Bloomspot, etc. And now my new obsession is  Fab.com.  Fab.com marries my two loves, design & discounts.  The team at Fab hand selects beautifully designed products and offers them on sale up to 70% off.  The items are on sale for a limited time, 3 days, or until they are sold out.  Today I bought 3 gorgeous Greenmarket prints by the Brooklyn based Illustrator Claudia Pearson.  These prints are 30% off retail and can be purchased now at Fab until Monday 2/6. I just love this herb print, isn't it just beautiful? 

In addition to beautiful prints, on the Fab.com sale, there are also some beautiful tea towels that feature gardening in the 4 seasons.  These towels are so pretty, I almost don't want to get them dirty! I especially like this Spring garden towel.  I was thinking that these would make awesome Valentine's gifts for that gardener in your life.  Like, who needs a box of chocolates when you can give something as beautiful as this?

And this Heirloom Tomatoes print, just gorgeous!  There are some tomatoes on this print that I haven't grown before and now I'm curious!  I must get seeds for Speckled Roman, Purple Russian, White Queen, Aunt Ruby's German Green these look so interesting!

I was so inspired and interested in these prints that I Googled the artist, Claudia Pearson and saw that she had an Etsy shop as well.  On her Etsy shop she has a whole selection of illustrated products.

On her Etsy shop, she states that the prints above were created for Greenmarkets/GrowNYC as a fundraiser to help benefit the local farmers who were effected by the destruction of their crops due to last summer's Hurricane Irene. Even more reason to buy this print.  Support a local artist, that supports a local farmer's market, that supports local farmers.  Love, love, love this!
"In the wake of Hurricane Irene, the full extent of the farmer's damaged crops is still unclear. However, an estimated 80% of Greenmarket farmers have been impacted, with about 10% reporting severe loss—80-100% of their products. Created for Greenmarkets/GrowNYC, this graphic poster illustrates the wonderful variety of tomatoes available in the farmers markets.
When you purchase this poster $5 will be donated to Greenmarket's Hurricane Irene Relief Fund."

I'm a New Member!

A few minutes ago, my cousin Kathy sent me on Facebook a link for Beekeeping as a Force for Good at the Horticultural Society of New York  and said, "You should totally have bees next! Make your own honey!"  Little did she know that I've been dreaming about raising honey bees for some time now.  Kathy and I are peas from the same pod, we both love gardening and homesteading, it's no wonder we are cousins. Whenever either of us hear about cool gardening related events around the city, we both notify each other to attend.  I can not believe that I have not stumbled upon The Horticultural Society of New York until she mentioned it.  I looked at their current offerings of lectures and workshops and they are having a whole series of DIY Homegrown workshops from making your own hand salves and lip balms, to hydroponic gardening with Boswyck Farms (where I intern already) to a talk about cultivating mushrooms.  OMG, everything sounds so interesting, all topics are things I've always wanted to learn.   I immediately signed up for a year membership, which gives you benefits such as discounts and invitations to upcoming events, films, and exhibitions.  There are different levels of membership, and the membership fees and donations goes towards funding their current programs.  This is something I definitely want to support.

For example, from their website they say,  
$65: (the cost of an individual membership) buys ladybugs and magnifying glasses for two New York City public school 3rd grade classes. (the fact that my membership donation goes towards teaching kids about gardening is totally awesome)
$100: provides tools to maintain a public library reading garden in a community with few green spaces.
$250: supports the cost of building a bi-lingual teaching library at the GreenHouse on Rikers Island.
$500: funds a 200-gallon rainwater harvesting cistern that can water an urban garden for an entire planting season.
$1,000: purchases the materials for four vegetable gardening workshops at a seniors’ center, a residence for formerly homeless individuals or families, a rooftop garden for people with mental illnesses or a hospice for a terminally ill adults.

The day after the beekeeping lecture, on February 17th, The Horticultural Society of New York opens it's new exhibition, The Art of the Heirloom.   The exhibit "showcases 23 original works commissioned by the Hudson Valley Seed Library for their annual Art Pack collection." They have beautiful artwork on their seed packets and they are setting up a pop up store where the seeds will be on sale.  Aren't these seed packets gorgeous?  I definitely want to attend the reception where the artists will be in attendance.  For more information about the exhibit, check out Hudson Valley Seed Library's website.

62F, What?

Yesterday I went to the farmer's market in Union Square and was so amazed that it was 62F degrees out.  Like 62F on February 1st!  I don't remember the last time, if ever, it was this warm in NYC in the month of February. Hello, is it winter?  Or did we skip winter and go straight to spring.  This weather is too weird for me.  It's confusing for people and plants.  I have bulbs coming up already, I saw leaves growing on the irises and daffodils in my garden, it's too early!!  Because the weather was so warm, the Farmer's Market was brimming with activity.  One of the cool things I saw was this vendor selling microgreens.  I don't know why I've never started a tray of greens like this before, it's so easy, you just sprinkle seeds over a flat of soil.  It's literally just lettuce seedlings that are cut and eaten.  Super cool idea!

The main reason I went to the Farmer's Market was to pick up my quarts of Ronnybrook Farm milk.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I love to support eating locally and knowing where your food comes from.  I especially love to support anything that is produced right here in the state of New York.  Ronnybrook, located in Ancramdale, NY, is a 3rd generation family run farm that practices organic and sustainable farming.  They allow their cows access to pasture everyday, they are "free range" cows.  Also, the farm never uses artificial growth hormones on the cows and the milk is non-homogenized, so that the milk looks like the creamy milk it should be, not that watery looking stuff you buy at the supermarket.  Ronnybrook is also committed to recycling, the milk comes in these glass bottles. To encourage recycling, when you purchase the milk, they charge you $1.50 for a bottle deposit.  After you consume the milk, you can bring the bottle back to them and they in turn gives back your deposit of $1.50.   The milk is bottled right on the farm, and so it cuts out the processing middle man.  Therefore when you purchase the bottled milk, the profits go right back to the farm.  Another reason to buy local, to keep the local farms in business.  I don't bring my bottles back though to get my deposit, I love the design of the bottles, so I re-use them to store juice or sometimes I use the bottles as flower vases.  When I got to the farmer's market, they had run out of the Chocolate milk that I love, so I ended up with 2 Quarts of low fat milk.  I'll buy some U-bet chocolate syrup to make my own.  U-bet is a local chocolate syrup made in Brooklyn.  Ooh, maybe I'll make some egg creams. Delicious!

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