Rooftop Garden

Here it is!  The Rooftop Garden in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  I finally made it over to the greenest spot across the river and it was just what I had hoped it would be.  With plenty of visitors that day, I'm hoping their final Farmer's Market of the season was profitable.  Available for sale were greens like purple kale and various lettuces.  The head farmer Annie was there walking and talking around the garden to many of its guests.  I overheard her inquiring with a friend about how to get fish juice to the farm.  The oils and juice will nurture the soil with tons of vitamins and minerals, allowing for more nutrient rich veggies next spring. They have started a volunteer list for the upcoming winter projects and I'm hoping I get a chance to participate.   It was SO cool to see such a wonderful project excelling.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of these rooftop farms next spring. This city never ceases to amaze me.  Besides its being awesome on every other possible front,  now we get to enjoy farm fresh, LOCAL produce too?  Revolutionary- The term the "Big Apple" now has new life. 

Rooftop Rose

As I was knitting away on my rooftop tonight, with a glass of wine and NYC as my backdrop, I was suddenly comforted with this great gust of garlic.   I quickly realized this is just one of the reasons I love being back in NY.  Garlic is in the air!  It's also the month when the San Gennaro Feast and other Italian festivals pop up all over this area and frankly- I love it! Garlic is known for a number of medicinal uses such as warding off colds, the flu and Vampires.  It has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that our bodies appear unable to build up resistance to un-like pharmaceutical antibiotics.  It supplies great amounts of Vitamin C , B6 and Maganese- an important mineral for cardio vascular health.  So enjoy the tasty benefits of the amazing stinking rose-Cheers! to your health, and so much more.  

Brooklyn Flea

I finally made it over to the much anticipated Brooklyn Flea this Saturday.  It was kind of a gloomy, misty day so it wasn't the full show but still - a Great experience.  Independent artists, jewelers and foodies with their awesome goods.  A couple of furniture makers and vintage dealers as well. All that inspiration is free for the soaking in. A lot of the vendors are  selling vintage or reclaimed items.  Pictured above are old records musically re-crafted and made into stylish jewelry.  The artist was nice enough to let me take a picture, so I'm returning the favor with a little blog posting love.  It runs until the end of October and it's a great way to spend your Saturday morning outside, supporting the local-(ish- I'm living in Hoboken at the moment) community, filling up on delicious soul satisfying crafts and grub. I love Brooklyn!

If You Plant Them, They Will Grow

It's true.  Since moving into Hoboken,  I've spent the last couple of weeks cruising around my new hood. It's so beautiful with the old, now re-stored brownstones and overgrown window boxes making up the mile squared town.  The views of the city are something to see and I feel blessed to now enjoy them daily. You can basically walk everywhere and if your short on time, you can simply hop on a bike. They've recently begun 2 Farmer Market's for the opposite sides of town where you can purchase local fruits and veggies weekly. Not always organic but on their way.  I've learned about IPM-Integrated Pest Management, something I hadn't heard of in LA.  It works to fight the pests that eat away the crops without compromising the soil?  I think it's a good thing.  One of my favorite discoveries so far is the creativity of planters for my neighbors need to grow things.  I've seen a cinder block lined patio filled with ferns and flowers.  Old cabinets loaded with dirt and now home to an herb garden.  The most out of the box idea thus far goes to the folks around the corner who decided to put to use their old claw footed tub and have a garden.  Have seeds- will grow! I think I'm going to like it here.

Simple Summer Recycling

Trying to beat the heat and still be green about it? Summer Recycling has never been easier. Since I'm still waiting for my tomato plants to ripen up and share their goods, I've been using Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Sauce to spread over my pizza doughs and pastas. Bonus is, this delicious sauce is packaged in mason jars.  When all the sauce is gone, rinse out any remaining red stuff, remove the label with a little hot water and elbow grease and Voila! A perfectly great, fun to drink from glass for some old fashioned iced tea, lemonade, or other specifically summer beverage. Drink up and feel great about it.

Natural Meat-Hopefully

This is good.  Yesterday, July 13, 2209, the Obama Administration announced that they were proposing a measure to BAN the use of antibiotics in healthy livestock.  Many ranchers and pig/chicken farmers routinely administer- themselves I might add, antibiotics to healthy animals so they will produce more meat, faster. This ban hopes to reduce the spread of dangerous bacteria to humans from the treated animals and also to allow for a more normal life span and growth experience for the animal, in turn producing healthier meat. The ban is supported by the American Medical Association and the Union of Concerned Scientists who state that as much as 70% of the antibiotics used in the US are given to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle-Crazy right?Where are our health care dollars going exactly?  Representative Louise M Slaughter from right here in NY held the meeting and happens to be the chairwoman for the Rules Committee. The meeting alone is a positive step in getting our food systems back on a more Natural track.  In the meantime, I think I'm going to stick with some advice from a smart and very researched and informed man-Michael Pollan.  "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. "

RoofTop-Ology

An interesting and simple idea to off set green house gas issues caused by car fumes- Paint rooftops WHITE in the sunnier parts of the country/world to reflect the sun's rays back into the atmosphere.  Brilliant?!  A recent study performed by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory proved that “painting urban surfaces in warm parts of the world white or a light color could offset the carbon emissions of all 600 million of the world’s cars for 18 to 20 years.”  This could mean the difference between life and extinction for those Polar Bears we've come to love.  The idea of using stimulus money to balance green initiatives with job creation fits snugly in there with goal's of the Obama Administration too. Back to basic thinking always amazes me the most.  Keep it simple and wonderful ideas and solutions find there way to the surface.  Or for this matter, the Rooftop.