Roses are for Lover's,
That is people who are in love with Roses. We spent the better part of the day pruning roses on Friday, which thankfully only has to happen once a year. When I first gazed upon that thick thorny patch of new and old growth intertwined in a mass that no human would venture into. I thought WTF what kind of internship did I sign on for. After we were shown how to approach pruning the plants we set off on our own corners working our way into the center. At first I moved very slowly but then after being pierced through my leather gloves a few times, and learning that this particular kind of rose can be cut back quite vigorously, I had at it. By the time we finished pruning I started to think it wasn't that bad. And maybe when these beasts start to bloom I will really understand why folks are so in love with roses.
Things Learned:
1. when pruning roses cut back old branches and thin growth
2. work from the top of the rose bush and then the bottom
3. use a rack when screening compost to help move the sticks and stones around with more ease
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Urban Farming Reading
Here is a link to a good new website I found on urban-farming news.
http://www.thecitygreens.com/2010/03/17/farms-in-the-sky-a-new-york-city-roundup/
http://www.thecitygreens.com/2010/03/17/farms-in-the-sky-a-new-york-city-roundup/
Wavehill and Sick
Wavehill is Great!
It is such a beautiful place and it is about to burst with flowers and colors of all kind. Yesterday was great except for the fact that my nose was dripping all day and I was constantly sneezing.
It was a very windy chilly morning outside. So we bundled up, grabbed our felcos and our buckets and started pruning the lavender bed. Which has at least ten different varieties of lavender. I grabbed some of the dry fragrant clippings, brought them home, and stuck them in a fuzzy sock in my bureau. Then we moved onto screening some compost into the backs of a couple gators and driving it up to the flower bed where we took turns sprinkling it on the garden. After that we went to the terrace and cleaned up and composted the beds. I think our tasks in the coming weeks will mostly be spring clean up.
What did I learn?
1. Take compost from the top of the pile if it has recently rained.
2. Use sparring amounts of compost on spring soil that hasn't birthed its perennial sprouts yet.
3.Take the day off if you think you are getting sick becuase you will just end up taking the next day off which I did.
4.When a plant has been in storage all winter without much sun exposure it is good to burlap it when it first goes out doors so the new exposure doesn't give it sunburn.
Today wasn't as great because I missed out on the first plant ID walk but I do feel much better. The remedy to illness is sleep-in/cuddle, have someone who loves you make you something with eggs and good coffee, clean(that is probably just me), and lay down and read alot! ;)
Also for super long commutes my new fav is crosswords
peacals y'all
It is such a beautiful place and it is about to burst with flowers and colors of all kind. Yesterday was great except for the fact that my nose was dripping all day and I was constantly sneezing.
It was a very windy chilly morning outside. So we bundled up, grabbed our felcos and our buckets and started pruning the lavender bed. Which has at least ten different varieties of lavender. I grabbed some of the dry fragrant clippings, brought them home, and stuck them in a fuzzy sock in my bureau. Then we moved onto screening some compost into the backs of a couple gators and driving it up to the flower bed where we took turns sprinkling it on the garden. After that we went to the terrace and cleaned up and composted the beds. I think our tasks in the coming weeks will mostly be spring clean up.
What did I learn?
1. Take compost from the top of the pile if it has recently rained.
2. Use sparring amounts of compost on spring soil that hasn't birthed its perennial sprouts yet.
3.Take the day off if you think you are getting sick becuase you will just end up taking the next day off which I did.
4.When a plant has been in storage all winter without much sun exposure it is good to burlap it when it first goes out doors so the new exposure doesn't give it sunburn.
Today wasn't as great because I missed out on the first plant ID walk but I do feel much better. The remedy to illness is sleep-in/cuddle, have someone who loves you make you something with eggs and good coffee, clean(that is probably just me), and lay down and read alot! ;)
Also for super long commutes my new fav is crosswords
peacals y'all
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wavehill Internship
Hello Folks,
Well I started my internship at Wavehill two days ago. I have been on unemployment all winter and it is time to leave that safety net behind and re-enter the work force. Although I did go to the Labor office of New York today to try and see if there was some way that I could maintain a portion of my unemployment anyway. The answer was of course a big fat NO! I am nervous of course about how things will work out but hopeful for the future.
We spent our first day raking up a lawn area that had a whole bunch of sweet gum seed pods on it. At first I was admiring these soft spined balls of auburn, but as the day wore on a grew tired of what seemed like their unending numbers. We, me my boss and the four other interns, pried all of the sweet gum balls, that had wedged themselves half way into the soft wet spring soil, out. It was quite the task but rewarding and a good team building exercise. Today we cleared out another area, referred to as the conifer slope, removing sticks, pine cones, leaves, and the like. I had to leave early to go to the labor office so I missed our time in the greenhouse, BUMMER!
Oh and we also removed some under-story saplings, that kinda look like yews, and replanted them to an actual under-story area.
The people are just as nice as the folks at The High Line and the Garden is gorgeous. It is the only time in my life that I wish I had a car. This is because my commute is an hour and twenty minutes each way. I have taken to doing crosswords and of course reading. My book right now is biomimcry, interesting so far.
Well otherwise things seem as right as rain ;)
peace out!
Well I started my internship at Wavehill two days ago. I have been on unemployment all winter and it is time to leave that safety net behind and re-enter the work force. Although I did go to the Labor office of New York today to try and see if there was some way that I could maintain a portion of my unemployment anyway. The answer was of course a big fat NO! I am nervous of course about how things will work out but hopeful for the future.
We spent our first day raking up a lawn area that had a whole bunch of sweet gum seed pods on it. At first I was admiring these soft spined balls of auburn, but as the day wore on a grew tired of what seemed like their unending numbers. We, me my boss and the four other interns, pried all of the sweet gum balls, that had wedged themselves half way into the soft wet spring soil, out. It was quite the task but rewarding and a good team building exercise. Today we cleared out another area, referred to as the conifer slope, removing sticks, pine cones, leaves, and the like. I had to leave early to go to the labor office so I missed our time in the greenhouse, BUMMER!
Oh and we also removed some under-story saplings, that kinda look like yews, and replanted them to an actual under-story area.
The people are just as nice as the folks at The High Line and the Garden is gorgeous. It is the only time in my life that I wish I had a car. This is because my commute is an hour and twenty minutes each way. I have taken to doing crosswords and of course reading. My book right now is biomimcry, interesting so far.
Well otherwise things seem as right as rain ;)
peace out!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
beekeeping New York
Here is s a article on Beekeeping in New York. Hopefully it will be legal soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/science/earth/15bees.html?emc=eta1
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/science/earth/15bees.html?emc=eta1
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Yogamazing
I just came form a yoga class in the East Village. I was very uneasy about the idea of going to this yoga studio. 1. it is ny and everything here, everywhere you go is super crowded. 2. I am officially off on my own again away from my folks, thus very poor. 3. I have been practicing for the past three months five days a week at a tiny studio with low attendance in a suburb outside of Chicago.
Well, I hadn't done yoga in a day, and I was craving some movement. So I tried out Yoga to the people on st. mark's and it was great! Yes really crowded but none the less fun. The teacher was encouraging people to make funny noises and breath loudly. She created an inhibition free environment. The teacher was there more as a guide through the yoga practice and less as an instructor. Although I don't think that is bad I do worry about people who haven't practiced much yoga. There are some positions where you can hurt yourself or just not get the full expression of the pose if you aren't familiar with the way to correct yourself in the pose.
That aside Alternative health care is really catching on and this quote from an article posted on The American Academy of Family Physicians shows that many people seem to agree , "A recently released government report (15-page PDF; About PDFs) found that U.S. adults are spending almost $34 billion a year on complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, products and therapies, as well as on visits to CAM practitioners. And that popularity can translate into extra dollars for family physicians, says one FP.
And webMD says that yoga has many benefits such as less stress, strength, more calm and mood stability, better breathing techniques which allows one to get more oxygen in there body, flexibility, posture, and heart benefits.
Anywho folks! Think about it! It may be fun ;)
Well, I hadn't done yoga in a day, and I was craving some movement. So I tried out Yoga to the people on st. mark's and it was great! Yes really crowded but none the less fun. The teacher was encouraging people to make funny noises and breath loudly. She created an inhibition free environment. The teacher was there more as a guide through the yoga practice and less as an instructor. Although I don't think that is bad I do worry about people who haven't practiced much yoga. There are some positions where you can hurt yourself or just not get the full expression of the pose if you aren't familiar with the way to correct yourself in the pose.
That aside Alternative health care is really catching on and this quote from an article posted on The American Academy of Family Physicians shows that many people seem to agree , "A recently released government report (15-page PDF; About PDFs) found that U.S. adults are spending almost $34 billion a year on complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, products and therapies, as well as on visits to CAM practitioners. And that popularity can translate into extra dollars for family physicians, says one FP.
And webMD says that yoga has many benefits such as less stress, strength, more calm and mood stability, better breathing techniques which allows one to get more oxygen in there body, flexibility, posture, and heart benefits.
Anywho folks! Think about it! It may be fun ;)
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