I am here in New York.
Living my life moving forward, learning things.
But I miss Pittsburgh.
I have been lucky enough to live in and visit many cities around the world.
But never have a felt the passion for a place like I have Pittsburgh.
Surrounded by three rivers and filled with large areas of green space.
It's a post industrial jungle, like the wild west at times.
You can mold the city into whatever shape you like because space is a plenty and cheap.
No other city has as much access to waterfront to the general public or as many free cultural events.
Never have I felt the warmth of a great community of young and old people anywhere else.
Yes there is plenty to complain about and when you have lived there for a while and maybe you can't even see how awesome it is anymore, which is why travel is very important no matter where you live.
That is why I plan to move back as soon as I can.
Because I miss what I had there, I miss my rivers, my parks and cemeteries, my neighborhood gardens, my friends, my co-op, my warm summer night bike rides across the 31st bridge, my studio, my inexpensive rent, my bad memories, and my good. I love Pittsburgh like I love summer; when you got it you want it to be cold and when you don't got it you want it to be hot
Peace and love ch'all ;)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Week 2 at the Whill
Well I have been bad about logging my experiences this week I must admit.The tasks this week have been very spring cleaning centric.
Mon. was filled with cleaning out the pond while it was raining as was Tuesday. Cleaning out the pond, which hadn't been cleaned out in recent Wavehill staff history, had us interns and gardeners shoveling muck and gravel out of the bottom of the pool into buckets and then dumping those buckets on various parts of the grounds. While some people were doing that other people were using push brooms to push water and watery muck towards the garbage pump, that we had rented to help move the job along faster. We also removed some thirty or so buckets, often very heavy, from the interior of the pond that held water plants. I am telling you this wasn't an easy task but I really got into it. Even in the rain I was singing along, you know that song form Mary Poppins Chim Chimney Chim Chim Cher Roo? I like to keep busy.
The rest of the week I helped one of the other gardeners in the greenhouse and I learned about dividing plants today. We divided a clump of Miscanthis, a clump of pansy pink iris, and a clump of phlox. It was cool because I had never done that before. It made me feel bad for the folks at the High Line though because now I understand what kind of work they have cut out for them, with all those hundreds upon hundreds of clumps of grasses.
We also had our first Plant of the Week Thursday. Which is when each of the interns pick a plant and give a short presentation on it. I chose the Iris reticulata. I think it went well and I also really enjoyed the presentations of the other interns as well.
Things I learned:
1. I learned how to divide grasses and bulbs.
2. I learned about the plant Iris reticulata.
3. I learned that the good life is keeping your hands busy during the day, your mind busy in the evening, keeping your belly full, and having someone you love to kiss on before and after work.
peace out :)
Mon. was filled with cleaning out the pond while it was raining as was Tuesday. Cleaning out the pond, which hadn't been cleaned out in recent Wavehill staff history, had us interns and gardeners shoveling muck and gravel out of the bottom of the pool into buckets and then dumping those buckets on various parts of the grounds. While some people were doing that other people were using push brooms to push water and watery muck towards the garbage pump, that we had rented to help move the job along faster. We also removed some thirty or so buckets, often very heavy, from the interior of the pond that held water plants. I am telling you this wasn't an easy task but I really got into it. Even in the rain I was singing along, you know that song form Mary Poppins Chim Chimney Chim Chim Cher Roo? I like to keep busy.
The rest of the week I helped one of the other gardeners in the greenhouse and I learned about dividing plants today. We divided a clump of Miscanthis, a clump of pansy pink iris, and a clump of phlox. It was cool because I had never done that before. It made me feel bad for the folks at the High Line though because now I understand what kind of work they have cut out for them, with all those hundreds upon hundreds of clumps of grasses.
We also had our first Plant of the Week Thursday. Which is when each of the interns pick a plant and give a short presentation on it. I chose the Iris reticulata. I think it went well and I also really enjoyed the presentations of the other interns as well.
Things I learned:
1. I learned how to divide grasses and bulbs.
2. I learned about the plant Iris reticulata.
3. I learned that the good life is keeping your hands busy during the day, your mind busy in the evening, keeping your belly full, and having someone you love to kiss on before and after work.
peace out :)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Roses
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
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
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
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