Poor Man's Patio Part 1



The task.

This was it: the big weekend. The weekend that I would straighten out the side yard. First thing to do: find paving for the patio. I went to my corner nursery (so lucky!) J&L ('L' is for Larry, 'J' is ?), because I saw Larry, the owner, there when I was picking up my laundry: I didn't want to miss my only opportunity. I asked him for paving -anything he had, a mismatched motley pile of whatever, and he said he happened to have some leftover slate across the street.

There was some confusion as to whether it was really there, so we went looking and lo and behold -there it was. He lent me a wheelbarrow and I hauled about 10 large pieces to my garden. I also took about 5 smalls for extra stepping stones. He charged me an unbelievably excellent price, which he let me know was for me only, so I can't mention it here. While I picked out the right stones, Larry's son, Colin, talked to me about his father's business troubles. This has been a growing problem over, I would say, the last 2 or three years. His hardscaping work is down to almost zero and the nursery has a major competitor with a parking lot about a mile down the road. Larry's prices are the best in town and I can't imagine the block without the nursery -well, I could and it's not as good. Of course, Lowe's and the Home Depot are kicking his ass price wise -and they also have parking and paint and wood and air conditioners.

But Larry, my local nursery gave me a great deal and lent me his wheelbarrow, telling me to take my time. That's worth a dollar more on bags of soil. Of course, knowing he might close the nursery fueled mighty fantasies of taking over his nursery business. I've long had this fantasy -starting my own nursery, and I nursed it all weekend while working on the side yard. Of course, I have no money, and his business is no car wash -where the money seems to flow like suds over fender.


The slate pile. Mostly gray-blue with a greenish tinge, but one or two brownish ones.


The first thing to do was remove the plants that were in the way of the patio and new path.

I dug up all the Crocus tommasinianus.

I knew I would hit some lily bulbs that I had planted last fall and were still beneath the surface.

The bucket of transplants including dicentra and aconitum.

I re-used the landscape fabric that I had placed under the vegetable boxes last year, laying it out just so after I had done my simple best to level the underlying soil, which is fairly clayey.

Then I went to the hardware store, one block away on CIA, and bought some sand. I should point out that if I had a choice, I would have bought crusher fines as the under course and gap fill. If you can find it, do that, because it is a superior material for dry laying stones. Unfortunately neither my nursery or hardware store has this material, but I think you can get it in the landscape section of the big box home centers or at any masonry or hardscape material business.

The sand placed over the fabric.

Back to the sand, which is a coarse builder's sand, often found in those plastic weave bags with a metal twist tie. I was able to buy this sand at $1.50 for a 40 or 50 lb bag -a remarkable price, and found right on my block. The owner graciously offered a hand truck to cart my 6 bags to the garden. Things were shaping up nicely and I had only spent about 60 bucks.

I laid out the stones as best as I could, trying for maximum gaps of about 1 inch, although there are always irregularities. Leveling the stones is the fun part, working them into the sand to have as little height difference between each adjacent edge. It's okay to have some difference, maybe an 1/8th-inch or so. It's also important that they do not rock or tip when I stand on them, so I checked for this as well. After leveling, I filled the gaps with sand -making sure to push the sand down into the unseen voids. I did not have any edging for the patio, so I used the clay soil, bringing it up to the stones' edge.

The not quite finished patio.

Part 2 later...

I Just Got My Car Greenwashed



I went to press day at the NY International Auto Show with my brother, who gets the passes as part of his business, which is cars. He stores classics, exotics, and just plain expensive at Bridgehampton Motoring Club and brokers these cars at SpecialtyCarSource. He and I have been arging about cars since we were boys sharing a room. I liked exotics, he liked muscle. Then we grew up. Now he likes all things expensive, sexy, powerful and I must admit to being more utilitarian in my car choices. The great thing about a show like this is, if you are looking to buy a car, you can sit in almost every make and model in one place. The sad thing about a show like this is that you can see in one swoop how our dedication to the over-powered, gas guzzling automobile has not changed at all.

I would say that there were two major themes at this year's presentation of the latest offerings by a world of automobile manufacturers: green lip service and nostalgia to the future.

I have to hand it to Chrysler (or whatever they are calling themselves since Fiat purchased the ailing company), they just put it right out there. Case in point is the Eco Style car -an ordinary Chrysler 300, but styled with cork, bamboo, and jute in natural colors! It still sports a 5.7 liter HEMI engine. We all know there's not much style in fuel efficiency. So top award goes to Chrysler for just calling it like it is -all style, no substance.
Put it on the plate baby.

You can see here the natural colors and, uh, cork trimmed door pocket.

I will give them props for their nostalgia car, the Dodge Challenger. Of the three American muscle cars, the Challenger seemed roomy, everyday drivable and I love the color -magenta sparkle.

Never before have I seen so many windmills, trees, flowers and blue sky backing up the image of the car manufacturers.

Nature has always been the backdrop of our automotive advertising: freedom, escape, the open road leads you to paradise and from the chaos of the wilderness. But this goes past that into greenwashing your psyche, boldly telling the customer that what they are buying is the clean, green future- not the same old gas burner on four wheels, but it really just is.


Almost every company was touting their hybrids, although most did not go as far as listing the mpg of their hybrid cars. That's because many of the new hybrids are designed to appeal to the conscience of the wealthy, not the average person's wallet or any sense of efficiency. Take the BMW 750i Active Hybrid, for example. Active is right at 455 hp, but nowhere is its fuel efficiency -the essence of a hybrid, listed.
I don't mean to single out BMW, because they all were doing it. In fact, when I did find mpg numbers for V8 powered cars, they were often higher than in previous years. This is because they are trying to raise their CAFE numbers, and why not up their averages by raising the low end. So we see Ford F150s getting 18/24 instead of 14/18 and large Mercedes getting the same.

The dash of a large Mercedes hybrid. Nostalgia to the Future -the classic look of 50's auto interior with the conscience clearing 'hybrid' applied front and center dash.

As for the little cars, they seem to be eking out all they can. I handily recall Honda CRXs getting 50 mpg in the late 80s, but there appears to be a new Civic hybrid coming that gets 42 mpg! Fiat had two new tiny cars that were plastered with eco this and that badges, but no mention of actual mpg anywhere. Not far away were the tiny two-seat SMART cars, getting what you won't believe -only 33/41! Criminy, I can get 37 highway in a four seat Corolla.

I think Toyota is right to call all this the "darker side of green." Although I could barely parse what this really meant in relation to their new Lexus hybrid, the CT300h.

They say it delivers extraordinary fuel efficiency, so why not tell us what that is? Nimble, yes.

Many of the car companies had 'zero emissions' concept cars, little more than husks of real cars that claim to run solely on batteries or with hydrogen fuel cells. They tend to look very similar to current small hatchbacks but with some futuristic looking touches to let us know that's where we're headed despite the overall bland package.

Nissan went as far as calling their concept 'Leaf,' as in turning over a new one, I suppose, because I cannot imagine that their car produces oxygen while consuming CO2 -now there's a concept.


I think this Mercedes summed up the Auto Show. Its 50% engine compartment, 25% passenger, 25% luggage. It has gullwing style doors like their mid-century models. It's sexy, cool, retro, and has little redeeming value.

I feel with some certainty that we have reached peak car design. Cars have essentially been the same for 20 years, with little design shifts this way or that. Some companies are looking back for their inspiration, but this just reinforces the sense that they do not know where to go, that the functionality of the personal automobile has not changed enough to allow the form to change in any significant way. Much of the efforts in car design over the last 20 years have been in increased horsepower and to some degree, safety from that same horsepower.

Millions, maybe billions of people depend on automobiles as an everyday tool to accomplish whatever needs to be accomplished. The image of the automobile has sunken so deep into our psyche that we barely notice its pure functionality, depending instead on its image to serve our ego. I, for one, am still waiting for the better designed tool for everyday use. I don't think I am alone in this.

What would an electric-powered, Apple car look like for city dwellers? The iCar. Couldn't VW make a small pick-up or van with a diesel-electric hybrid so that I could have a work vehicle that's using less instead of more? I think they could.






Nice Weekend Ahead

Yay, Spring!

These veronica have been blooming for a month.

March, err, April of the dafs.

These have a subtle, sweet scent.

I have two types of returning tulips. These, which I like closed for their greenish tinged, apricot pink exterior. I cannot remember what kind. Species, Darwin Hybrid, one of those or both?


Making My Bed and Planting It



Last weekend I walked over yonder some blocks, not too far from my place, to check out a plot to "farm" conversion. The advert asked for any and all to help shape up about 5000 square feet into something productive. There were large trees, and good slope, thick perennial weeds and surely millions of annual seeds waiting for the clearing. This is real ground-breaking, beating plots to ploughshares. I wish I could've risen early for their 9 am start, but this was unlikely for a night-time worker. When I did arrive, the work was buzzing, felt awkward without a shovel, contemplated the scene, took a photo and went about my day.

As much as I fantasize that I should be a part of something like this, and as much as I like growing vegetables, I tend to find a few initiative-killing excuses. Besides, I needed to go to the studio that day, the day before having been a wash. Quashing thoughts of anti-social shame, I made my way to the farmer's market in hope of ramps, or anything vegetable.


On my exit for the studio, I stopped to look at the various plants rather vigorously coming up in the garden. A woman walking a dog passed, turning to me to ask if this was my garden. A half hour conversation ensued about plants, city gardening, bugs and raccoons. Her name was Sada (spelling??) and her dog was named Chance and they both enjoy my front yard.


That meeting, by chance, made me feel quite a bit less anti-social and I felt far better about not joining the new farm than I did just an hour before. Gardening was always a private activity for me, a place of lost in my thoughts, physicality, and head-clearing. The communal activity of the plot farmers, maybe a little overwhelming, and honestly, a lot of work.


Xris over at the Flatbush Gardener, a much more community-minded citizen than I, did attend to help out. See his post here.

Pavers and Cars


I need paving materials. Enough to fill 20 square feet. I've been waiting for the tree fairy to come and chop up the sidewalk, but still waiting. This weekend will be perfect for laying the pavers, whether concrete chunks or bricks or whatever. Got to get the side yard garden started. I've got lots of new phlox coming up in the front yard I'd like to transplant before they get too large. Today though, I'll be at the NY Auto Show at Javitz with my brother. He works in the specialty/antique/exotic car world. He also brokers these cars at Specialtycarsource.com. We get press passes, so we're there before the crowds who ooh and aah at the latest. Last year's show was pretty sad given the state of the biz. This year promises a bit more. I expect a lot more GREENing of car product. We'll see, I'm off.

Chic N




They live about half a block away. I took out my camera and they came a running toward me just to have their picture taken. Such vanity! Notice the blooming quince in the top photo? Swear I saw a rhodi in full bloom in a sunny spot in Williamsburg on Thursday.


A Battery of Batteries



If your like me you've been wondering what to do with all those alkaline and rechargeable batteries that are no longer any good. I used to take them to Whole Foods, but they have since stopped taking them. I heard from a good source that they were not shipping them properly and as a result some containers were catching fire. Because it was unwieldy for them to comply with the law, they simply chose to stop the program. Sad for me and them, because the battery drop off was the only thing that would get me into the ridiculously crowded Whole Foods on Columbus Circle.

I have always been horrified by all the AA batteries I see collecting in heaps, near the drains of the subway station tracks. Take a closer look, they're dull and gray but hard to miss because of the cylindrical shape and size we all know well. This could be the worst place for people to toss their batteries. They slowly oxidize, leaking heavy metals into our waterways.

So what to do then? I bumped into David Hurd, Director of the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education at GrowNYC (formerly CENYC), last Thursday evening after work, which is the best time to get him talking about work. I asked him about the batteries. The next day he forwarded me these details:

  • It is illegal to throw rechargeable batteries in the trash (or subway tracks!)
  • You can recycle rechargables at select Greenmarket locations: the list.
  • Big box stores that sell rechargeable batteries must take them back. Use the locator!
  • The City of NY is working with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation for collection. You can join- its easy to get a drop-box near you!
  • What do they do with the batteries: see what here.
  • Ordinary alkaline batteries can be thrown in the trash: see the NYCWastele$$ site.
  • Or you can choose to recycle them at these somewhat out of reach, Dept. of Sanitation, non-commercial drop-off locations:
BRONX: Hunts Point at Farragut Street and East River.

BROOKLYN: Bay 41st Street and Gravesend Bay, south of the Belt Parkway (adjacent to the DSNY Brooklyn 11 garage).

QUEENS: College Point at 30th Avenue, between 120th and 122nd Streets.

STATEN ISLAND: Foot of Muldoon Avenue off the West Shore Expressway (440) adjacent to the DSNY Staten Island 3 garage.

MANHATTAN: DSNY garage at 605 West 30th Street, between 11th & 12th Avenue.


For even more information, see NYCWastele$$



Free Woodchips


When I was at Making Brooklyn Bloom at the BBG a few weekends ago, I received a flyer from the group Earth Matter regarding the dispersal of free wood chip mulch to all NYC gardeners, block associations, and residents alike. I have not found this flyer online, so I took a photo of it and placed it below (click on it to read). I have not used any of these services and cannot vouch for them. However, if these resources are for real, they could be quite useful to any number of gardeners. If anybody uses this resource, please let us know about your experience.



Signs


So I am walking home from the bus stop, after my season opener urban hiker equinox edition (post soon!) and I notice these white painted 'L's on the expansion joints of a set of sidewalk sections on E 8th St. Hey I say to myself, someone's getting a tree. At least that was my interpretation.

Fast forward to an hour later. I am outside pruning the roses. I turn and notice that I too have these white painted 'L's on my sidewalk! Whoa Nellie! Not one set, but three! One in front of the front yard, one in front of the stoop, and one in front of the telephone pole garden (it's conceptual).

Now, either this is some form of urban crop-circling and my block is about to be visited by aliens (swing away Frank, swing away), or these mystery marks are the fly-by-night work of Million Trees, and we are about to take three off that large number!

Which reminds me of last weekend at BBG's Making Brooklyn Bloom, during that windy, tree-busting storm. There was a presentation (which you can see here) by Dr. Nina Bassuk of the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell University about a street tree planting process/product called CU-Structural Soil (it's trademarked). You can find everything you need about structural soil here.

Arrival, Making Brooklyn Bloom

I think we all see tree pits and think they're the pits for trees and us. I've seen old trees busting out of them and young trees die in them. Sidewalks are heaved up and roots have no where to go for water and nutrients. To the rescue is Dr. Bassuk's process, which is quite simple and appears rather sensible. What's in the way? Simply, it's the higher cost of sidewalk and compacted sub-grade soil removal along with the addition of new structural soil and sidewalk concrete.

In order to install trees into my sidewalk, the contractor will come with a small back-hoe. He'll jackhammer the concrete, remove enough volume of 'soil' to drop in the root ball, replace the soil, and throw in a couple of stakes to stabilize the young tree. That's it. Done.

If you go through the whole structural soil photo presentation I linked to above, I think you will be convinced that Dr. Bassuk has come up with a better way to plant street trees. They'll grow faster, be healthier, live longer, and won't heave sidewalks.

But this isn't going to happen on my sidewalk and probably not yours. So I'll have to do what I can to protect and care for my new trees and so will you. A few tips on street tree care are available from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden along with some ideas for street tree guards. Million Trees NYC has a PDF handbook covering street tree care.

[agarden04_19_0915.jpg]


Whole New Year




I'm very excited about the garden this year. In fact, this is going to be a stellar year for gardening. For one thing, I've shaken off the desire to grow vegetables in my small city plot, which -sorry all, is liberating. I've got this whole new arena now to work on in the side yard with the yew tree down after the heavy snowfall. I was thinking this evening as I pruned the roses about my commitment to this garden. It's the longest I've tended one place. Over the last 20 years I relentlessly read books, worked for landscapers and Manhattan rooftop designers, and even worked at a retail nursery. But, for all that -I've never really had a garden, not for more than a year. And that's what it takes -many years, to settle in to it, know it deeply, and grow.

This evening, pruning roses, I thought about the toughness of that act. I thought about pulling out two of the roses, maybe. I remembered the sensation of working late on busy spring days. I smelled the neighbor's barbecue -so good. I heard the children playing in the street and the chatter of Shenanigans. Pruning the roses is about attention -to avoid thorns, to untangle branches, to shape or imagine shaping, and finally, to wear the garden like an article of spring clothing.

I've pruned the 'Knockout' rose hard. Should it be knocked out of the garden?

'New Dawn' will live to see another, tangled as it is with two plants: honeysuckle and clematis.

It and the clematis were spared the diesel shovel when I pulled them from their first home and plunked them in my front yard. The clematis is showing more impressive growth this year than the last three, but has never flowered in its new home. 'New Dawn', however, is built like a tank.



Mignon Parmigiana




I have an Italian American mother who doesn't like much -but tomato sauce, pasta (family says macaroni for all shapes) cheese, and meat. So, no surprise I tend to cook this way. But after leaving home, you start eating other people's food and growing your taste. Unlike Ma, and whatever Batali says about real Italians liking mushy broccoli, I like broccoli sauteed firm with garlic and drizzled with a good olive oil, salt and pepper. I chose bread instead of pasta cause it was hot enough in the apartment without a steam engine going. Fairway in Red Hook (across from my wife's studio on Van Brunt) was having a crazy deal on fresh mozzarella (3.99/lb). I bought three -froze two. A can of LaValle san marzanos I had stored from some crazy deal they had on those a few months ago. Basil -garden. Fairway again, they had a deal on filet mignon (4.99/lb) in one of those wet-age bags that I do not prefer -but still a deal for this meal. I cut it up and froze some. Sliced the rest 3/8ths thick, covered it in breadcrumbs and fried it up in xv olive oil, lightly browned. Then into the dish with the sauce and cheese. Its very hard for me to cook for one, which I'm doing all summer. Fortunately I'm learning that leftovers are good. My mom always told us we needed to finish the pot(that meant the rest of the pasta) insisting we'd be hungry and this left an indelible urge to eat everything.

Dip the steak in egg. Then cover in bread crumbs.

Fry it up in the pan.

Have the sauce ready to go. This one has mushrooms.

In a dish layer the steak, sauce, and cheese. Throw some basil on top and yummy.

Well Deserved



It's a lot of crocus photos this year, but they're well deserved after a colder and snowier than usual winter. But what's this? A now warmer than usual last few days of calendar winter! Spring comes tomorrow, but it will seem like late May, won't it.


That will probably spell the end of the crocus season and beginning of the daffodils.

Well I will send out these crocus to our friends Adrienne and Josh who had their baby boy sometime yesterday. Asa was supposed to come on March 8th, my 40th birthday incidentally, but he was waiting to be coaxed, maybe waiting for warmer weather! Congratulations friends, no finer people to bring new life to our world.