Our annual leaf collection drive is under way. Please bring your bagged leaves to the garden on any of the below dates. This not only diverts your compostable material away from the landfill and into a garden but also helps us keep the correct greens to browns balance in out compost system.
Please bring your leaves in clear plastic or brown paper bags. Make sure you only bring leaves; no twigs, branches, or trash please.
Join us at the garden this coming Saturday for our annual fall celebration. Bring your left over jack o’ lanterns to smash in our compost. We’ll also have baked potatoes, hot cider, pumpkin cake and other snacks and will be hanging out in the garden all afternoon.
We hope to see you in the garden on Saturday the 7th of November from 12-4pm at Prospect Heights Community Farm, 252-256 Saint Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The rain date is the same time on Sunday the 8th of November.
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It’s that time of year again! The garden has gradually been waking up and everyone is getting ready to start planting what they want to grow this year. If you didn’t plan ahead and start seeds back in the depths of February, don’t worry!
Our annual plant sale starts this weekend on Sunday the 3rd of May and will continue on Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of May. We’ll be open from 10am to 6pm on the Sundays and 10am-4pm on Saturday. We’ll have our typical, unique mix of of vegetables, annual flowers and herbs herbs as well as a selection of more unique perennials available. We’ll also have mulch to take away for free, along with expert advice on what plants would be right for your garden, windowsill, stoop or fire escape!
Where: 252-256 Saint Marks Ave., Brooklyn, NY.
When: Sunday the 3rd of May 10am-6pm, Saturday the 9th of May 10am-4pm and Sunday the 10th of May 10am-6pm.
A few hardy souls gathered in the garden on the last day of February to get a start on pruning some of the trees and larger shrubs.
It was only 25°F when we started, but at least the sun was shining.
About 10 people came to help; not bad for February!
Brian’s mum and Catherine display weather appropriate layering of head-wear while tending to Euonymus kiautschovicus ‘Manhattan’ and Stuartia pseudocamellia, respectively.
Two brutes, a Doctor Huey rose and Campsis radicans (trumpet vine), getting a good cut by yours truly and Virginia.
We have a good deal of Cornus sericea (red-twigged dogwood) which is pruned every winter. After some trimming we end up with enough branches to make a decent stock of pea sticks/bean poles.
Jeremy uses the pole saw to reach some high up branches.
Smaller prunings being taken to the brush pile by Aaron.
We also cut back the raspberries and blackberries and removed some larger limbs of the Euonymous alatus (burning bush). Sprirea japonica was cut back, and some suckers on the apple tree were removed.
Thanks to all who braved the cold! Everyone is welcome to come to our next group gardening day on the 21st of March at 1pm; hope to see you there!
All photos by Brian Thompson.
With the best part of a foot of snow over the last few weeks and the temperatures mostly staying below freezing, the garden has spent much of January under a bed of snow.
A blanket of white is actually a blessing for the plants that are covered by it. Snow consists mostly of air and, because it’s trapped by the crystals of ice, retains much of the heat released by the ground. Thus, the layer of snow acts as insulation and the temperature below it tends to stay fairly close to freezing even if it’s much colder in the air above. This can be of real benefit to plants that are only just hardy in our zone or first year perennials that can’t survive quite as much cold yet as when they mature.
Hopefully the next few mild days we have won’t melt the protective layer of snow too much as next weekend is forecast to have several nights of single digit cold!
Enjoy the photos below taken by Brian Thompson.
Bringing your Christmas tree to the garden will guarantee its continued use in the form of mulch which will be used in the garden and around the neighbourhood. Don’t let your tree end up in the trash!
TreeCycle/Mulch Fest 2015 is part of an annual, city wide program organised by New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the New York City Department of Sanitation, and GreeNYC to recycle your Christmas trees into wood chips. For more info on the program, go to the MulchFest site.
Prospect Heights Community Farm will be one of the many places to drop off your Christmas tree throughout the city. We’ll be collecting trees and chipping them into mulch on Saturday and Sunday the 10th and 11th of January from 10 am to 2 pm. That gives you a few days from twelfth night on the 5th of January to lug your tree over to the garden.
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The 2014 Leaf Drop is under way. Only two more weekends left, so rake ’em up and bring ’em over!!
Leaves are a large part of our compost operations throughout the year and donating your leaves is a great way to support your local community garden. Happy Fall!!
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Too much fun can be great. We seem to have gathered a bit of a backlog of past event photos to share, so without further ado…
Natural Tannin Dyes
Liz Spencer aka the Dogwood Dyer brought organic cotton, wild nettle, and fair trade hemp to dye with acorns, black walnut, sumac, and iron. Tannin-rich plants can be used for both mordanting and dyeing which means you can create a beautiful fall palette from completely local ingredients! In addition to these lovely dyes, shibori and itajame techniques for patterning were shared.
This workshop was held in November 2013. Don’t miss our next natural dye workshop focusing on Indigo and Woad! Learn more at phcfdye.brownpapertickets.com
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We’ve already had an excellent workshop on medicinal herbs and a great Gardener’s Mic on beneficial weeds (more on those in a future post).
Next up is a crochet workshop on Saturday, September 27 from 11:30am – 1pm, led by PHCF member Traci Nottingham. Traci is a spinner, fiber farmer, and crocheter that has been exploring the fiber arts for over 20 years. This class is ideal for those who have always wanted to learn crochet or simply pick up a new hobby. Free! No registration required.
Then Saturday, October 11 from 11:00am – 3pm, there will be an Indigo and Woad workshop with Liz Spencer aka the Dogwood Dyer. Learn about the precious few plants in nature that yield a blue pigment. We’ll be working with three different processes including the ‘organic sugar’ vat that requires no chemicals, and fresh leaf dyeing with woad grown in the garden! This is no ordinary natural dye workshop so sign up ASAP! Register at phcfdye.brownpapertickets.com
Whether you’re stressed out, have low energy, or just want to learn about some of the edible and medicinal plants that surround us, this workshop is for you! PHCF member, herbalist, activist, trainer, and teacher, Vanessa Chakour, will be discussing the healing power of local plants on Saturday, September 6th, 11am at the garden. The introduction lecture is free and open to all.
Workshop participants will then be led on a guided walk, learn how to identify and responsibly harvest seasonal medicinal herbs, and then complete the day by making their own herbal tinctures and infusions. There is a tour and materials fee of $30; please click here to register
See you then!