City Pastures

2010-04-22T10:44:00.003-04:00

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Please Get Back To The Garden!

Preparing The Vegetable Garden

2010-04-10T18:25:00.004-04:00

Are you planning on having a vegetable garden in your urban backyard this year? You are not alone many Americans are doing it. Why even the White House has its own vegetable garden. Growing your own is fast becoming the new American trend and "sustainable" is the word to know. We are moving toward becoming a more Sustainable Society. We do this by conserving energy, composting, saving rain water; and growing our own fruits and vegetables. Why there is even a rapidly growing number of people raising chickens in their yards for eggs! Martha Stewart is doing it and sharing her eggs (well the chickens eggs of course) with her workers!

Oh, but this is about preparing the vegetable garden for this new growing season. So, lets begin at the beginning. Planning the garden on paper first is a good idea, so strongly recommended is going to a website like www.growveg.com or another similar site that provides tools for laying out your garden. First, decide how big you are going to make it and what type of garden it is going to be; beds, raised, container, etc. A little confused don't be, that is not the purpose of this article. Here at City Pastures we have been reviewing some books, websites, etc, to make it a little easier for you this year. A good resource book and less then twenty dollars to get you started is Small-Plot High-yield Gardening. One important note the author makes is, know how much food to grow for your family and what you like. Makes sense, right? So, plan.

Our urban farm here at City Pastures is approximately 600 square feet. We are growing fruits (blueberry, blackberry and red raspberry bushes), vegetables, herbs and flowers. We have planned a nice visually appealing and sustainable environment. Another important resource is your local garden supplies business. The workers here on Staten Island at Weisner's and at Schweitzers are very helpful. If you go when it isn't that crowded they will spend time with you and give you valuable information, so block out an hour. Many of these individuals have spent many hours studying and practicing in their field.

First, this spring we have cleaned and tilled our growing area. Next, we made divided our growing area in half with a 2' path down the center with planting beds (2'x4') on both sides. This helps with caring for the plants and rotating crops next year. Next, chicken manure and bone meal was applied only to the areas in the beds. We didn't want to feed the weeds. The chicken manure is high in nitrogen and adds back much depleted energy into the soil that was taken away by last year's crops. The bone meal is needed for vegetables that have skins (tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers). Again the good thing about having a planned garden is, next year you can rotate the crops which is good for preventing disease in gardens and some vegetables deplete soil of valuable nutrients more then others.

Secondly, we purchased our seeds from our local garden supply shop along with some starter planting materials (trays with plastic covers, starter soil, etc,). Starting plants from seeds is great to watch happening especially if you have children. At City Pastures we have a screen room that serves as our "green house" for starting our seeds. We already have lettuce, onion, bush bean, carrot, broccoli, etc. seedlings bursting out. Tomorrow we will plant about a dozen bush bean seedlings. Already, in the garden growing is spinach, collard greens and kale which are survivors from our late fall crop. It is amazing, they lived through our rough winter! It was great to experience this occurrence in our urban farm.

So, our best advice for now is, take the time to plan your garden and next year it will take you less time to get it started. Remember read, search the web and talk with your local garden supply people. Additionally, if you have neighbors who are planting talk with them and if you have a community garden visit. Gardeners love to talk and give advice. So, have fun and get dirty!

Next article will be about watering methods.

Extending The Growing Season-November Update

2009-11-08T16:49:00.019-05:00

Here at City Pastures in Staten Island, New York we have extended our growing season in our outdoor and indoor gardens. Our indoor container garden is in our non heated screen house. The broccoli raab, lettuce, spinach and red pepper plants are doing well. The greens are coming along at a nice pace, while the pepper plant (which was brought in from our outside garden) is continuing to produce. The peppers are brilliant red colored that taste very sweet. They enjoy basking in the sunshine that fills their side of the screen house.

The outdoor garden is doing well. The rainy and unseasonably warm fall weather has extended the production of eggplants and peppers;while the broccoli plants continue to provide a generous yield. The Fall crop of kale,spinach,collard greens and lettuce are doing very well. We are looking forward to having our first Urban Garden Fall grown greens compliment our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Extending the growing season for the first time here at City Pastures has been both work and fun. The container garden experiment has been successful thus far, except for the spinach which appears not to like either our outdoor soil or indoor potting soil. The outdoor soil has too much clay and the indoor potting soil is not porous enough for this plant. Also, the Aphids have found their way to the broccoli raab inside the screen house and are being taken care daily with sprays of water. Regardless of a few rookie problems, the garden to table benefit is a great pleasure and we look forward to harvesting through early winter.

October 24 International Day of Climate Action-Get Involved

2009-10-22T21:21:00.004-04:00

On Saturday October 24 you can take responsibility for your impact on the Global Climate. Join your community by participating in a local event or sponsor one in your home. There is information about 350.org and some great ideas for Saturday.

Here are some photos of 350.org events from around the World.

Urban Rain Water Harvesting

2009-10-21T15:06:00.000-04:00

Large urban cities in the United States such as Seattle, Portland and New York City are using rain water harvesting for a variety of environmental reasons. Rain water harvesting, simply defined, is the process of catching and holding water. This process has its beginnings in ancient history that flows back to the Roman Empire. Romans used cisterns and aqueduct systems to catch and hold the rain water. The Romans used this water for various household activities such as laundry, bathing and watering their gardens. They were inventive enough to use water to create one of the earliest methods of air conditioning. However, the Romans were not the only ancient culture to harvest rain water, many of the South Asian and Mid-East countries used similar means for catch and hold.

Urban gardeners are utilizing this ancient principle of "catching and holding" rain water for use in their gardens and community gardens. Catching rain water rolling down the roofs and down leaders of their homes into barrels. This harvested rain water is used to water their gardens and lawns. This is one example of a small scale water harvesting system used by urban gardeners, however for larger areas there are more elaborate systems used for rain water collection.

There are many reasons to harvest rain water that are beneficial to an urban environment. Rain water flowing down our urban streets are collecting toxins (like petroleum and animal feces) on its way to sewer systems or storm drains. Reports indicate that some of our largest cities have great amounts of rain water running through their vastly complex sewer systems to treatment plants that are unable to handle the load. Therefore, urban gardeners catching and holding water are reducing the strain on these easily overloaded treatment plants. Additionally, harvesting rain water may also be helpful in preventing urban flooding and of benefit to areas that have little rainfall.

Harvesting rain water is an ancient method for catching and holding water, which is being harnessed by urban gardeners across the country for use in their gardens. It is useful for conserving home water usage, relieving stress on treatment plants and possibly reducing urban flooding. However, it is important to have an awareness of the ecology of your particular geographical location when considering whether to harvest rain water. If you live in area where there is a large concentration of industrial and manufacturing plants it would be prudent to restrict using harvested rain water to watering of flowers and lawns.

Combining Urban Garden and Regionally Grown Bounty In A Meal

2009-10-18T16:16:00.009-04:00

At our local Green Market yesterday we purchased many fresh and vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables. Today we used the potatoes to accompany our Herb Rubbed grilled London Broil. With the potatoes we made delicious Garlic Mashed Potatoes with a sour cream and chive topping. The chives were picked fresh from our Herb Garden and then combined with the sour cream. We then spooned the topping softly atop the mashed potatoes. George's Herb Rub (see below) was rubbed into the London broil. The London Broil was then grilled outside on the barbecue . The Garlic Mashed Potatoes are a perfect partner for this herb rubbed grilled London Broil dish. It was also served with a fresh green salad which included ingredients that were purchased at the Green Market.

The freshness of the produce purchased at our local Green Market was a welcome to our table. A meal with out dessert is not complete. Honestly, we were not disappointed by the freshness and tastiness of our Green Market peach -blueberry pie and apple cider donuts.

So, if you are an Urban Gardener try combining the freshness of your harvest with regionally grown foods purchased at your local Green Market. The two compliment each other for a delightful garden to table family meal. Next week, I will be back at our local Green Market, how about you?

George's Steak Rub

1/2 teaspoon of fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon of fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt

1/4 teaspoon of peppercorns grounded

1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of Organic Canola oil

Combine the basil, parsley, salt , ground peppercorns, cumin and onion in a small bowl/mortar and with a pestle grind the ingredients into one another. Then place in a small container and add the oil. Allow the mixture to blend together for 5-15 minutes. Then take the steak and rub the

mixture into it. Grill outdoors. I found this a very tasty rub for Skirt Steak.

Staten Island Mall Green Market- A New Market To Get Your Fresh Produce

2009-10-17T11:18:00.011-04:00

The Staten Island Mall parking lot on Richmond Avenue is the new home for the Island's second Green Market, the other is in St. George. This location has been in operation for the past month and is sponsored by the Council on the Environment of New York City .
It is open on Saturdays from 9AM to 4PM until November 21 2009.

It hosts Regional Growers from New York and nearby New Jersey, a bread company and a fish market from Eastern Long Island. All the vendors were friendly and provided information enthusiastically to all who inquired.

The setting for this Green Market is somewhat interesting, it is situated in the parking lot of the Island's largest retail shopping mall and across the road sits one of the Earth's largest closed garbage dumps. This market is a welcome site to the borough's commitment to it's "Green " mission and maybe the lyrics of a new song could read "put up a parking lot and put in a Green Market". As Islanders we should be calling our local officials and those at CENYC; applauding this added market and informing them we want more "Green" businesses on this wonderful Island of Staten.

Here are a few photos from the Green Market at the Staten Island Mall Parking Lot taken on a cold damp and rainy morning which found Ellen from the Green Market cooking egg sandwiches for the vendors.

RG Produce LLC- Goshen, NY

The Orchards of Cocklin- Pamona, New York

Bread Alone

Gill's Seafood- Long Island, New York

Urban Garden Review

2009-10-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from urban gardeners around the country.

Here is a backyard garden from Andrew Turner. This was taken in Mission Dolores, San Francisco.

This is the STARS Complex urban garden in Ft. Myers, Florida. It is maintained by the Boys & Girls Club of Lee County. Photo by Gabriel, Sown Together.

Here is a vegetable garden from our nation's capital,
Washington DC, from Wayan Vota.

A sidewalk cafe in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle grows their own herbs. Photo by Satrina0.

Girl Scouts maintain this urban garden in Cooper Young, Memphis Tennessee. Photo by ilovememphis.

A bumblebee visits the community garden in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo by tcd123usa.

Standing out amid the urban blight in Old North St. Louis, a community garden flourishes. Photo by velo_city.

We don't generally think of Montana as an urban space, but rachemicah has done a lot of planting on a little bit of land.

Winterizing Your Garden

2009-10-15T08:18:00.001-04:00

As the northeast starts to descend into colder weather, it's a good time to start preparing your garden for the winter. Most of your fruitful plants will have expended their yield, and now is the time to make the improvements in your garden's design that you've been meaning to get to.

First and foremost, if you haven't created a compost, now is a great time. As you pull up the tomato plants and cucumber vines, don't just throw them away. They have all winter to break down and create some really great, nutrient-rich soil for you to cover your garden with in the spring. Just be careful not to toss in any weeds or plants that have shown signs of disease, as this may result in headaches next summer. A Tumbleweed composter is a great choice for a small urban space.

Now is also the time to expend a little elbow grease. Tilling and turning over your soil in the fall is a great choice, as the dirt is often muddy after the spring thaw. There are many varieties of weeds that germinate at this time of year, so consider using a light cover of mulch or cover crop like annual ryegrass to protect your dirt as well. The rye will germinate in just over a week, and will create an extensive root system that will keep the soil loose and attract friendly visitors like earthworms and yeasts. If your soil has become too acidic over the course of the growing season, late autumn is the best time to add some lime to the soil (it'll help the ryegrass thrive as well!).

Root vegetables like onions and carrots often grow well in cold temperatures. Cut off any green growth as we approach Thanksgiving and make sure you mulch to protect the stem. Just remember that mulch, as important as it is, can also be a detriment. If it's applied too thick before the ground freezes, it can become a haven for rodents.

If you use your garden for food and beauty, it is also the right time to plant spring bulbs. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus will all develop their root systems over the winter. Remember to take a long view of your garden. Assess what worked and what didn't, and make the changes to your landscape now that will make the difference in your garden next summer.

City Pasture Herb Bounty

2009-10-10T15:14:00.010-04:00

Our Herb Garden has provided us with many tasty herbs. We planted the herb garden in a very sunny section of our yard. Herbs tend to enjoy the sun and seemed to have thrived in a heavily mulched cover. This kept the moisture and heat at a comfortable level for the plants

We add our fresh herbs to many of our prepared at home meals throughout the summer and early fall. We jar some to dry and freeze the rest, therefore enjoying them for the rest of the year. On Sundays the house is wrapped in the enticing blended odors of fresh tomato and basil sauce. It has a way of enticing you to reach for a slice of French bread and dipping into the sauce, while no one is looking.

Herbs are easy to grow and another added benefit to a sustainable garden is their fragrance. Their fragrance is most notable during early morning, or warm evenings and after watering. Herb gardens provide an escape from the hustle and bustle of a busy urban day. Their fragrances encourage you to surrender your senses to them, bringing on an almost hypnotic like state. It is a natural spa for bathing your senses while escaping the business of a long day. An herb garden is just another of the many benefits of having a sustainable garden in your urban environment. Chris McLaughlin provides her readers with further information and ideas in her article Herb Garden Themes.

Making a Container Garden at City Pastures

2009-10-08T20:18:00.007-04:00

Recently, I was reading some information from the Home and Garden Information Center at the University of Maryland about Container Gardens. They provide excellent information about type of soil to use, location and making your own Container Garden. The information was well written and illustrated for helping to get one started. Container Gardening can be for a balcony, rooftop, patio, etc. with very little effort. The project on the videos below took no more than twenty five minutes.

Container Gardening could be a fun project for the whole family and the classroom. Imagine a birthday party with your child's friends or children in a classroom making container gardens. Children can be taught the importance of "sustainable gardening", recycling and healthy eating from this project.

You can start collecting materials (recycled materials are a good choice) now for your spring container garden, it's never too early!

Growing Vegetable Plants Inside A Screen House

2009-10-07T17:07:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I purchased some vegetable seedlings to grow for a fall crop and placed some of them in containers in our screen house. The rest of the seedlings were planted in our vegetable garden. Here are two short videos of their progress, if you want more info contact us at citypastures@gmail.com.

Farm Aid- Reflections of an Urban Farmer

2009-10-04T12:59:00.010-04:00

I have been gardening since I was a young child. My father always had a few tomato plants growing in our post card sized backyard in Queens, New York. As a young child I developed an interest in the care and growth of the garden. My first home had a vegetable garden and since we have had some type of sustainable gardening (containers, small plot of earth) as part of our environment. Perhaps it is because my name "George" reportedly means "farmer, of the earth" that gardening/farming is an important part of my life

Urban farming is not just a way of getting down to dirt and reinforcing my commitment to the Earth but a place of reflection.I am privileged in this respect compared to farmers here in the USA and in Third World countries who are dependent on their crops for a living or sustaining their lives.

This is most evident in my journeys to Guatemala. My wife's family is dependent on their crops for their every day table food. They find it curious that someone living in the USA has a vegetable farm on their little plot of earth. After all, to them us Americans drive big SUVs (Stupid Urban Vehicles), live in big houses with large screen TVs and are materialistic.

So, on this day which we celebrate Farm Aid here in the USA let us pause a moment and think seriously about "getting back to the garden" and support all our farmers. Be grateful for all your bounty and aid those who are in need.

What is Sustainable Gardening? - Vegetable Gardener

2009-10-01T20:36:00.012-04:00

Thinking about starting a vegetable garden in your urban yard, rooftop, balcony or basement you will find the Link Harvest very resourceful. I recently found a great article by Chris McLaughlin at vegetablegardener.com very informative for my garden. She says "... it's simple to practice sustainable gardening and works so well, you'll wonder how you ever bought into the idea that you need buckets of Roundup and gallons of Miracle-Gro to have a terrific garden in the first place." Click here to read the whole article and find out more advice on topics like composting, pest control and companion growing techniques.

What is Sustainable Gardening? - Vegetable Gardener

Check out some of the photos of our recent harvest here at our Staten Island Garden. We planted the broccoli and eggplant at the end of Spring provided it with daily watering, weeded and fed it Osmocote Flower and Vegetable Feed twice during the growing season. One of our local nursery experts here on Staten Island (who is an organic farmer) recommended this product for our garden needs. To find out more information regarding Osmocote Flower and Vegetable www.osmocote.com. We are still harvesting these two vegetables and serving them at our table.

Our Urban Pasture-Summer 2009

2009-09-28T19:54:00.007-04:00

These are photos of our Urban Vegetable Garden in Staten Island, New York. We had our wall designed and installed by Romero's Landscaping here on Staten Island. Marco is a wonderful person to work with and was very careful of fitting the design of the wall and allowing it to flow into our Urban Environment.

Our vegetable garden is approximately 200 square feet and flows gently around into our flower gardens. We have grown lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, string beans, zucchini, eggplant (Asian, purple and white), corn, tomatoes (cherry, plum, acid-free) broccoli, spinach, escarole, peppers, beets and cucumbers. We had a good harvest and have started our fall garden (spinach, lettuce and kale). It is wonderful to have fresh " we grew it ourselves" organic produce from our urban garden. Fresh picked flowers from our flower garden decorate our home and screen room. Also, in front of our pool we have an Herb Garden that wraps around the front of the pool and becomes another flower garden. We have a nice size lawn in the center of the Vegetable Garden, Flower Garden and Herb Garden. In our Flower Garden we have Blueberry Bushes which we just planted this past spring and with advice from Paul at one of the local nurseries, we already had fresh fruit!

Use your land to grow food for yourself, family, friends and those in need of food here in the USA.

Fall Has Arrived

2009-09-26T21:30:00.008-04:00

So, fall has arrived here on Staten Island and I have planted a few rows of Kale, Spinach, Broccoli Rab/Endive and Lettuce. We are still harvesting Bush Beans (Yummy), Eggplants and Broccoli (tastes great!). We are experimenting with growing some vegetables in our screen house. I will let you know how that works out. My friendly nursery person suggested I use potting soil in my containers. We have planted some of the same vegetables inside that we have in our outdoor 200 square foot "Urban Farm". So, we will be able to compare our two growing areas.
The other day I made a great Indian Curry from our bounty of Eggplants, Peppers and Zucchini.
I must be honest our vegetables taste great, they are fresh and organically grown right on our Urban Farm! You should try one in your "urban space" whether it be a yard, balcony or patio. You can do it!
Are you getting your flower garden ready for bulb planting?

Did you know that some cows are kept in barns and never go out in the field? So, they get fat! I was also told that some horses are kept in barns so that their urine can be used for medical purposes! This is crazy...this is progress?

Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

2009-09-25T14:17:00.002-04:00

The Felknor Ventures FV504C Topsy Turvy Upside-Down Hanging Tomato Planter is a great solution for growing cherry tomatoes in a small space. Ideal for hanging from a balcony or even a hook outside of a window, it's a patch of earth in midair.

Ripened Tomatoes

2009-09-25T13:59:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year, when the fruit of your labors is ready for the dinner plate. If you've been lucky enough to survive this summer's rampant tomato blight, then the smell of fresh tomatoes has no doubt been gracing your kitchen for the last three weeks.

Click here for a great sauce recipe using your vine-ripened treasures.

Welcome to City Pastures

2009-09-25T10:59:00.000-04:00

City Pastures is the story of growing healthy, organic food in an urban environment. From New York City's Staten Island borough, we will explore the joys and challenges of growing your own produce and share many tips and tricks for getting the most out of your own plot of earth.