Posts Tagged ‘urban garden’

The plots at the Santa Fe Railyard community garden are really beginning to take off. However, some of the herbs are not taking to the hot summer heat as well as their vegetable companions.

This weekend I called Garden District to see if they had any alpine strawberry plants.  They said they might get some in this Thursday, so I put my name down on the list for four plants.  On Saturday, I stopped by the farmer’s market in Dupont, and I talked to one of the proprietors of a nursery.  He will definitely have alpine strawberry plants ready within a few weeks.  My clay strawberry pots are ready and waiting.  Hopefully I’ll have a new, local source of vitamin C very soon! Be sure to check out takomabibelot‘s photo stream, and join the Grown in the City photopool to have your urban gardening photos featured on the site.

Back in 2007 and early 2008, I worked for Next American City magazine while I completed my graduate degree.  I got to take some photos, do some research, and even write an article that appeared in the magazine’s Fall 2007 issue.  One of my favorite experiences was working with Elizabeth Evitts (before she got married and added the Dickinson), who was guest editor of the magazine the summer I started.  She’s a fantastic writer (NY Times Magazine, Metropolis, Architect) and editor (as their Editor-in-Chief, she helped make Baltimore’s Urbanite what it is today) but she was all in all one of those people who is just fun to work with.  I learned a lot about journalism from her. That said, I’ve been following her personal blog, Urban Palimpsest, since running into her at the Urban Design After the Age of Oil conference in Philadelphia in late 2008.  She’s always got

Last year, a friend of mine from grad school was kind enough to get us in for a tour of the White House gardens.  As I was out for my morning run yesterday, I noticed that the White House was holding an open house of the gardens, and thought I’d share some photos from last spring.  I’m not sure if anything has changed for the 2010 season, but the red and yellow tulips and daffodils were certainly a sight to see last year.  If you’re ever in town when they are giving tours, I would highly recommend it!

Barb Hickey has a great piece on Allegheny Grows, “a new initiative to encourage urban farming and community gardening on vacant lots and blighted properties. Allegheny Grows will offer startup materials, as well as technical and educational assistance to municipalities that show significant interest in developing urban farms and community gardens.” In it, she touches on the “triple bottom line” of sustainability: Environmental Sustainability “Vegetation can reflect as much as 20 to 25 percent of the sun’s radiation, reducing the heat island effect and cooling urban areas. Garden soil is absorbent, and it reduces runoff from rain and helps to minimize surface erosion. Gardens reduce pollutants in the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and other substances. Small open spaces in urban areas provide crucial corridors for retaining native wildlife and supporting migratory species. In the United States, a meal travels approximately 13,000 miles on average before reaching the dinner table.