Results tagged “garden”

If you don't have a rooftop or illegal fire escape garden, but you crave the taste of fresh thyme and basil for your homecooking... then you might to check out the possibility of window farming. New Yorkers Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray created Window Farms since growing food inside New York apartments is such a challenge. They simply channeled the "hydroponics research conducted by NASA scientists and marijuana farmers" — now through a drip system made from recycled water bottles, they've been growing beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, basil, lettuce and kale! CoolHunting stopped by to get a closer look:

Last month celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse visited the White House garden to film part of a special two-hour episode of Iron Chef America to emphasize locally-grown, healthy food. The three were joined by the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, who teamed up with Flay against the other two chefs in a cooking contest filmed later in NYC.

The Truck Farm got some stready press during the summer months, and the Bed-Stuy blog just spotted it, still spurting out produce even though the days are getting shorter, darker and colder. They report back: "Looks like they had a hearty crop of tomatoes and peppers, along with a couple of other veg I could not immediately identify. I was tempted to pick, but I didn’t!" If one did want to pick at it, however, the Truck Farm is also a CSA of sorts—for just 20 bucks you can get your own little piece of the patch in the Dodge Ram. There's a video intro to the project after the jump, and more info at Wicked Delicate, who created the movable farm.

       

Earlier today a memorial garden honoring the late actor, writer and director Adrienne Shelly was unveiled in a ceremony at Abingdon Square Park (8th Avenue and 12th Street). Her widower, Andy Ostroy, who is also the Executive Director of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, was on hand along with other friends and family. NY1 talked to Paul Rudd on the scene, who said "She really was such a fixture in this neighborhood for so many years that it's impossible not to think of her whenever I'm here."

T.B.D. Garden: True, we told you about the massive new courtyard garden at Greenpoint's T.B.D. in last week's big roundup of al fresco drinking options, but what we didn't know then is that they're also going to be barbecuing back there every weekend and on select weeknights. Cook Min Chen, who knows T.B.D. co-owner Allen Welch from when they ran Long Island City's Lounge 47, tells us she's working on an expanded menu that promises to push beyond the standard BBQ fare. To that end, last weekend's menu featured seitan pulled "pork" and house-made potato veggie burgers, in addition to the regular burgers and potato salad you'd expect to find. Still under the radar and open just a few weeks now, this is a sweet space to spread out and read the paper while drinking a hard lemonade or five, and on weekends there's usually an old-timey jazz band or slot car racing.

       

Here's a look at Entwine, a new wine bar and small plates lounge over on the far side of West 12th Street. Perhaps you're thinking, "Finally! Another wine bar in the Village." But Entwine has some attributes that make it worth a trip west (or east, if you want respite after roaming Hudson River park). There's the tranquil back yard garden, for one thing, as well as the creative cocktail menu, which includes bartender Duane Fernandez's delicious twist on the Rusty Nail; dubbed the Scotland Yard, it sports Dewars, Drambuie, fresh ginger, lemon juice and basil.

It's that time of year again! The Met is readying their roof garden with a site-specific monumental sculpture. On Tuesday, weather permitting, conceptual artist Roxy Paine's dramatic Maelstrom piece, a 130-foot-long by 45-foot-wide stainless-steel sculpture, will be unveiled, encompassing the nearly 8,000-square-foot outdoor space.

Today Brooklyn Based has some tips on growing the perfect garden...on your fire escape. The site eases cases of outdoor space envy by saying, "If you’ve got window sills, a fire escape or a stoop, you’re two months away from homegrown tomatoes and morning glory vines." One commenter quickly sounded his safety whistle with warnings of such an urban escape being illegal—but it's certainly been done before. In fact, earlier this month SustainBlog had a list of vegetables one could grow on their fire escape.

Architect Daniel Libeskind is taking a cue from the urban gardening minds and "has unveiled a proposal for his first New York building: a glass tower dripping with sky gardens." NY Mag reports that his vision for One Madison Avenue would surpass the 700-foot Met Life tower in height, and that "Initial designs show a glass-curtained tube with cutaways spiraling up and around the façade to reveal segments of terraced verdure, like cultivated patches on the side of a steep alpine slope." How poetic. Libeskind says that the gardens are balconies and that the design will make it "as if nature has come back into the city.” As Curbed notes, "very expensive and exclusive nature."

Since opening last November, the 2,000 square foot Radegast Hall in Williamsburg has been packed with patrons enjoying the massive mugs of beer, the hearty food, and the debate about the old world dirndl peasant dresses worn by the waitresses. (Humiliating or part of the ambiance?) One group strongly opposed to the vintage Czech ensembles are the employees themselves, who say the tight bodices and short skirts are provoking come-ons from grabby drunken tools. Not cool, bros!

         

The elegant 7th floor roof garden at Rockefeller Plaza is usually off limits, but for the next two evenings the general public is invited up to sip cocktails while savoring the twilight view. The only catch is that you have to absorb a lot of information about Canada, because our northern neighbor's tourism board is the one footing the bill. But since their national sales pitch comes with free food, music, drinks and hand massages, who's complaining?

        

The farewell party for the famous "Toy Tower" at the Avenue B and 6th Street community garden took place yesterday. Vanishing New York estimates about 100 well-wishers were in attendance to eulogize the found object art tower, which rose to a height of 65 feet over the course of two decades. The eclectic structure is the work of the colorful East Village character Eddie Boros, who passed away one year ago this month.

A tipster tells Vanishing New York that the iconic found object “Tower of Toys” that began rising out of the Avenue B and 6th Street Community Garden in the mid-80s will be demolished by the Parks Department. According to the garden's executive committee, the 65-foot tower has been deemed unsafe. And, let’s face it, it’s just not in keeping with the city’s ever-expanding ‘generic and soulless’ real estate trend.

After stalling their landlord’s attempt to build a parking garage in their courtyard next to the BQE two years ago, tenants and other community activists are still fighting the proposal. Built in 1890, the Riverside Apartments at Columbia Place and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights were regarded as a great advancement in tenement living. Located near the Columbia Place docks, the nine buildings were unique for their running toilets, common courtyard, ventilation, and fireproofing, something unheard of for tenements at the time.