This article originally appeared in my newsletter. I’m starting a new community garden. Technically, we don’t have permission to do this (yet). The city’s Department of Transportation owns the land. I haven’t been able to get ahold of them. We’re…
I wanted to write this article as someone who has become deeply involved in New York’s community gardens, specifically community composting, over the past two years. Very often, funding for these types of programs is thought of as a “nice…
I find myself torn on the debate over Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan. You have a clear argument on both sides. We need more green space in cities. As I’ve written about, green space does everything from cooling the air and…
In my community garden, there are a small number of thundering trees: London Plane trees (Platanus x acerifolia). And if you live in New York, you no doubt recognize these trees. It has the peeling bark and a mottled camouflage…
This article originally appeared in my newsletter. Subscribe here. The origin story of Maria Sola Green Space, the community garden a few blocks from me, varies each time someone tells it. Oral history lives in flux. Some of us say…
If you’re processing your own compost, you’ve probably heard that you need the right brown to green ratio. The rule of thumb is usually a 2:1, 3:1, or even 4:1 ratio of browns to greens. That’s a big range, and…
“Rewilding” is one of those sexy ideas you’ll hear about in a long list of climate solutions. I first came across it when I read Kim Stanley Robinson’s science fiction novel, The Ministry For The Future, where he envisions a time…