If you’re a member of “Dude, Where’s my Kombucha” then you already know. Kombucha, the ancient Chinese remedy known by the Qing Dynasty as “the tea of immortality and the elixir of life,” has been yanked from store shelves around the country. As we speak, Kombucha is being poked and prodded [...]
Make your cheap kite, and fly it too
Now put some air under them.
Why fly a kite? Because it’s “an excellent way… to gain a feel for aerodynamic forces,” says NASA. Because we don’t look up enough. Because you can spend an afternoon adrift with the breeze for next to nothing. Whatever your reasons, kite-flying is one of the summer’s simple [...]
Earth Day cont’d, all weekend long
Earth Day’s turning 40 next week, and Brooklyn’s throwing a bash. The day for environmental awareness started with some grass-roots teach-ins and counterculture demonstrations in 1970. Now it’s a full-blown earth-stravaganza with film-screenings, recycling demos, eco-fests and the word ‘sustainability’ floating through the warming air. And since April 22 is a Thursday this [...]
Join a CSA so you don’t miss a beet
A yield from Flatbush Farm Share. Photo via Sustainable Flatbush.
Ah, CSA season once again: overflowing boxes of mystery farm-freshness, that connected-to-the-earth feeling and giant zucchinis up the wazoo. Last year we gave you the lowdown on Community Supported Agriculture in Brooklyn and why every locavore, quasi-locavore and their mother seemed to be hopping [...]
Veggie-growing guide, part 4: putting it all together
Photo by Mike Lieberman.
Your seeds have sprung to life, you’ve composted, you’ve got your soil and you know where to grow (probably in a whole bunch of containers in one supremely cramped space). Congratulations, you’re well on your way to inviting a friend to dinner just to say, “Dude, I grew this.” Here’s [...]
Veggie-growing guide, part 3: soil
Photo from Greenbudget
Seasonal info: check. Seeds: check. Now on to the dirty stuff—you can’t grow anything without it. There’s a whole lot of earth beneath Brooklyn’s concrete, and it’s all just waiting to be dug up. At least that’s what the “this land is your land, this land is my land” side of [...]
Veggie-growing guide, part 2: seeds
So, you still plan to grow your own food. Now that we’ve convinced you it’s possible and provided the quick & dirty intro on schedules, temps, etc., it’s time to talk about seeds. Working from seed, as opposed to an existing plant, takes the process into your hands earlier, which will help you [...]
How to grow your windowsill salad
Fire-escape pepper photo by Urban Greenscaper. Click on it for lots more inspiration.
Read the rest of the installments in our four-part series on urban vegetable gardening: seeds, soil and putting it all together.
We know, we know… you probably don’t think you have the space or the know-how to grow a measly [...]
Learn about Diego Rivera, get free tickets to MoMA
Come for the lecture on Mexican Modernism, leave with free tickets to the Museum of Modern Art. Put on your listening shoes for the Brooklyn Public Library’s art appreciation lecture tomorrow, Jan. 23, at Grand Army Plaza; stay until the end, fill out a survey and you’ll receive a free five-person [...]
The best snowboarding deals near NYC
Photo by Sharat Ganapati.
Don’t let anyone tell you that there’s no snowboarding in Brooklyn—unless that person is a park ranger handing out a $350 summons. Outlaw boarders have been known to hit Fort Greene Park after a fresh snowfall, but the tickets they face (it’s illegal) wind up costing a whole lot more [...]
