I’m in love with Renee’s drawings of seed pods poster. The perfect mix of science and pretty. $18.00
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La Plaza Cultural
Once again I am trying to catch up on the garden visits I have made over the last three months. La Plaza Cultural is a community garden in New York City’s Alphabet City neighborhood (9th and Avenue C) that I have visited twice but only from the outside. But what a fantastic outside it is. The garden spans a large corner block and the fence along both sides is covered along the top with beautiful junk flowers artfully fashioned from tin cans, detergent bottles, beer caps, and just about any indestructable junk imaginable. Like other gardens in the area it was built up from the rubble and debris of abandoned tenements and trash and nurtured into a community space that has thrived since the late 70s.
This is the entrance on 9th Ave. The text on the wall reads, “The Struggle Continues” in spanish and english.
Someone in the area has been making and installing homemade birdhouses utilizing more junk materials. I found a few scattered around the neighbourhood. Surprising little discoveries like these are one of the aspects of city-living that I cherish most.
Someone altered the text on this sign. It’s too bad that there are class issues arising around the garden although I would bet most of those problems are tied to the swiftly changing face of the neighborhood rather than the garden itself.
Also see:
- my photos taken at the 6th & B Community Garden in the same area of New York.
- More about La Plaza Cultural
- Rock Soup – A film about the homeless in La Plaza Cultural in the 80s and their fight against City Hall’s plan to close down their soup kitchen.
Seed-Starting Tags/Chart
As per usual I did not read instructions and jumped headfirst into converting Goldtop’s cute Seed-Starting Chart into little seedling pot tags. Turns out they are great for either purpose.
I printed mine on cardstock, cut them out, and attached to tongue depressors. I did not have anything important to write in the notes section so I wrote a mantra for my tomato in hopes that it will manifest itself into a successful tomato plant. “I am a very delicious tomato. Someday in the future, I will taste great on a sandwich.” I have asked it to repeat these lines 5 times each morning while looking in a mirror. Should do the trick, right?
Leave a commentWindowsill Cozy
Here’s the follow-up to last week’s Toasty Pot Coaster project.
This windowsill warmer is easily crocheted much like coaster using double crochets and shell stitches as a decorative edge. Start by measuring the width and depth of your windowsill. Make chains until the width matches the width of your sill. Double crochet into each chain, making a turning chain at the end of the row (3 chains). Turn the piece around and continue double crocheting rows until your cozy is as deep as your windowsill. Shell stitch into one side to make a frilly edge that sits just over the front of the sill.
I made my cozy using a partial ball of thick and rough wool that was too scratchy to wear against bare skin. The thickness of the wool has really made an improvement, warming the plants up from the bottom. My partner Davin who happens to sit next to the window claims that it has blocked some of the chill that sneaks in through the lower part of the sill as well.
Online Tutorials
- For Dummies – Ignore the title cause you ain’t no dummy. Includes illustrations.
- Crocheting a Circle Video Tutorial – For your viewing pleasure. All that and fancy nails too!
- Shell Stitch Video Tutorial
Toasty Pot Coaster
Like many apartments mine boasts poorly insulated windows and baseboard electric heating. Yep, it’s a keeper. With the weather being in the high My Ass is About to Fall Offs I’ve been scheming ingenious ways to keep the plants that are stuck enduring their fate on the cold windowsill warm and alive through these dark days.
With a little extra time and some spare wool on hand I recently crocheted some handy warmers that seem to be making a difference. The first is a cozy coaster that was ridiculously easy for a novice crocheter like me to cobble together. All I did was make your standard crocheted circle — there are lots of books and websites that show how this is done (see list below). However, for those with some basic crochet skills all it takes is to make a small circle by slip stitching a couple of chains, and then double crocheting into that circle on every round, inserting some extra double crochets here and there to keep the coaster sitting flat.
Keep crocheting new rounds until your circle is as large as your pot’s saucer. You can make it a little larger so some of the design peeks over the edges or you can fancy it up with decorative edging like I did. Being the Queen of Scallops I went for the shell stitch which is as simple as double crocheting 3 to 5 times into a stitch until you’ve got a fan shape. Attach each fan (or scallop) to the coaster with a slip stitch and then begin double crocheting into the next stitch. You can spread them out a little bit or keep them tight like I have to make them puff out and curl. Just be sure to set a saucer underneath your plant pot to avoid turning your coaster into a wet and stinky mess.
I’ll post about the other project in a few days so stayed tuned.
Online Tutorials
- For Dummies – Ignore the title cause you ain’t no dummy. Includes illustrations.
- Crocheting a Circle Video Tutorial – For your viewing pleasure. All that and fancy nails too!
- Shell Stitch Video Tutorial
