Brooklyn Feed

This past weekend we dropped our tree off at our local park to be chipped. It was encouraging to see how many trees were being dropped off by neighbors. The sanitation department had guys driving around in trucks picking up trees left on the sidewalks. We have a big cart that we use to haul our photo gear, which was perfect to cart our tree away. We were even able to add 2 more big trees and one Charlie Brown tree to the pile. My selfish goal was to take away the trees near our building so I wouldn’t have to see them. Did I mention how much abandoned trees bum me out?? I wish the city had a big enough budget to collect the trees. Maybe next year I will dedicate a day to carting trees.

It’s that time of year again! The time where the streets are littered with old Christmas trees. I find this unutterably depressing. Something that caused so much joy and wonder is just tossed out with the garbage. But, I’m not asking you to mulch your tree to keep me from getting gloomy, there are plenty of more pressing ecological reasons why you should do it. Take some time to search your community to see what kind of programs there are for old Christmas trees.

In NYC we have mulchfest Jan. 7 & 8th. You can click on this link to see which parks near you are accepting trees. We have a cart that we use to bring our tree, and we try and pick up as many other trees we find on our way.

Many areas come up with creative uses for old trees such as New Orleans using them to restore coastlines and The Pacific Northwest Christmas tree association using them in lakes for aquatic habitat projects. You can read a NY Times article on the subject here. Rose over at OnThePondFarm feeds hers to her goats.

This summer my daughter was a flower girl at a friend’s wedding. The dress was pretty, but not something she would ever get to wear again. It’s the kid’s version of the bridesmaid dress.

I was happy when she decided to be a vampire, zombie flower girl for Halloween for a couple of reasons. It was her first scary costume. And we could turn the dress into this…

A friend who works in theatre helped us zombify it. All we had to buy were the accessories (teeth, basket, tights) and we were done. This dress is a wonderful addition to Lindsay’s dress-up bin, where I know it will get tons of use.

We haven’t sent photos to the friends who had the wedding…

As I’ve probably mentioned before, I have a tiny backyard surrounded by tall buildings. What this means is that for several hours a day (more in winter) the sun is blocked by these buildings. So while my yard looks sunny, the sun travels and doesn’t hit one spot all day long.

The spot that gets the most sun is (of course) the area that is paved. I have had an assortment of pots and planters there, and this year I put in some raised bed planters. Instead of building them, I scavenged wooden wine boxes from our local wine shops. They are the same width (wine bottle length), so even though they are different lengths, they make a nice, even row.

I have to be somewhat smart about what I can plant with my limited sunshine. I have bush beans, lots of greens including mâche, deer tongue, new zealand spinach and lacinata kale. I can grow tomato plants that don’t produce a lot. Cherries do best. This year I planted white currant tomatoes. I have way too many, since I started them from seed, so if anyone wants some, let me know.

I am trying yukon gold potatoes and ground cherries for the first time.

And if you are wondering why I have wire over my beds, it’s because I have very tenacious squirrels. They dig like lunatics in my beds, which rips up anything that isn’t well established.

I got a call the other day from my friend Victoria asking me if I would like a kumquat tree. I love calls like this! Among many other things, Victoria is an amazing food stylist. She has been working with a photographer who shoots out of his home in nearby Brooklyn. After their shoots they often have props that they can’t use or return. What is so great, is that Victoria thinks of me and asks me if I need…whatever it is. I’m so greedy, that I never say no.

Hopefully my little kumquat tree will survive the chilly ride in the messenger van! I also have 2 huge blueberry bushes in my backyard courtesy of Victoria. I know she’s happy that this stuff goes to good use, and of course I’m happy because I get to play with fun new things.

Last year Victoria’s son came over to pick blueberries with my daughter in our yard. It’s a funny urban/farming experience we bring to our children.

Update: I think that this little tree isn’t in fact a kumquat. I think it’s a calamondin based on looking through a gardening catalog. Their description is apt: It produces an abundance of round bright orange 1-1/2″ fruit. The fruit is easy to peel and has few seeds. The orange colored pulp is juicy and sour (this is an understatement!). It can be used as a flavoring or as a juice like a lemon or a lime. When sweetened with sugar it makes a delicious marmalade.

Don’t dump your Christmas tree out on the street! Give it new life by bringing it to one of many city parks this weekend to be chipped. Here’s the NYC site that shows which parks are participating in the different boros. Many sites offer free mulch as well.

If you don’t live in NYC, check with your local government or sanitation department to see if they have a similar program. And if you are lucky enough to have a good-sized yard, just chop the tree up yourself and leave in an unused area. The animals and plants will love you for it. Here’s a link to a woman who keeps goats, who’s neighbor drop their trees off for her goats to munch on.

Just remember, remove all lights, tinsel and other stuff that isn’t part of the tree. I always think this is a super-obvious thing to say, but a couple of days ago I saw a tree on the curb with all the lights still on it. What the heck? You had such a bad Christmas you can’t imagine ever stringing your lights again? Or just a gross example of our disposable society?

My daughter Lindsay has the idea that my husband and I can repair anything. She gives Neil her toys and I get her clothing. We usually are able to fix her things in a way that works for her. Cute patches on knees of jeans, etc. Neil jokes about starting a company called “Made in China, Repaired in Brooklyn.” I like that Lindsay likes us to repair items, rather than tossing them out.

I just read Lyanda’s The Tangled Nest  post about patching a favorite pair of pants. Lyanda is the author of a lovely book called Crow Planet, which I will write about soon. (It’s been in my reading list on the sidebar here for ages) She calls me her East coast soul sister and I think she’s right. In her blog post, she asks people to write about things they have creatively rescued. Many posts were about people taking old large-sized clothing to turn into new small-sized garments. It made me think of a blog that was devoted to just that. And I can’t think of the blasted name of that blog. They asked people to take a pledge not to buy new clothing, and instead bring new life to their existing wardrobe. They had great ideas for converting t-shirts and other things into pretty hip new garments. Somebody please help me with the name of this blog.

So while I was searching for the blog online, I came across this article in NYU News about Project Design, which is a program designed to teach low-income women how to reclaim used/vintage clothing. They teach the young women how to design, sew, etc. Take a peek at the article. It is a really nice idea.

After my sister-in-law told us that her 3 year-old son wanted to sleep under his Christmas tree, my husband and I remembered our daughter’s love of our Christmas tree when she was about the same age. When our tree was dry and brittle, we started to break the news to Lindsay that we were going to take it down. She was really upset and kept hugging the tree, which of course just added to the already alarming loss of needles. Every year we take our tree to a local park, where they have a chipping program called Mulchfest. We brought our tree there, much to Lindsay’s skepticism to “be with it’s friends”. She bid it a tearful farewell and fortunately didn’t notice the crew feeding trees into the huge chipper.

I always find it a little sad to see Christmas trees tossed out with the trash. The fact that they were once a treasured part of the holiday and are now tossed out on the street with the garbage bags always startles me. Plus it’s hard to wrap my head around all that organic matter going to a landfill with old batteries, diapers, etc. So, let’s try and come up with some great uses for old Christmas trees to prevent them from going into landfills. TREECYCLE!

• Find out if your community has a tree collection or chipping program. Here in NYC we have mulchfest this coming Sat. 1/9 from 10am-2pm. You can look at this site to find a park in your area that will take your tree. And while you are dragging your tree down the street, why not stop and grab one or two others that are just lying on the sidewalk waiting for trash pick up? A lot of these programs allow you to bring some wood chips home with you for your garden.
• If you don’t have a mulching/chipping program in your community, do it yourself. Prune branches off your tree and lay them down in your garden beds. Pine branches can look nice arranged around a tree on a city sidewalk. You can add them to your compost pile, although pine needles can take a while to break down.
• You can prune branches and make small bundles. These are great to help start fires in your fireplace.
• If you have the land, drag your tree out into a woodsy area to be used as a wildlife refuge for birds and small animals.
• If you have a pond, weigh your tree down and put it in the water. It becomes a nice home for fish.
• If you live near a beach, see if your community uses old Christmas trees in an effort to restore dunes like Bradley Beach in New Jersey.
• You can save the needles and make potpourri or sachets.

If you have a great use for an old Christmas tree, please post!

In our house we celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah. That is a whole lot of gift giving, which can mean a whole lot of gift wrapping. It bums me out each year to see the clear garbage bags filled with holiday wrapping paper. This year I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of paper we use to wrap gifts. For Chanukah, we give one or two gifts a night. I’ve been putting them unwrapped inside a pretty gift bag. Lindsay doesn’t seem to notice or care that they aren’t wrapped. She’s just interested in what’s inside the bag. In fact she saw the bag today and asked why there was nothing in the Chanukah bag (her comforter wouldn’t fit in it).

Neil asked what I planned to do with the presents for Christmas. The gift bag obviously won’t work, so I’ve been looking at ideas online for gift wrap alternatives. Here’s what I found so far. Please feel free to add suggestions.

1. Use fabric to wrap the gifts. I’ve gotten some fabric bags over the years when I’ve purchased something at a fancy shop. I always hang onto them because it just seems a waste to throw them out. (I’m convinced that I have a form of mental illness when it comes to throwing things out, but that’s a whole other post). I think putting some of the gifts in these bags would be pretty. If I had more time, I would even consider sewing a few bags from all the bits of fabric I have.
2. Use the funny papers to wrap kids presents. If your paper has a comic section, this can be a nice option.
3. Old calendars can be cut up and used to wrap smaller gifts.
4. Wallpaper
5. Old maps. NYC subway maps are free
6. Kid’s artwork. If you don’t want to use their drawings, have them decorate paper grocery bags with stickers, drawings, glitter, etc.
7. Pillow cases from mis-matched sets of sheets

Here are some factoids that might give you some more incentive. I pulled them off the California government website.

Take a look at this 20 minute video about the downside of our production and consumption patterns. Annie Leonard narrates the video and discusses the social and environmental problems with the current system of consumption. It’s animated and friendly, so you aren’t left completely depressed. There is also a section on the website called Another Way. It shows 10 little and big things you can do to promote sustainability. Take a peek.