Metropolitan Gardening

W hile waiting to have the electric bike serviced I wanted to get perked up a little. So I walked over toward Delancy St. On the corner of Allen and Delancy was an indy coffee shop / cafe that boasted of a really good iced latte on a sandwich board. The shop had rough hewn seats and the barista controlled the operation with an ipad mounted on the counter. The latte was amazing. My gut was telling me this place was super eco-conscious so I asked the question... "Are you proud of any of your business practices being particularly green"? The owner said he was and began to elaborate on the recycling and food prep routines. I gave him my card and he smiled. He said, "These walls in here were originally an old barn in my family and the stools are from stumps. We really wanted to make reusing and conservation a distinct part of the plan here." I'm looking forward to hearing more from him, I have a list of questions a mile long about how coffee shops can be run green.

H ere's another shout out to Electric Bikes shop in LES. I have been very pleased about the Ebike I purchased for my wife and have been waiting a few months to provide a complete review on the performance and durability of the bike. But I woke this morning to find the bike wouldn't go. It was charged up, and the throttle wouldn't engage. A few weeks ago the bike was dropped onto it's side a bit roughly and the right brake handle broke. That time Electric Bikes  fixed the problem right away and I wondered if it might have something to do with the previous damage. So... I took a cab with the bike in the trunk to Hester St. and while I was having an iced latte (see the next post)  my ride was fixed perfectly within an hour, he tuned up the brakes and even put a new lens on my headlight. I can't say enough good things about this excellent Electric Bikes dealer.  (94 Hester St. between Allen St & Eldridge St) 

S o when you're going to scope out some potential urban garden sites to renovate what do you do? Browsing ecologically stressed sites is geographically more challenging in NYC that visiting web sites. I visited the sites the first time on my wife's electric bike, but this trip would be uncomfortable riding with two. So the thing to do would be drive a ZIPCAR !  I looked to see what electrics or hybrids were in the neighborhood. Outside my loft the bus runs two blocks from where a Honda Insight hybrid lives. I booked the car for a couple of hours to take a look with an associate who is also interested in scoping out vacant lots for renovation. When she called to confirm the time she asked if we could extend the reservation because she needed to make a run to redhook to get a bookcase. Sure enough the reservation was super easy to change from 2 hours to 4 and just called her back within seconds to give the good news. Karma was my friend when I went out the back door of my buildi

R emember the article about the instant spring window box ? Well today was the day to pick the first fruits from the window and mix them into a stir fry. Two very happy hot peppers came indoors and we washed them well. It's amazing eating your own fresh produce from the window. A neighbor chatted with us about their flower box up above and we discussed the garden next door.

T utu Goes Green by Tulani Thomas is on the shelf at Red Rooster in Harlem. Over the rare groove and coffee there's books and oddities to discuss on a rough wood bookcase. Tutu Goes Green describes perfectly the required lifestyle practices of green living in the simplest and attractive terms.

B K Farms in Brooklyn is a shop for urban farming gear, design, installs, projects and info. While they lead with hydro my gut is telling me what they are really selling is urban agriculture under the cover of  hydroponics. But you never know with hydro, right? I met Marco originally when he was at a competing shop in the Bronx. He was knowledgeable when I met him - Marco's new job transformed the man into a urban farming dynamo. His excitement and enthusiasm for BK Farms was so compelling I wanted to post a piece on the work they are doing there. Unfortunately due to someone stealing my bike the day I was headed over there this ended up as an email interview. CURSE YOU NYC BIKE THIEF!

 I wandered into the garden because of the woman in the back waving. While walking towards her through the plots the smiling person in the pink blouse and wire framed glasses says "This street was the turf of a drug dealer and it was really nicer than the rest of this area of Harlem at that time."  She demurs nonchalantly like a seasoned  tour guide. I interrupt to ask for an interview - she won't let me take her picture, but she's intrigued. I exchange names with her. "I'm Kay." Kay goes on to explain that when the city caught the guy the street and the neighborhood began to fail again.

O wen E. Dell is the affable wisecracking television host that you want for your landscaper. Fun and friendly and knowledgeable Owen gets the greening done with wit and righteousness. When he reached out for me to review his new book Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies from Wiley Publishing - I was pretty psyched - I figured this should be an easy read - I'll knock that out in an after noon...It's for Dummies right?? Well...the reading is straight forward but an afternoon... not so much, and here's why.