While contemplating what to plant in my garden box, tomatoes seemed like a natural choice. Â But what type of tomato should I plant?
I could have gone the heirloom route because few things in a garden are cooler than zebra tomatoes. Â San Marzano were next under consideration because this Italian gem is one of my favorites.
Pittsburgh, a night at the theater, and the genius of the playwright are not a group of words we would often fit together.  Perhaps, however, a few of us walk to the beat of a different drummer and we know how synonymous these words actually are.  In fact, on any given weekend evening all across the city there are small theaters filled with devoted  and talented actors performing the works of Playwrights from all over.  So many of us would be surprised by the level of talent our city commands.  I spent a large portion of 2015 attending show after show as I had been tasked with reviewing a great many of said shows.  Of all of the plays I had seen one troupe of actors and a particular playwright stood out as something spectacular.  I recently had the chance to see these artists once more as they brought their talents yet again to the stage as they performed an original play created by one of Pittsburgh’s soon to be favorite sons, James Michael Shoberg.
I spent half a weekend afternoon in Queens eating, drinking (coffee) and snapping pics along the way. I think I have a great 2 stop trip in the borough the next time you have friends and family in town.
There was a raspberry bush in a park near my house where I grew up. Â I’ll point out this was very much a suburban park but we would go pick those raspberries during the summer months.
What is so immensely satisfying about this little act of foraging. Â Perhaps it takes us back to our original days searching for seeds and fruit to sustain us? Â Perhaps it is just simple pleasures that allow one to take something off a vine and be rewarded with that little pop of natural sweetness.
If you were living in New York and wealthy at the end of the 1800’s what did you do with that money? Â Build an estate or vast gardens along the Hudson River, obviously.
This wealth lives on and can be enjoyed by current New York City residents and visitors.
Untermyer Park and Gardens is one such example. Â Located approximately 20 miles north of midtown Manhattan, you can take the train, car service, bike or drive your way to this venue.
I thought of this episode as I walked down the block to my local community garden and picked some hearty Red Russian Kale from my little 4 ft. x 4 ft. garden plot. Â But what to do with this bounty (of 6 leaves?)
Kale carpaccio, kale salad, kale smoothie, raw? Â I actually don’t know if kale carpaccio is a thing but it sounded cool so someone should do that and send me a pic.
A fifth year now the Harlem Arts Festival has come to Marcus Garvey park in Central Park. Â And another year it has been a shining example of the local arts scene and a fantastic community event.
The festival brought together over 43 musicians, dancers, singers and entertainers over the 2 day event. Â Also represented in the park were over 30 local businesses, artists and restaurants.
The Harlem Arts Festival is back at Marcus Garvey Park this weekend (June 25th-26th!) Â We covered the festivities last year and it really is a wonderful community event.
You can easily access the park by most NYC subway lines exiting at the 125th street stop and then a short walk. Â While you are in the neighborhood be sure to take advantage of some great restaurants, photo opportunities of historic brownstones and the local gallery scene.
Don’t get me wrong, Christchurch is a brilliant city, but sometimes even the city gets a bit overwhelming. The beauty of the Garden City is that it is super close to nature and fresh mountain air. Yesterday, two buddies & I adventured towards the Mountains and made a day of it.
Every week the plants in my garden seem to grow 30% bigger. Â This city guy is learning a lot about plant care (and that my garden neighbors are probably going out of their way to help me out – I really shouldn’t have this much success….)
The first of the crop that I can actually use are my herbs (cilantro and parsley) Butter Lettuce and some Red Russian Kale. Â Again, my neighbors reminded me to start harvesting the lettuce leaves from the outside so new growth can come in.
