Filed under: Compost, Events, family activities, gardening, Nature, Queens, Rose Garden | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, family activities, flowers, gardening, New York, plants, public garden, public gardens, Queens, trees
The glorious month of May has arrived and QBG is bustling with blooms and activities!
The Kaltman Fragrance Walk’s lilacs are covered in heavenly scented blooms, while the Rose Garden is full of flower buds just about to open. The Woodland Garden’s trees have all leafed out, and shade-loving wildflowers like Solomon’s seal and bleeding hearts decorate the garden paths. Watch for other floral beauties around QBG like lupines, California poppies and bearded iris.
Enjoy a walk through our bucolic 39 acres and be sure to take part in the great activities planned this month – the Children’s Activity Table on Saturdays and Sundays (sponsored by TD Bank), discounted admission as part of National Public Gardens Day (May 11) and New York State Museums Week (starting May 31), plus a Native Plant Tour for NYC Wildflower Week (May 19).
And don’t miss the last weeks of photographer Audrey Gottlieb’s show “Vignettes from the Queens Project” and the artist’s talk also on the 19th.
Folks from the terrific NYC Compost Project in Queens are also busy – catch them at QBG on May 5 at Mama’s Expo, at QBG for a Composting Workshop in Mandarin (May 5), and on May 6 at the Green for Queens Earth Day Fair at the Central YM&YWHA.
Get all the details on our Events Calendar.
Remember Mother’s Day is May 13 and QBG is the perfect place to bring Mom for a relaxing afternoon. Even better, give her a gift that will last all year – membership to QBG!
P.S. We had a great time at Arbor Fest on April 29 and thank all for visiting! Check out the photos on the Arbor Fest Photo Gallery.
Photos: H. David Stein, Shari Romar
Filed under: Events, family activities, gardening, Queens | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, childrens gardening, environment, family activities, gardening, New York, public garden, public gardens, Queens, vegetables
The QBG Blogger could write a post with details about this new and very exciting program, but we’ll defer to the expert — the program’s coordinator, Maureen Regan. Check out the interview on New York 1 News, and be sure to stop by this Saturday’s Open House from 10am to 2pm.
Filed under: Events, family activities, gardening, Nature, Queens | Tags: bees, birds, botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, environment, family activities, flowers, gardening, New York, plants, public garden, public gardens, Queens
Spring is in full bloom at QBG! This is the perfect time to enjoy all the beauty of the season, and there’s no better place than right here!
The list of flowers in bloom is enormous but some highlights include crabapple and cherry trees, tulips, grape hyacinth, daffodils, magnolias, dogwoods and eastern redbuds.
Our bees are…well, busy bees! Stop by the Bee Garden and watch them buzzing in and out of the hives to collect pollen. Just as busy are the birds – our robins are looking for nest sites, the red-winged blackbirds trilling all around the Meadow, and migrating warblers are catching a snack as they continue their journey. Don’t forget to keep your eyes open for our charming Italian wall lizards as they warm themselves in the sun.
You can be just as busy at the Garden too! The QBG Store is stocked with great treats and gifts, and stop by the Children’s Activity Table on Saturdays from 1 to 4pm where kids can create a take-home treat. We hope you can make it for the Intergenerational Garden Open House on April 14, and be sure to mark your calendars for our 2nd Annual Arbor Fest on April 29 – an afternoon filled with family fun!
Filed under: Compost, Events, gardening | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, public garden, public gardens, sustainability
If you’re interested in spreading compost know-how and enthusiasm, consider the NYC Compost Project’s Master Composter Certificate Course!
The NYC Compost Project Master Composter Certificate Course is a train-the-trainer program with a community service component. This course was developed by the NYC Compost Project and the DSNY Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling.
Application Deadline: Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Courses will be held every Tuesday in March and April (except April 19th) from 6-9pm at Queens Botanical Garden with two weekend field trips, TBD. Apply online at http://bit.ly/feszXA .
Master Composter Course Description
The Master Composter Certificate Course requires 18-23 hours of classroom instruction, two field trips, plus 15 hours of supervised community training, and 15 hours of independent projects/community service helping to advance on-site composting in NYC. This course covers the following topics:
- the small-scale composting process
- how to use finished compost
- how to design and build on-site compost systems
- techniques for teaching others about composting
For the community service component, participants engage in projects based upon their interests and the goals of the NYC Compost Project. Potential projects might include giving composting classes at schools and civic associations, building compost bins at community gardens, staffing compost info tables, or working at compost demonstration sites.
Course material fee is $40; limited scholarships are available.
The Master Composter Certificate course is offered every spring by the NYC Compost Projects at the city’s botanical gardens in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; the NYC Compost Project in Manhattan offers the program in the fall. Applications for spring classes are due in early 2011. For more information, dates and the online application, please visit: http://bit.ly/dYTsLU
The NYC Compost Project is funded and managed through the Department of Sanitation’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling.
Filed under: Events, MillionTrees NYC, Nature, Queens, Tree care, Turf grass care | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, gardening, grass, MillionTreesNYC, native plants, New York, public, public garden, Queens, trees
Project Leaf Drop in association with the Western Queens Compost Initiative welcomes the community to bring their bagged leaves without branches, trash, or wet yard waste, to participating sites on specific dates in October and November.
Project LeafDrop (nycleaves.org) is a coalition of community and botanical gardens, environmental groups, City agencies and community partners dedicated to directing fallen leaves from the trash bin to the compost bin, giving New Yorkers the chance to recycle residential leaves into compost and keep them out of our waste stream. Bagged leaves left curbside are sent to the landfill along with everyday garbage. Making a difference starts with you!
For More information including dropoff sites and dates visit http://nycleaves.org/
Filed under: Events, gardening, Nature, Queens, Tree care, volunteer | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, family activities, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, grass, herb gardening, New York, NYC Civic Corps, plants, public, public garden, trees, turf grass, vegetables, volunteer
It’s never too early to start planning — and fundraising — for your spring projects. If you have a local environmental project that needs financial or volunteer support, apply to post your project on ioby today. ioby stands for ‘in our backyards’ and connects people to environmental projects in their own neighborhoods so they can support them with donations or volunteer time. Anyone can post a project that meets our criteria. Got questions about how it works? Call 917-464-4515 or email info@ioby.org to talk to Erin or Brandon about your idea for neighborhood change.
Read some success stories to find out how ioby’s community can support work just like yours. Or join us at our benefit event on November 11th to meet 2010 Heroes In Our Backyards.
Filed under: Awards and news, Events, grant application, Nature, Queens | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, childrens gardening, compost, composting, environment, family activities, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, Love Your Block Award, MillionTreesNYC, New York, plants, public garden, public gardens, Queens, sustainability, volunteer
Love your block? Show it! If you’re a part of a community group, please consider applying for the Citizens Committee for New York City’s Love Your Block Grant! It’s a great way to get out with your neighbors to take care of street trees, gear up a community composting project or another greening project on your block.
Citizens Committee for New York City and the Office of the Mayor invite your volunteer-led neighborhood group to apply for a Love Your Block Grant Award. Grants of $500 to $1,000 are awarded for block improvements that can be used toward various neighborhood renovations, such as cleaning vacant lots, planting tress in empty tree beds, and removing graffiti. In addition your group will have the opportunity to access specific city support that will help revitalize your block, including services from the Department of Transportation, Sanitation and Parks & Recreation. Plus, Citizens Committee for New York City will assist your group with local media coverage of your event!
The grant deadline is November 15, 2010 and the application can be downloaded at http://www.citizensnyc.org/projects/love_your_block.html.
For more information please contact Saleen Shah at sshah@citizensnyc.org /212.822.9566 or January Sanalak at mailto:jsanalak@citizensnyc.org 212.822.9564.
With your help, we can transform our city – block by block!
Filed under: cooking, Events, family activities, gardening | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, environment, family activities, farmers market, honey, New York, plants, public garden, public gardens, Queens, recipes, sustainability, vegetables
That glorious time of year has returned — the Farmers’ Market at QBG has opened for the season!
This is THE spot to get fresh fruit and vegetables, coffee, nuts, and even honey. Plus the market is a terrific place to meet your neighbors, and pick up a recipe or two.
You’ll find the market on Dahlia Avenue, near Main Street, every Friday from 8:30 am to 4 pm. Click here more more info and to find our about upcoming events.
To whet your appetite, our staffers picked up this terrific recipe at the market. Enjoy!
Sauteed Mushrooms & Garlic Scapes, created by Rebecca Pedinotti
Serves 4
4 tablespoons of olive oil
8 garlic scape tendrils, roughly chopped
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced
9 button mushrooms, sliced
Soy sauce (approx. 1 tablespoon)
Rice wine vinegar (approx. 2 tablespoons)
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic scapes and saute for a few minutes, then add onions and mushrooms. Squirt with soy sauce.
When the scape bulbs begin to brown, pour in the rice wine vinegar, mixing and scraping to remove any browned bits off the bottom of the pan (i.e. deglazing).
