Garden Activity – Bloomingdale Garden

Party Photos

Thanks to the many dozens of people who came by our garden party / meet-your-neighbors / community-building shindig here on West 106th Street Friday night — I quickly lost track of how many people stopped by, but it could easily have been more than a hundred.

It was great to see so many folks talking and making connections across different branches of the fractal networks that bind our city together.

Special thanks to Karin, Brenden, and Jamie for taking photos — I was too busy talking to people, and never took my phone out of my pocket until it was all over!

Garden Party, September 18

We’ll be hosting a micro-block-party in garden on Friday, September 18, from 7:00 until at least 9:00 or so.

It won’t be fancy — no bouncy castle, no fried dough — just a pitcher of fruit punch, and a few snacks, and a chance to chit-chat with your neighbors.

If you live in the neighborhood, you’re invited! Feel free to swing by, say hello, and celebrate the coming of the fall!

(If it’s raining on Friday, we’ll reschedule to Saturday.)

Additional Seating

Another bench has been donated to the sidewalk garden — with thanks to our generous neighbors.

Rainstorm

Today’s downpour provided some much-needed moisture, although it can be a little hard on the tender blossoms.

New Lighting

I added some patio lights along the fence for the party earlier this month, but the general reaction has been positive, so we’ve decided to leave them up for a while.

Curbside Rainbow

It turns out that the hose is good for more than just keeping the plants hydrated…

Garden Party, June 11

We’ll be hosting a small social event in our sidewalk garden next week, and if you live nearby or are a friend of the garden, you are welcome to come and socialize with neighbors from the block.

Welcome Our New Gargoyle!

Earlier today we spotted an online “curb alert” from a neighbor who had seen a small gargoyle sitting in a sidewalk trash pile, spurring me to dash out in the middle of a video call and snag it for addition to our sidewalk garden.

It’s currently surveying the herbs, but next week I might move it to sit among the sunflowers…

Garden Signage

I finally got around to putting up a little sign with the name of our tiny sidewalk garden, and a link to the website for folks who might like more information about the various plants.

Spring Cleaning

After a long winter, and a couple of weeks out of town, I finally spent a few hours out in the garden getting ready for the growing season: cleaned up a bunch of last year’s foliage, mixed in two cubic feet of compost, and planted two flats of colorful annuals.

I was super pleased that two neighbors jumped in to help — one aerated the planters behind the fence and dug in some flower seeds, while another cut and attached new pieces of bamboo to reinforce the outdoor bench. (A third had swept up trash and dried leaves while I was out of town last week.) So nice to have the community support!