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The Birds, the Bees…and the Bats: Rooftop Meadow Restores NYC Nature

March 20, 2018 — 6 Comments
http://www.kingslandwildflowers.com

Kingsland Wildflowers – Rooftop Meadow/Habitat Restoration Project in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Rooftop Meadow in Greenpoint, Brooklyn brings native species back to the city, but not where you might think…

Continuing the quest to find out what “sustainable living” looks like in a big city, I found myself this past Friday at Kingsland Wildflowers, a rooftop meadow in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, right next-door to New York City’s wastewater treatment plant. See this surprisingly beautiful facility below:

Site for a Valentine's Day Date

Waste Water Treatment Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

View of Kingsland Wildflower native plants restoration Project

Rooftop Meadow View

I was very happy to learn about this project through this giant list of things to do in Brooklyn, which a friend shared with me on Facebook.

Friday was the first “Field Day” of the 2018 Season, an opportunity for community members to explore the roof and learn about the project.

I was particularly fascinated by the history of this site, which I learned from a knowledgeable bird-loving photographer who works for the NYC Audobon Society (go figure) and was at this event to dispense information and take pictures.

According to this man, the Dutch were the first people to settle this area in the 1850s and described it back then as a marshy, shrubby landscape much like the photo above. Today, that marshy environment no longer exists, having been replaced by concrete and buildings over the course of the last 150+ years. Now it looks like this:

150 years ago, these buidlings were not here

View from Kingsland Wildflowers overlooking Newton Creek and Cityscape

I was pleased to learn there is still a prominent waterway that runs through Brookyln and Queens called Newton Creek, which unfortunately was majorly polluted by an oil spill during the 1950s. Due to the buildings and the spill, the creek habitat has suffered and the native species that once inhabited the ecosystem have diminished.

Before it was polluted by the spill, the creek had been an important habitat for native plants and insects and was a stopping point for migratory birds and bats. After the oil spill however…not so much. Guess who was responsible for the spill by the way…. remember the Exon company? Exon Valdez ring any bells? Same company. But we didn’t hear too much about the Newton Creek Spill, did we? Curious.

Anyway…

Today, the Creek is a superfund site, which means the US Government recognized the extreme environmental damage that had occured due to the spill and set up a fund to fix it. That is how the Kingsland Wildflower project is receiving its funding. Exon was sued for damages, and the proceeds of the lawsuit are being used to restore the nature that was damaged by the oil spill. Since space is limited, and people are smart, this project was developed to provide a home for native plants, insects, and animals that once thrived in the Newton Creek environment.

Kingsland Wildflowers is a wonderful project that exists soley to give back to the Earth. The project began a few years ago and is already proving successful. Data is being collected to show the increase of native species both at the creek and on the rooftop. Today, this is one rooftop with about 1/2 acre of space where plants and grasses have been planted. The concept is that the rooftop is replicating what would have existed on the ground if the building were not there. Imagine the good that could be done for the planet if more rooftops were like this in the city. The benefits would be great, species would have a home, maybe bees would start coming back, plus, what a pleasant escape for people it would be, and is. My short visit to Kingsland Wildflowers reminded me of the nature I have been missing while living in a primarily human and concrete environment. I was reminded that there are birds other than pidgeons passing through in their seasonal migration, that there are insects other than bed bugs and flies, and that this whole city used to look so different, that its waterways had so much influence on the ecosystem, that it is an ecosystem today!

Anyway, I could go on and on but I wont. For now I just wanted to share a great project and hope for the future with everyone.

Lots of Love,

Kelly B

Rockaway view 9/11 tributary park

Friggin’ plastic bag

Apes and Palm Oil: How YOU can save orangutans with your groceries

February 2, 2018 — Leave a comment

Continue reading

Sunday Funday, WWOOF Update

September 4, 2017 — Leave a comment

Hello Readers,

Happy Sunday. We’ve all survived another week. Woo hoo.

Today at Mountain Hollow Farm it was a cheese and goulash making sort of day.

It was a free day, and my farm host Beth and I had been talking about making cheese all week, so we started off by making cheese, Paneer cheese, a soft, simple-to-make kind of cheese.

Here’s the recipe we used

Panir Cheese

  • 1 gallon milk (we used goat milk, of course, fresh, unpasturized, unhomogonized)
  • 2 tsp citric acid (or 8tblsp lemon juice) dissolved in 3/4 cups water
  • cheese salt to taste
  • dried herbs de Provence to taste (1.5 teaspoons)

yeilds – A giant ball of delicious softish/stickyish/melt in your mouth mushyish farmers cheese. Will keep about 10 days in fridge if it lasts that long

Process

  1. Heat 1 gallon milk in big pot until it comes to a rolling boil, stirring to prevent burning
    • Note: a rolling boil means you cant stir away the boiling bubbles
    • Note: make sure the pot you’re using is the kind of metal that wont react adversely with the citric acid (cant remember which kind of metal that is, aluminum?)
  2. Once rolling boil is established, turn down heat to LOW and add the citric acid mixture before all the foam dissappears, stir for 15 seconds and then REMOVE from heat
    • Don’t get freaked out by the color change, that is the cheese separating from the whey, which you can feed to your dogs or use in cooking to make biscuits
  3. Gently stir the couldron, so the cheese curds bunch together
  4. wait 10 minutes
  5. ladel out the curds into a cheese cloth, do this over a colander so the whey can continue to drain. catch the whey if you want to use it for something else. apparently its nutritious.  If you cant scoop all the curds out, pour the rest over the cheese cloth,
    • Note: try not to pour the hot liquid over the cheese you already scooped out because you dont want to have it melt through the cloth…leaving you with less cheese to eat
  6. wring out the cheese
  7. add salt and herbs to taste
  8. let hang for an hour or so, or press to make hard cheese, or just eat it like that. Voilá, delicious!

**I miss you Snickers!**

FSCN3456.JPG

***

Also,

Goulash was also quite tasty, here’s that recipe:

…meh, I don’t feel like writing it, but follow this link for the delicious recipe. We used more carrots and some turnips and next time I would add some red wine to the broth. We had no caraway seeds but used marjoram and it was fine. YUM.

Ok, if you’re still reading, thank you, here are some other farm updates:

Things I’ve learned/observed:

  • Llamas have very small testicles compared to goats
  • A horses eyelid can get cut and make it look like the horses eye has fallen out of its socket. Then it can be stitched up, and look like new in just a few short weeks
  • Horses and goats eat a lot of hay and drink a lot of water
  • Giant dogs who chase cars can get hit by those cars, hurt their paw, and still chase more cars
  • Giant dogs are difficult to wash and it is difficult to communicate their largeness in photo
Franz

This was at a dog-washing station at a car wash

 

  • Ladies who knit make for lovely company

 

More to come.

 

All good things,

Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

Chimpanzee Sanctuaries YOU can visit

August 31, 2017 — Leave a comment

Hello all,

I am researching places you can go to visit/volunteer with Chimpanzees. Not saying I’m going, but just looking into it a lil’ bit.

One place thats popped up a few times in my internet research is the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage. It is a German organization, me rikey. It is in Zambia. And there is some connection with Jane Gooddall but I don’t know yet and I’m too lazy right now to look into that.

Here is a video of someone else’s time there. Looks like they get HANDS ON contact with the chimps, which is super cool because at one point I was looking into volunteering with Koko the Gorilla, who lives in Woodside, Ca, surprisingly, and the deal would have been that I would cut up and prepare Koko’s food, but I wouldn’t get to come into contact with her…maybe not even see her? I think it was the former, but anyway my point is, most Ape Conservation programs do not let you come in contact with the apes, for health and safety reasons, which I understand. But COOL that Chimfunshi might let you.

Another organization is in Guinea, West Africa, called Project Primates. It is a French organization and not as expensive as other programs I’ve seen. You have to pay for airfare there, then $125/month…and work every day from sun-up to sun-down. I don’t understand why they would charge someone to work their ass off from sun-up to sun-down for 6 months straight, but a lot of other programs ask for much more so this looks good. Their website is: https://www.projetprimates.com/en/

Oh yeah, they’re French, way cool.

Thats all for now,

A Great Ape

WWOOF – Mountain Hollow Farm

August 28, 2017 — 6 Comments

Hello All,

Today I’ve got some farm updates for you.

Woof, Wwoof!

No, I’m not a dog, I’m a WWOOFer.

For those of you who don’t know, theres this thing called WWOOF, which stands for “willing workers on organic farms.”  It is a world-wide network of farms that accept volunteers in exchange for room and board. It is a great way to live and travel affordably, meet people, experience culture, and learn things, many things!

I started WWOOFing after graduating college because I didn’t know what else to do, first in Hawaii, then Israel, Germany, and now Tennessee. Along the way I have met many interesting people and places, learned a lot about farming and handiwork, and experienced crazy things, like being chased by a camel and accidentally going to Palestine. WWOOF has been a very enriching aspect of my life and I encourage anyone who doesn’t mind working while they’re on vacation to give it a try.

Anywho, this time around I wanted to work on a farm with horses, because I wanted to get to know horses. After searching the WWOOF-USA database, which costs about $20 for a one year membership, I found Mountain Hollow Farm, which not only has horses but also cashmere goats. Since I am the spawn of my mother, who LOVES cashmere clothing, I have developed an affinity for cashmere and thought it would be interesting to visit this farm to satisfy multiple interests: horses, cashemere, and music.

So, here I am, WWOOFing in Tazewell, Tennessee, learning about goats, horses, chickens, guinea hens, giant dogs, a llama, yarn, and knitting. I am about an hour from Knoxville, which hopefully will provide some music connection…I did see there is a Johnny Cash museum in Knoxville and Dolly Parton land isn’t too far away either.

Well, that’s all for now. More about farm life to come.

Cheers and thank you for reading.

Feel free to make comments, suggestions, or ask questions below.