Greenway Gardens visit

I am a day late for Wordless Wednesday, but I like the idea of taking it easy and letting the photos do the blogging. Unfortunately, my camera seems to have some impediment, adjusting its focus in the wrong direction at times, blurring the sides or all of my images, regardless of whether I use automatic settings or not. It may be my fault; since I received it two Christmases ago I have been mainly keeping it in the pouch of whatever bag I've been using, leaving it in the dirt, and letting it end up in little hands. I need to find a good repair place in Boston. In the meantime, I'll post a few of the better shots of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Gardens, which I visited after work on Tuesday before catching a train home.Some daffodils already? Seems a little early, but the way the weather has been, not surprising.These signs were all around, and refer to the Conservancy's commissioned study highlighting the effects of poor drainage in the gardens. This photo below shows the worst conditions I've seen during my visit. I don't know how bad it gets during a rainstorm, but I think most parks and backyard gardens have a hard time escaping this problem.Save the Greenway Gardens reported on a meeting on February 24 in which the Conservancy unveiled some proposals for the Greenway. For the gardens (the area also known as the Fort Point Channel Parks), benches and chairs were proposed, but no vendor carts. Save the Greenway Gardens did not publish an opinion (as far as I can see), but to me these additions seem reasonable. It was a little disappointing to not find a bench to sit on when I first visited last summer. I hope this means the gardens will stay.

Waiting...

As you can see, I have been a bit of a slacker when it comes to updating the blog. The main reason for this has been a fortunate one--I have been moving forward in my fledgling career as a freelance writer. After spending a good chunk of my day facing a screen, on those projects and commitments as well as my fiction, it has been difficult to bring myself to do even more writing. Another reason is common among many garden bloggers: this is still the off-season. One can't simply upload a few photos and say, "Look, my organic Canton Dwarf bok choy is germinating!" Some folks can garden all year round; I don't seem to be one of them (see #7 below). Engaging topics can be as scarce as available plots in the Minton Stable Garden (the waiting list is now up to 40).

So I have decided to employ a strategy to help break my writer's block: lists. Make a list of something, anything, and maybe an idea will come from it. For example, in the northeast this is the time of year for waiting. Many gardeners are waiting for their seeds to arrive. Mine did yesterday, but now I have to wait for the right time to plant them. Here are some other things I'm waiting for, not necessarily impatiently, but waiting nonetheless.

1. Spring, obviously. Unlike the rest of the country and even other parts of Massachusetts we are just having a dull, wet winter. The rain has washed away the snow from this untouched garden path I photographed earlier this month.2. The Minton Stable Community Garden annual meeting, which will take place on March 29. Looking forward to catching up with some members I haven't seen since the fall, though a little nervous about co-running a large gathering. Right now I'm committed to giving a treasurer's report and collecting and recording many dues checks in a short period. And then there are the other questions: will we get through the agenda on time? What will spark controversy? Could be...
3...an anticipated proposal to keep bees in the community garden. One of the gardeners along with an experienced bee keeper would like to establish a few hives on the property. The Steering Committee likes the idea and there are already a handful of interested volunteers, but the membership must approve it, a plan to fund it needs to be in place, and there has to be an agreement on its location. Stay tuned...
4. What will happen with the Rose Kennedy Greenway Gardens. I had learned back in January that the Greenway Conservancy, which has been granted control over the development of the parcels where the gardens are located, was considering removing them. Now, it seems that the Conservancy wants some gardens as well, but has reported on issues related to poor drainage and other problems with the existing gardens (which had been planted two years ago by volunteer master gardeners), and is trying to justify making significant changes that include building a pavilion. Save the Greenway Gardens and others are keeping an eye on these developments; for their reaction to the Conservancy's findings and information about upcoming community meetings check out their site.
5. Boston Natural Areas Network's Gardener's Gathering, which will take place March 20 at Northeastern University. Workshops, prizes, other freebies, and an opportunity to fill the room when the Mayor makes his annual appearance (so green spaces and community gardens stay on his radar).
6. My Olympia spinach and State Fair Mix zinnia seeds, on backorder from Fedco. I'm not too concerned about the zinnias but the spinach needs to be sown in late March.
7. My indoor herbs to thrive. Right now I'm down to one spindly coriander and and four starter pots of stunted basil seedlings. I think I can keep the basil but I'm not sure whether I should transplant them, change the distance of the grow lights, add fertilizer, or just move them to a sunny window.
8. The next installment of Daphne's Get Growing series. She and another blogger have been publishing these thorough how-to posts that cover basics from seed starting to composting. The series has been informative; I'm not sure if Daphne and Robin get paid for writing the posts but they should. They appear the first of each month, so I won't have to wait long for the next one.

This list-making won't prevent me from becoming a weekly (or even monthly) blogger, but the exercise has been useful for generating or reminding myself of some topics for future posts.

Herbs and Greenway update

With grow lights an inch or two above them, all four of my herb varieties planted on January 10 have germinated. First up were a few of the dill seeds (third group from the left in the photos below), then the 2008 basil (at left). I thought I would have more success with the coriander, but all I have so far is a small finger sticking out of the soil (at right). The most pleasant surprise has been the cilantro; not only were the seeds a few years old, but cilantro (second from left) is fussier than many other herbs when it comes to watering and circulation in the soil. Hopefully I can keep them in enough light and heat so they don't become spindly. The cilantro and dill are looking a little emaciated already.About saving the Greenway Gardens, I've received a little feedback (here and elsewhere) on my previous post ranging from "great writing" to "a little skewed" and even "whining." To the first I say thanks, and regarding the second, it was nice to have a response from someone who lives near the Gardens and who knows a few individuals from the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. Basically, my main purpose of the post was to address the issue of possible plans to remove the gardens, not to accuse the Conservancy of failing to be civic-minded in their goals; they also want people to come together and use the space. A few days after my post, local journalist Karen Cord Taylor explained in more detail the breakdown in communication and collaboration between the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the Conservancy. The different perspectives (as well as comments) shed more light on the complexities of these issues. The encouraging development is that the Conservancy's executive director has stated, according to the post, that "these parcels will remain gardens." We'll see.

Greenway Gardens at risk

These past couple of weeks have been marked by acts of generosity and community activism in the face of disastrous and threatening events. Many of us have opened our wallets to aid victims of Haiti's earthquake or picked by phones or signs in an attempt to sway the results of an uncomfortably close Senate election. These news items had been keeping me occupied when I received a request from a fellow Steering Committee member to become a fan of the newly-formed Facebook page, "Save Boston's Greenway Gardens."

I was a little surprised to learn that the gardens were at risk. After all, they were completed less than two years ago, thanks to a team of volunteer master gardeners, and, according to this LiveJournal entry, $850,000 provided by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The Rose Kennedy Greenway Gardens occupy three parcels of land in downtown Boston that was once shaded over by the elevated Central Artery, before the "Big Dig" rerouted the expressway underground.

Winding paths take pedestrians past an impressive arrangement of annuals and perennials, complete with discreet identification signs staked into the flower beds. The landscape of native perennials serves as a refreshing alternative to the typical public-space mass plantings that feature monotonous rows of petunias, impatiens, or other annuals that get ripped out at the end of a season. And the natives may inspire gardeners to give them a try in their own beds. I have only had a chance to rush down the path on my way to other destinations (hence the embarrassing lack of photos); now I'm concerned I may not get a chance to make a proper visit.

A different group, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, was in alliance with MassHort, but now has other ideas. A non-profit that leases the land from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its plans call for more "active use," with a pavillion, a paved-over area for a farmers market, and even a skating rink.

Ripping out these lovely plantings would be a waste of all of the money and community effort put into this project. The Conservancy argues that the gardens would be expensive to maintain. There are other green spaces in the city that are watered regularly, and plants growing in their native habitat are more adapted to the climate and would presumably require less care. Would maintaining a building or a rink of ice that needs constant temperature control be cheaper? I don't think so.

Do we need these new facilities? There's already a skating rink on the Boston Common, and farmers markets in nearby Dewey Square, Copley Square, and other places. A public toilet somewhere on the Greenway might be nice, since they are scarce anyway, but there is already enough concrete. I think the fountain and seating in the nearby parcels will suffice.

Who knows what will get slipped by us before the gardening season begins. As I write this the Facebook page only has about as many fans as I have friends, with a little overlap, a number that's okay for an individual but not a cause. If you have any investment in this issue become a fan (if you're on Facebook), write to an official, or follow some of the other suggestions on the organization's web site.