From our friends at Hattie Carthan Community Garden:

This year for the first time Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Bed-Stuy is hosting a Community Farmers Market. We want to get the word out for our opening Sat, July 11th. Hopefully you can join us or pass the information along to others who might be interested!

See our press release and flier for our Grand Opening for more info.

The Community Market Grand Opening celebration July 11th will begin with Ribbon Cutting at 9:30 followed by events throughout the day including cooking demos, recipe sharing, live music, storytelling and cultural presentations.

July 25th is Salad Fest in the Market. Community Food Educator Yonnette Fleming explores the art of salad making and tosses up a bevy of seasonal salads.

Join us throughout the season. Fresh fruits and vegetables for sale from local farms and community gardeners, and a community space for gatherings and events. Every Saturday from 9:00am to 3:00pm from July 11th to November 5th.

We accept EBT FMNP WIC HEALTH BUCCS

For more info, go here: Hattie Carthan Community Garden
Or visit the garden: Corner of Marcy Avenue and Clifton Place, Brooklyn, NY

In May, just before Veteran’s Day, four ioby donors, making donations all under $60 helped make this clean up day at the Rosedale Veteran’s Memorial.  ioby volunteer Zena Barakat produced this short video for us so everyone could see the kind of work ioby’s done and is working toward.  We want to see more of this in Brooklyn.

Greening the Ridge is today! Head on down to 69th Street Veterans Memorial Pier!

From our friends at the SRWA:

GREENING THE RIDGE 2009!
SUNDAY, JUNE 14th, 2009 at Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
10am- 6pm

Festival Schedule:
9am-10am: Exhibitor setup
10am: Festival Opening Ceremony
10am-Noon: Xavier High School Jazz Band “Bailout”
11am, 1pm, and 3pm: Dance Performance Installation, “What We Can See From Here,” by Cassie Mey and Jesse Phillips-Fein
Noon: Dance Performance Installation- Kids Workshop!

2:00pm: OLPH Twirlers!
2:30pm: SRWA Green Youth Award Ceremony
Noon to 6pm: Pill Hill Radio and Musical Guests
6pm: Festival end

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance is pleased to announce our Second Annual Greening the Ridge Festival in 2009! This annual summer festival will bring vendors, agencies, programs, and individuals to the pier for an educational festival on how to green our community.

Building upon the success of our First Annual GTR Festival in 2008, this year’s event will bring even more people, and more inter-active booths to the Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In addition, we are unveiling our Green Youth Award Program at this year’s festival, click here for more information!

Special music entertainment provided by: Xavier High School Jazz Band, and Pill Hill Radio with Musical Guests!

Special dance performance:
What We Can See From Here
Performance Installation by Cassie Mey & Jesse Phillips-Fein

Meet our current sponsors & exhibitors:

Petri Plumbing
Kettle Black
Alley Cat Exterminating
Green Spa
Ben Bay Realty Co.
Ben Bay Realty Co. of Bay Ridge

Smart Car Manhattan

Gallery 364
Bay Ridge CSA
Bay Ridge Food Co-op
Greenmarket
Center for Urban Greenscaping (CuGreen)
EPA
Narrows Botanical Gardens
Ella Vickers Recycled Sailcloth Collection
Petit Oven

Circles International Natural Foods
Bettencourt Green Building Supplies
WowGreen
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Farm Sanctuary
Natural Resources Defense Council
FDNY Smoke House
GreenBrooklyn
CleanAir NY

Garden Direct
Xaverian High School Environmental Club
Scandinavian East Coast Museum
Transportation Alternatives
Life Scout Troop 20, Edward Maddalena
Bay Ridge Historical Society

Plus many more to be added!

This all-day festival is FREE to the public.

More info at SRWAlliance.org.

If you are interested in obtaining more information, please contact Heather McCown: heather@srwalliance.org / (917) 971-0007.

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance gratefully acknowledges support from Councilman Vincent Gentile, Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer, Congressman Michael McMahon, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and State Senator Marty Golden.

Owner Sean Meenan’s green labor of love — Habana Outpost — will be kicking off its 2009 season with an Earth Day Expo taking place this weekend, April 18 and 19.  The eco-eatery boasts a Human Powered Bike Blender, picnic tables made from recycled soda bottles, rainwater harvesting that flushes the toilets and irrigates the plants, and a company car that runs on vegetable oil. 

Keeping with the tradition of all things green, Earth Day weekend seemed like the perfect time for the Outpost to reopen its doors to the public.  Some highlights of the 2-day event include: Council Woman Letitia James speaking in the kick-off ceremony, an eco-fashion show, local area vendors giving out free info and samples, and an exclusive screening of enviro-documentary FLOW: For Love of Water. 

Habana Outpost
757 Fulton Street (Corner of South Portland)
C train to Lafayette / G to Fulton / N,R,4,5 to Atlantic–Pacific
E-mail: info@ecoeatery.com
Phone: 718 858 9500

Full schedule of events as follows:

Saturday, April 18, 2009

12 noon
Owner Sean Meenan and Council Woman Letitia James Opening Ceremony

12-3 pm
Kids Corner crafts and games with Habana Works and The Leadership Learning Lab

1-1:30 pm
Kids Eco Fashion Show with the Scrapkins

3-4 pm
Recycled Craft Jam with the Scrapkins

Going on all day 12-6 pm
Live DJ
Face Painting
Free information and samples from local green vendors and companies

Sunday, April 19, 2009

12-3 pm
Kids Corner Crafts and games with Habana Works and The Leadership Learning Lab

2 pm
Exclusive screening of enviro-documentary FLOW, presented by Engineers Without Borders

2-3 pm
Recycled Craft Jam with the Scrapkins

3-4 pm
Kids Bingo with the Scrapkins

Going on all day 12-6 pm
Live DJ
Face Painting
Free information and samples from local green vendors and companies

Local participants include: Alive Structures, Brooklyn Green Drinks, Brooklyn Public Library, Christie Caiola face painting, Engineers Without Borders, FLOW the movie, Funky Lobes, Green Edge NYC, Green Spaces NY, Greene Grape Provisions, Greene Harvest CSA, Imperial Bag and Paper, Leadership Learning Lab, Letitia James, Masani Designs, Rolling Press, Root for Trees, Scrapkins, Solar Energy Systems, Still Hip Brooklyn, Tri State Bio Diesel, Tribal Alphabet, Via Nativa

More here: ecoeatery.com

Last weekend was the first weekend of cherry blossom season at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden! The season runs from April 4 - May 10.

A few shots from my cell phone cam:

Hanami is the Japanese cultural tradition of viewing and cherishing each moment of the cherry blossom season. At Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Hanami is a New York City “rite of spring.”

Go here for more, or follow the bloomin’ progress on the BBG blossom map: