Maine, Revisited

People that build their houses inland,

   People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
   Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
   Tons of water striking the shore,--
What do they long for, as I long for
   One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
   Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,--
   Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
   Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,--
   One salt taste of the sea once more?

- "Inland" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Portland and Monhegan Island, Maine, May 2013

Planning for Planting in Nebraska

This week I'm immersing myself in trees and tree people at the Municipal Forestry Institute at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  It's a week of intensive training on how to be a leader in the field of urban forestry.  It's pretty rad, and it comes at a perfect time for me in my career.  Plus, this place is gorgeous!  Check out the sunset pics I took yesterday.  It's supposed to snow pretty hard on Thursday, so I may have more photos of an entirely different nature at the end of the week.

It's Fall!

That crisp is in the air again, it's my favorite time of the year! But before we can address any fall-type things, let's do a quick recap. The last time I posted I was working with UC Green to raise funds for their fall planting. Many thanks to everyone who helped us reach our goal, we raised more than our $4K target and UC Green will have plenty of funds for their fall planting. I was also starting my brand new job at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation where I've now been working for almost 6 months! It's a wonderful learning experience and I love the work and my coworkers. What more could a girl ask for?

In the intervening months a lot of other things happened . . .

. . . M and I got married!!!! . . .





(wedding pictures are by Tiffany Atlas, Atlas Wedding Photography)



. . . We went on a wonderful honeymoon to Maine . . .



. . . I spent the 4th of July at my friend Alex's family place on a lake near Ithaca, NY . . .



. . . Alex, Katie and I joined my mom and Emmy for another Berryfest weekend . . .



. . . plus two new cousins were born (baby knitting project posts to come), M and I joined his family for a lake vacation in Maryland, and we went to my annual family reunion at the Delaware River.

A very full summer indeed. I'm finding it difficult to balance my full time job and my outside-of-work life, so the blog and my reading of other blogs has completely fallen by the wayside. But I hope to pick it up again, especially since this cool weather makes it easier to spend time sitting at my desk at the computer (which was unbearable during the summer months in our un-air-conditioned home). My posts will certainly be less frequent than in the past, but I promise to check back periodically and I hope to start reading all of your blogs again soon!

I'm glad to be back!

Parlor Profile: Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

When Zoey and I were in Seattle, we stayed with a friend of mine from college who I haven't seen or even talked to in four years! It's hard to believe, but we had an amazing time and she and her roomates were wonderful and gracious enough to let us crash at their place while we searched for an apartment for Zoey. We rewarded them by making dinner and filling their freezer with amazing ice cream from their favorite ice cream place in Seattle, Molly Moon's.



Name: Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

Location: Pine Street, Capitol Hill, Seattle WA





The Scoop: Molly Moon's was started in 2008 by a woman who is actually named Molly Moon Neitzel. There are currently two stores in Seattle and a "mobile scoop shop" that got up and running just this summer. They try to use only ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, including milk from West Washington cows (though they sometimes dip down into Northern California for some ingredients). The two shops are made from sustainable and reclaimed materials, and all of the cups are compost-able (points!). They also make their own waffle cones in-store, yum!



The Flavors: I had ginger and strawberry. Other popular flavors include balsamic strawberry, salted caramel, honey lavender and sweet basil.



The Price: One two-scoop cone ran us $6.60. Ouch!



The Verdict: The ginger ice cream was perfect; creamy and spicy with small pieces of ginger in it. The strawberry was underwhelming, and actually tasted a bit like freezer burn. The cone was a bit thin, but nice and sweet, and the smell of waffle cones baking in the store was incredible. I tried a lot of the other flavors too, and some were incredible (theo chocolate) and some were ho-hum (balsamic strawberry). I like the aesthetic of the store, very clean and classy with nice wood details, a bar with stools and white walls that make the small space seem bigger. Their dedication to sustainability and local ingredients is also admirable (they don't ship their ice cream either but hope to open more stores in the Seattle area). Freezer-burn aside, I give Molly Moon's two thumbs up!

Back on track

Yikes! It took me a while to get back into the groove of this blogging thing after my trip to Seattle. But I'm back and I have photos to share. Here are some highlights:


*** Camping in Ohio, Wisconsin, and South Dakota***


***The Corn Palace, in Mitchell, SD. And yes, that is a person on a Segue, made out of dried corn cobs***


***The Badlands, SD***




***The Mount!***


**A common sight***


***In Seattle, my friend Rachel's P-Patch***


***We spent a lot of time in Seattle doing this. Drinking coffee, trolling craigslist for apartments for Zoey, and reading the latest Barbara Kingsolver novel. Lovely ***

ACGA in Hotlanta

I'm back from the American Community Gardening Association conference in Atlanta and I had an incredible time! I met some amazing people, I was educated and inspired, I saw many beautiful gardens, and I ate incredible food! Here are some highlights.


*A canning class with Miss Classie Parker of Just Food in NYC, where I learned how to pickle okra and boogie.*


*A great harvest table and weighing station in the Back to Eden Garden*

Scenes from the Taste of the South dinner:









*Genius bike racks at Pearl Academy Agriculture and Environmental Center*


*Goats at Pearl Academy*

And, last but not least, the Atlanta Botanical Garden:











I'm already excited for next year!

2010 ACGA Conference!

Despite my current lack of funds, I managed to register and get transportation to the 2010 American Community Gardening Association's Annual conference this weekend! With lots of help from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Green Thumb (the NYC Dept of Parks and Rec's community gardening program) I will be traveling to Atlanta, GA tonight on a bus from NYC. I get conference registration (which I already secured a scholarship for), round-trip bus fare, and a shared hotel room for the low low price of $0.00. Amazing. I mostly have Sally to thank, my wonderful friend at PHS who does the community gardening program there. I had an incredible time last year, and I can't wait to be inspired and energized again this year. The bus ride is over 16 hours though, so thank goodness for my new quillow.

Here are some current pics from the community gardens to get you excited. Also, I just found out that The Woodlands Community Garden is in final judging for the PHS City Gardens contest, so keep your fingers crossed again for us to win!


**Walnut Hill Community Farm, with painted shed and 1,000 gallon water tank!**


**Incredible shed organization at The Woodlands, thanks to Joe (who also re-roofed the shed and made the picnic table**


**Red pontiac potatoes, katahdin potatoes, some mystery blue potatoes, and a cayenne pepper from The Woodlands**


**St. B garden overflowing with zinnias**


**St. B garden harvest**


**Joy**

Balmer

Earlier this month M and I spent a lovely weekend in Baltimore, doing strictly tourist stuff. We saw an Orioles game (at Camden Yards, my 9th baseball stadium), ate loads of crab, and checked out the Inner Harbor and the National Aquarium. Fun fun fun!