Calamondin: A little fruit tree that doesn’t need a backyard

I would love to have a sunny yard lined with berry bushes and apple trees and dotted with raised beds full of spinach, kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, corn, pumpkins, herbs, and strawberries. Alas, no such chance. I live in an apartment in a city, and the nearest community garden doesn’t get enough light for us…

These are the young people suing the US government

Last night didn’t go exactly as planned. After work, I headed to the New York City Society for Ethical Culture on the Upper West Side. My intention was to attend the Food and Water Watch New York chapter’s monthly meeting, where we would discuss how to stop the Williams pipeline that is supposed to carry…

GreenThumb: Starting a community garden in New York

Last week I attended a panel discussion put on by GreenThumb at Project Farmhouse. Six gardeners, each representing a different community garden in New York, spoke about how they started their gardens, and the challenges and victories they encountered along the way. One gardener even told us about his more controversial days of illegally squatting…

How hard could it be to shop the zero-waste way?

Very hard. But you probably already knew that. I’m not living a zero waste lifestyle but it’s my goal to get close without burning out, alienating my friends, or driving myself insane. A recent evaluation of my grocery shopping waste shows where I’m at in the journey. I had Saturday free, which is rare for…

First Impressions of Precycle, Brooklyn’s Zero-Waste Grocery Store

I’ve been mostly operating under a “Never Go to Brooklyn (Except in Case of Emergencies)” kind of mindset since I arrived in the city several years ago. I’ve found Brooklyn to be overly full of no-income-yet-somehow-rich MFA grads rocking wardrobes that are by turns normcore, DGAF, tongue-in-cheek, and full-on man-repeller. When I think of the…

The Power of Produce Bags

The best move I ever made was to transfer to a different university. The second best move I ever made was to stop eating dairy. And the third best move I ever made was to start using reusable produce bags. Seven or eight years ago, I bought a set of reusable produce bags from the…