Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Programs and Events
Posted in Programs and Events on November 13 2012, by Matt Newman
We’re seeing a lot of countdowns, lately. Fall is drawing to a close, the IGPOTY submission deadline is on the horizon, and we’re pipping off the days until the opening of the Holiday Train Show. Near at hand, we’re also staring down the November 21 close of 2012’s Greenmarket season; tomorrow–Wednesday, November 14–marks the penultimate chance to get your fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and cheeses before our vendors close up shop until next summer. And why, oh why, would you choose to skip out on fresh eats?
I didn’t think you would!
Last week’s menu was stuffed with fresh-from-the-oven goodies by both The Little Bake Shop and Meredith’s Bakery (you’ll find a reliable herd of staffers making a mad dash for the whoopie pies each Wednesday morning). Chocolate croissants, cupcakes, cookies, fruit pies, and plenty of freshly-baked breads took center stage, while Migliorelli Farm’s apple cider donuts weren’t exactly flying under the radar, either.
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Posted in Programs and Events on November 6 2012, by Matt Newman
This Wednesday’s weekly NYBG Greenmarket is back on track, meaning you’ll be free to stock up on fall’s freshest vegetables as the city starts bundling up for the coming winter chill. Seeing as it’s now November, this is also one of three remaining chances to do so; the Greenmarket’s marathon of summer and fall harvests will come to a close on Wednesday, November 21.
But that’s still plenty of time! Time enough to enjoy the last of the greens, a wealth of winter gourds, pumpkins piled high, and–with any luck–a few jugs of freshly-pressed apple cider (the crown jewel of fall eats, really). The weekly Greenmarket is also an opportunity to bulk up your pantry with hand-picked foods for the coming Thanksgiving smorgasbord. Not that I really need to remind your appetite about the apocalyptic dietary decisions you’ll be making–even without healthy fruits and vegetables.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 23 2012, by Matt Newman
Ahhh, the comforting vignettes of fall’s arrival: the Grand Allée‘s tulip trees tinged with gold, families touring the Garden in matching jackets, a ravenous horde of pumpkin patch ghouls dragging themselves up from their earthen tombs.
Er, yeah, we place the blame firmly on Ray Villafane and his cadre of spooky sculptors for that last one.
In the midst of our Halloween month (because why would you ever celebrate the most frightful holiday of the year for only a single night?), we continue on with another fall tradition that hits each week through November 21: the Wednesday Greenmarket! Bearing in mind the ongoing creepfest in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden and elsewhere at the NYBG, you’ll of course find piles of pumpkins and seasonal gourds to decorate your porch. But there are also plenty of fall favorites to keep on your list that you’re not obliged to carve into jack o’ lanterns, because one cannot live on pumpkin pie alone–at least not for more than a week or two.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 19 2012, by Matt Newman
It’s an early weekend update today! This Saturday and Sunday, the NYBG plays host to an event that never fails to have us bouncing off the walls with anticipation: the Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend. But before we set up New York’s most original Halloween horrors here at the Garden, Ray Villafane and his crew of sculptors are taking their talents–and one or two giant pumpkins–to midtown. Naturally, we’re not about to let them gallivant through Manhattan without us, so a few of us from the Plant Talk offices are picking up and shipping off to join in on the fun.
If you happen to be in midtown through this afternoon, you’re welcome to stop by! We’ll be setting up shop at Grand Central Terminal this morning outside the west entrance, just off Vanderbilt Avenue. You can watch as Ray’s team carves up a display pumpkin of gargantuan proportions, while Ray himself works on the centerpiece of our Halloween spread–the pumpkin patch zombie. Each sculpture will then shuffle its way to the Garden proper to become part of the main event this weekend.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 16 2012, by Matt Newman
How could I possibly cobble together this week’s Greenmarket preview without a nod to October’s star of show? Oh, right–I couldn’t. Today marks the arrival of some of the country’s biggest and best to The New York Botanical Garden, and in honor of their prize-winning rotundity, we absolutely must give culinary credit where credit is due. So here’s to Halloween’s most hallowed heavyweight: the pumpkin!
Our Greenmarket has seen a steady trickle of pumpkins, gourds, and squashes in general over the past while, and we expect to see this bounty pick up in the coming weeks as we dig deeper into fall. But this Wednesday is also notable in that it’s something of an unofficial precursor to our weekend festivities. While you’re shopping your way through piles of fresh autumn eats, we’ll be prepping their monumental, record-breaking cousins from around the country that are even now making their way to the NYBG. Starting this weekend, each giant will go under the knives of master carver Ray Villafane and his band of artful miscreants as they create the most terrifying and titillating Halloween display we’ve rolled out yet.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 16 2012, by Matt Newman
No luck digging up your skeletons before sundown, or devils at dusk? You know it’s called “All Hallow’s Eve” for a reason! At The New York Botanical Garden, we’re all about the value of a good after-dark scream, and we’re not going to let New Yorkers go wanting when it comes to finding one. Join us weekends throughout the tail end of October for “Spooky Nighttime Adventures,” a safe opportunity for you and your kids to scare out the ghosts and goblins of the city when they’re meant to be seen. How often do you get to see the Garden in the light of the moon, anyway?
While our evening events and activities are put together for children ages five to 12, kids at heart are more than welcome to join us. We’ll be decorating treat bags near the Reflecting Pool and sniffing out sweet treats along the Whole Foods Market Trick-or-Treat Trail. We’ve got a few bones to pick at the Discovery Center as we Frankenstein our way through some owl pellets, or you can suss out what sort of creepy crawlies slither in the dank, dark world under a forest log. Try your hand at calling for owls at the Boulders, discover the many secretive creatures of the night, or, if your nerve is steeled, take a peek at Ray Villafane’s ghastly pumpkin sculptures; a jack o’ lantern may be a funny fruit in the light of day, but turn on the shadows for a fright larger than life!
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 11 2012, by Matt Newman
At the height of my own pumpkin artistry, I splattered the dining room table with gourd guts, plastered seeds in my hair, and stepped back to admire what could have been a crooked smiley face…if you tilted your head a few degrees. And squinted. It also sort of looked like a bear, I guess. And while being 11 years old was an acceptable excuse at the time, I’m not ashamed to admit I haven’t gotten any better. Of course, coaxing out hidden Halloween talents would have been heaps easier with a champion pumpkin sculptor in my corner. Someone like Mr. Villafane.
For those with young gourd gougers in their midst, October’s Priceless® Budding Masters event offers just the kind of tutelage needed to make a masterpiece of an average pumpkin. Ray Villafane is considered by many (especially me and anyone who’s heard me say this) to be the Michelangelo of the pumpkin carving scene, or the Bernini of “Boo!” if you want to be a goof about it. During last year’s Haunted Pumpkin Garden, our staffers were practically picking jaws up off the floor as visitors stopped to watch Ray in action, conjuring skeletons, zombies, and monstrous spiders from nothing more than a few record-breaking vegetables. This year, he’s back to one-up himself several times over, but not before sharing his unparalleled techniques with a class of young carvers in the making.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 10 2012, by Matt Newman
A blush in the leaves, a crunch underfoot, and as good a reason as any to pluck your wool fashions out of the closet: fall is here with cool weather in tow! And while the savvy of our horticulturists means we have an exceedingly long growing window in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, it’s time for the harvest to end and our green geniuses to make their way into planning for the future. In the meantime, we’re bidding a cheerful adieu to our one-acre vegetable garden as the area’s native tribes did before us, with knowledgeable preparation that almost anyone can take part in.
Even with temperatures dropping, the fun is only just getting into its swing. Our latest program goes by “Goodnight Garden,” and through October 28 it offers an opportunity to see off the last of our garden edibles with activities to suit autumn’s colorful changes. For that, we look to the Lenape people who once lived in this area year round. We’ll be hosting tried and true seed saving activities to help you prepare for the next planting, as well as cooking demonstrations to send off your late season harvest with a bang.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 10 2012, by Matt Newman
It may be overcast and drizzling this morning, but that hasn’t put a damper on the Greenmarket staff’s ambitions! The produce tents are up and running along Garden Way until 3 p.m. this afternoon, and because I wasn’t able to get a preview up yesterday, I’ll just go ahead and give you a taste of what’s available in as short and sweet a format as I can throw together.
Fruitwise, we’re looking at piles of pears (both Seckel and Bartlett varieties) surrounded by Jonamac and Golden Delicious apples. For those sniffing out the last of the summer fruit pies or the first of fall’s confections, you’ll also find stacks of pecan, cherry, pumpkin, and peach pies making the scene. Further, those with a tooth for greens and salad toppers will want to peruse the mountains of beets, black radishes, arugula, purple haze carrots and Brussels sprouts.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 10 2012, by Matt Newman
Fair warning, northerners: you’ll have to forgive me for bringing up the touchy subject of warm weather. I know it seems like I’m teasing your patience with the far-off return of shorts and sandals, food trucks, and musty coats gone to closet, especially with the chilly stuff still ahead of us; the leaves have hardly given an autumn shrug, much less an autumn change. But when it comes to New York’s official flower–the daffodil–even standing at snow’s door step is a good time to talk about next spring’s blossoms!
Actually, it’s the best of times.
On Thursday, October 11, the NYBG not only celebrates a Garden tradition that dates back nearly a century, but recognizes how that tradition finds new meaning in recent years. Daffodil Hill has remained the spring pride of this organization since the early 20th century, when thousands of white and buttermilk yellow blooms would wake to send off winter with carpets of sunny color. And they still do! Daffodils, being perennials, are a hardy lot that bounces back year after year, often with more flowers to boast than the spring before. In the years following 9/11, the species came to represent the resilience and beauty of the people of New York–so much so that Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially recognized the daffodil as the flower of New York City in 2007. As a symbol of remembrance, the daffodil has been planted in the millions throughout the five boroughs, brightening parks in Manhattan just as they bunch around street trees in Brooklyn.
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We’re seeing a lot of countdowns, lately. Fall is drawing to a close, the IGPOTY submission deadline is on the horizon, and we’re pipping off the days until the opening of the Holiday Train Show. Near at hand, we’re also staring down the November 21 close of 2012’s Greenmarket season; tomorrow–Wednesday, November 14–marks the penultimate chance to get your fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and cheeses before our vendors close up shop until next summer. And why, oh why, would you choose to skip out on fresh eats?
