Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Children's Education on October 11 2016, by Samantha Fletcher
September 17th’s 60th Anniversary celebration of the Children’s Gardening Program gave us the touching experience to see current participants, alumni, and instructors come together to reminisce about old memories and to create new ones. We had the opportunity to interview a few attendees to learn the impact the program had on their lives.
Posted in Photography on September 10 2015, by Matt Newman
Chard grows big and bright in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, where things are abuzz with plans for the upcoming Edible Academy Family Garden Picnic on September 27.
Chard (Beta vulgaris) in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on July 8 2015, by Matt Newman
With summer’s warmth and the verdant greenery that fills the landscape around this time of year, it’s almost a given that most of us will spend at least one night enjoying an al fresco meal in view of the setting sun, soaking up the benefits of shorts-and-sandals weather while there’s still time to spare. Of course, dining outdoors with the benefit of a top-tier chef at the helm is that much better, right?
Posted in Children's Education on June 15 2015, by Plant Talk
On a recent misty Saturday morning, I found myself boarding a Garden tram bound for the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden along with 96 children enrolled in the Edible Academy’s Children’s Gardening Program for Crafters, an opportunity for kids ages six to 12 to experience gardening first-hand and to learn about the science behind plants and food.
Parents waved as their kids claimed their seats on the tram, one girl quickly asking whether her mom had packed her a change of clothes for later. She had, and told her daughter, “Have fun. Get dirty!”
The tram pulls away and steers us through low hills and around age-old trees until we arrive at the Family Garden. Eager children disembark and head toward the main garden gates, beyond which they gather with their small groups, divided by age.
It is in these small groups that they do special activities—learning about Gregor Mendel and plant genetics; writing in field notebooks they bound earlier in the program; and making crafts.
Posted in Children's Education on May 26 2015, by Ann Novak
Ann Novak is the Manager of the Edible Academy at The New York Botanical Garden.
Our lettuce transplants are getting bigger every day, snappy radish roots are turning red under the soil, and the peas are starting to vine. It’s time for Salad Days at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden! Shakespeare called a person’s youth “salad days” for a reason: these are the sweetest days of the year, when everything seems possible. Especially a delicious salad! We’re in our last week of this wonderful program, which ends on Friday, June 5.
To learn more about all the crops in our plots, dig in with the staff in the Family Garden. We’re excited about our first harvest of the season and celebrating salads in all sorts of ways. Visitors can create a paper plate salad to learn more about plant parts as we make art. Measure and mix the dried herbs you need to take home a salad dressing to finish and enjoy at home. Explore the garden with a scavenger hunt learning more about the plant parts that make up a salad.
Posted in Photography on February 12 2014, by Matt Newman
This isn’t actually a ski course for moguls experts, though with so much Sochi on the brain it’s easy to see the comparison. Hard to believe, however, that the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden seen here will be thriving and packed with lively daily activities in just a short while. (No worries—it will!)
Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden on September 16 2013, by Matt Newman
At first I set out to tease you (not maliciously!) with menu selections from this Saturday’s upcoming Family Dinner featuring Chef “Dodo” Fortunato Nicotra of Felidia, one of Mario Batali‘s trusted culinary masterminds. But then it came to my attention that this week’s evening is ALMOST sold out! Not to worry, though—you can still get tickets for Saturday if you rush, but even if you aren’t able to land tickets to this weekend’s event, there’s still one more opportunity on the horizon for gourmands with an appetite in tow. And one more opportunity for me to tease you, I suppose.
On Sunday, September 29, we’re firing up the grills in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden for one last seasonal gourmet gathering. This time around we’ll be spotlighting dishes and demonstrations from the dynamic duo of Chef Dan Drohan of Otto Enoteca Pizzeria and Chef Josh Laurano of Tarry Market.
Before dinner, kids and parents alike are invited to join Family Garden staff in the vegetable beds for hands-on gardening and craft activities, after which we’ll jump straight into preparation with an expert cooking demonstration by our visiting chefs. Save room for cavolo nero and ricotta salad, agnolotti al forno with swiss chard and pecorino, sweet potato and walnut budino, as well as paired wines and more. Trust me—you’ll leave well-fed.
For more info on upcoming menus and getting your tickets, visit our Edible Garden page. Though I’d suggest registering soon—judging by September 21’s dwindling tickets, the one taking place on the 29th should fill up quickly as well. Don’t miss these last opportunities to enjoy the flavors of summer with Mario Batali’s finest!
Photo courtesy of Andrea House.
Posted in Video on August 28 2013, by Matt Newman
It’s a tiny industry of flitting and buzzing that calls the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden home late in summer, and you know we never miss out on a chance to celebrate something. Plus, pollinators are important! At some point, most of the fruits and vegetables that land on your plate benefit from the busy activities of these nectar-nursing bugs. That goes just as well for the edibles growing in the Family Garden.
Bring the kids along and join us through October 11 to learn about these important insects, such as the honeybees coming and going from our rooftop apiaries, and the monarch butterflies making pitstops in the Garden on their way to Mexico for the winter. Our experts—often the same people who don those odd bee suits to retrieve our homegrown honey—will show you the inner workings of a beehive and offer samples from different nectar sources. In the meadow, you’ll find monarchs fueling up on nectar before taking to the skies for their marathon flight. And even if bugs aren’t your bag, there’s always a hands-on activity to dive into.
In any case, maybe our Family Garden queen bee, Annie Novak, can give you a better idea of what the pollinators are up to these days.
Posted in Programs and Events on July 26 2013, by Matt Newman
As I write this, it’s barely lunchtime on Friday and already our stomachs are grumbling for Sunday night’s Family Dinner with Mario Batali’s Chefs. But if you saw the menu, you’d have no cause to blame us for jumping so far ahead of schedule. Chef Cruz Goler of Lupa and Chef Frank Langello of Babbo will be here and in rare form, slinging gourmet dishes in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden and talking shop with cooking demonstrations both before and after the meal. It’s a pretty well-rounded approach to highlighting everyone’s favorite pastime—eating well! And with plenty of crafts and activities to keep the kids happy (and perfectly paired wines to give your own mood that much more of a boost), it’s the quintessential al fresco dining experience.
There may only be two days until the event kicks off, but we still have a few tickets left for you to snap up, so don’t wait until the last minute. For more information on Family Dinners and everything happening during our summer Edible Garden events, head through to our official page—or zip right over to MasterCard’s Priceless NY registration page to grab a spot for Sunday night!
We’ll be prefacing our gourmand experience with an entire weekend of music, poetry, and hands-on activities centered around our ongoing exploration of Wild Medicine. Join us in the Ross Hall on Saturday, July 27, for the heights of lyricism hosted by visiting poets. The likes of Terese Svoboda and Rafael Campo will be joining us for dramatic readings of 16th-century classics, proving that the art of botany moves well beyond the beauty of the flower itself.
For the DIY dynamos among you, the Home Gardening Center should be high on your list of destinations, too. We’ll have an NYBG expert on hand to answer your questions on the pride of so many summer gardens: the hydrangea. Whether blue, pink, or somewhere in between, we’ll teach you how to grow and maintain these flower puffs to your liking.
There’s a whole lot more going on this weekend than I can jabber on about here, so head below for the schedule and we’ll see you on the grounds!
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 19 2013, by Matt Newman
Echinops — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen