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Planting an idea: Throw some topsoil in the Hole
By adamg on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 9:23am
Jeremy Marin notes that an ugly, vacant construction site in Manhattan is now an urban farm:
The farm is comprised of roughly 6,000 plants growing in easily transportable black milk crates. There's eggplant in shades of white and purple, an array of squash, tomatoes, salad greens - even okra, a southern crop rarely seen on farms in the Northeast. The produce regularly sells out in the Riverpark restaurant.
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Comments
Shade Crops
This would be a good place for container gardening of greens during the height of summer, as well as broccoli.
Tomatoes and peppers would probably fail.
Add the Soil, Skip the Farm
Forget farming on it. The city would make it impossible. They'd require a million permits and licenses and a corporate sponsor and a BRA Urban Green Farm Task Force. They'd require fencing and paved walkways up to code and lottery-assigned parcels, and of course a big ol' sign saying it was brought to you by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
How about just some dirt and grass and a couple of benches to sit on? The mayor could still have his sign.
A Menino sign is a great idea
Someone should hang a huge sign on the ugliest part right now, proclaiming that it was brought to Boston by Menino. "Since 2007" or whenever it was.
+1
Actually, this is a really excellent idea. Nothing moves a politician like a good old fashioned public shaming.
Frankly, if I still lived in Boston proper, I would be considering a run against TMizzie, and I would absolutely buy up space on some building nearby where I could put such a banner up with a big ol' arrow pointing toward THE HOLE.
All of this said, I took an early morning bike ride to the South Boston Waterfront today for the first time in a while. Wow, has there actually been some development down there (I used to be there nearly everyday before the Convention Center was built, and for a few years afterward). Anyway, I started to think that the City had done some good work down there...but then I realized that nearly all of the development down there (Marina Park or whatever it is called, excepted) is actually on Massport land!
Simple but effective?
How's that grab ya? Feel free to click the preview image for full size (should do okay at about 1 page big) , print, and post if you want. ;)
Mrs. Katz..
...might have something to say about this...
Just printed and laminated
Just printed and laminated several of these. I've had the idea for a while, but never designed anything. I believe they still have the construction netting, right? Now I just need to find my "plastic-tag-gun" thingy so I can secure it with those plastic thingys.
Please get pics :)
Pretty please! :D
Pics will absolutely be forthcoming!
However, I may not be able to do it until this time next week. :(
But certainly no later than that.
Can you make one...
for the Ferdinand Building in Roxbury? I mean, it's only been three decades.
DIY guide
* Open Powerpoint (or your favorite drawing/layout program).
* Draw an oval that is about 1.3x wider than it is tall.
* Color it blue (I found RGB of 0,27,100 to be close to the original).
* In white text on the oval object itself, write your message. I used the Constantia font (it's specifically designed to be "clearer" than TimesNewRoman when resized). Size the lines in order from smallest to largest as: "city", "mayor", "welcome", then "location".
* Use the "Format text effects" menu to set the "text box" to "wrap to shape" (your mileage may vary depending on the program you use).
Done.
Great idea!
Great idea!