Office Space

The other place in our apartment where I like to set up shop.

Room with a View

Our balcony garden is starting to fill in nicely. I chose a cooler palette for the window boxes this year: 'black heart' sweet potato vines, purple ageratum, miniature yellow petunias and and the one boxwood shrub that survived my winter garden experiment.

I added a few more edibles too: kale, red mustard, frisé, strawberries, 'white currant' cherry tomatoes and cucumber. The cucumber is by far the most entertaining to watch. It's taking over the balcony railing and is already bearing dozens of small prickly cucumber buds.

Making a Mark

Popsicle sticks have always reminded me of arts & crafts and glue-covered fingers. But now I look at them and think "plant markers."  To make these I bought a bag of wooden sticks (the tongue-depressor size), carefully cut the bottoms into points and painted them with chalkboard paint. Done!  Or so I thought... I took it one step further and used rubber stamps & a white ink pad to label the plants I'm growing this season.

**Bundled up, the leftover markers make a great little gift for my fellow city gardeners.

Working Out

It's taken some time since the move to set up a new work space-- but alas, it's done. I no longer have an alcove to call my own, but I've transformed the corner of our bedroom into an area to sew/ make prints/ draw/ wrap gifts/ get inspired...

I was able to use the same desk by removing the legs and propping the top on two 6-drawer units from IKEA- instantly doubling the storage space while keeping everything very compact. Putting the shelf up unified the space as a separate work area and gave me some more room for display, as did the over-sized bulletin board.  In between projects everything is tucked away and out of site so I can approach my work area like a blank canvas-- vacant, full of potential, and up for anything when I feel the urge to create.

The serigraph of the nude was printed by my mom in college, circa 1972. I just love it.

Forcing Spring

At this point in February it seems like Spring can't come soon enough. Dreary skies, slushy sidewalks and yet more snow in the forecast. On the upside, without the balcony to tend to my houseplants are getting a little more love and attention from me. They remind me that spring is really just around the corner... and I'm encouraging the optimistic sentiment by forcing paperwhite bulbs indoors. The bright green shoots make me so happy that I'm willing to overlook their pungent scent.

Winter Garden

This is the first year I committed to planting a winter garden. It took some effort at first to get excited about evergreens, but when I came across the charming miniature varieties I got a boost to follow through with my plan. It's still somewhat bare compared to our garden this past summer and could use something draping down, like ivy... but once the harsh days of February arrive I know we'll be thankful to see these little tufts of greenery against the snowcapped rooftops.

Still Growing Strong

Between packing, painting, moving and unpacking, I haven't had much spare time to work on my creative projects. I hope to have more down time soon, which will most likely coincide with the onset of cooler weather.

In the meantime, I've really been enjoying how much the garden on our balcony has grown since I planted it back in May. The sweet potato vines are reaching down towards the ground, and to my surprise we even have sweet potatoes peeking through the soil. They've gotten so big that the geraniums have backed down in submission.

The nasturtium didn't survive the heat wave in July and the lavender drowned due to lack of drainage, both of which I promptly replaced with low-maintenance succulents. On the other hand, the tomato plant is actively producing a bounty of sweet cherry tomatoes, excellent for pairing with bocconcini. :) For a little while the morning glories looked like they might not make it but have showed a lot of resilience and are coming back strong-- and finally bearing flowers!

With the gardening season so short-lived, it has me thinking that I need to get more creative in the Fall and Winter so we can still see green when we look outside our window.

24 Stories Above Sea Level

Not long ago Ron's balcony, which faces south on the 24th floor of a building in the Flat Iron district, was just a 5 x 8 foot block of cement. The view is breathtaking from this height with water towers galore and the Woolworth building in the distance. But aside from the occasional rooftop garden, there is an overwhelming amount of concrete on the horizon. As soon as the threat of frost had past, I brought over my planters and raided the greenmarket to fill them. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this space! For the past six years I've made the most of my fire escape in Brooklyn, but this almost feels like I've gained an extra room and a backyard.
























I started with the window boxes, filling them with fuchsia geraniums and sweet potato vines, a tried and true combination. By mid-summer the vines should drop down and cover most of the steely window boxes. In one corner I arranged pots of herbs: sage, lemon thyme, basil, chamomile, lavender, nasturtium, peppermint and rosemary. On the other side I planted an heirloom cherry tomato plant surrounded by more herbs: oregano, purple basil and orange mint. It's exciting to have so many herbs on hand and to limit our runs to the grocery store (where they only sell herbs in big bundles that eventually wilt from neglect in the fridge).






























































My original idea was to have a garden consisting completely of succulents. Not only do succulents come in a variety of colors and textures, but they are incredibly forgiving and thrive off neglect... and another perk, they're perennials so they'll come back on their own next year!

When we're on the balcony looking out towards the left, we have a feeling of being alone, floating above the surrounding buildings with a fantastic bird's eye view... however, just to the right of the balcony is a panel of windows-- or eyes, if you will. To somewhat obscure the view from both sides, I planted morning glories along the base of the balcony. I chose the variety Sunrise Serenade which is known for dense coverage and magenta double flowers. At the rate that they are growing, we should have a little more privacy (or at least the sense of it) in a few weeks.

With the addition of the cafe table & chairs and new cushions for Ron's trusty wooden chair, all of a sudden we have more than a balcony, we have a garden oasis.

Corner Muse

The brick-covered alcove in my Brooklyn apartment makes the perfect space for a small studio. There's plenty of natural light, with a view facing 7th Avenue, and enough space for my narrow desk, sewing machine, bookcase and metal chest of drawers. I can't complain about the size because I just feel lucky to have the extra space to spread out and pin up my inspirations. Sunday afternoon is my favorite time to rummage through my fabrics, put on some music, dive into a few projects and completely lose track of time.