These are just a select few of the events going on through the remainder of July:
Tonight
Beach Block Party at the Wadsworth Atheneum will feature summer fashions and the film Soul Surfer. Begins at 5pm; film at 8.
July 8th
Hot Rhymes, Spicy Flows: HartBeat Ensemble’s BBQ & Poetry Feast in the Hollander Building on Asylum (enter on High Street). There will be vegetarian bbq available from 6:30-7:30. The show starts at 8 and goes until 10pm. Continue reading 'July Events'»
Art, Hartford, Race & Ethnicity, film, food, fun, library, music, myth busting, nothing to do, parks, photos, shopping
Lack of imagination is what creates limitations for people. We observe this in folks who see cities as mere expanses of concrete and asphalt. These are the ones who have trouble viewing anything as a success if it lacks the structure of the standard suburban shopping mall surrounded by a sea of parking spaces; predictably, this vision, this type of American Dream, is held onto most tightly by those who spend very little time in cities.They are also the ones who are surprised, if not in out-and-out denial, by the news that urban dwellers can garden. Some people have backyards that can compete with most in West Hartford, Wethersfield, or Newington. Others, like myself, have smaller yards. I like to think of mine as comparable to the “fun size” candy bars– enough to satisfy, but not so much that I feel gross when I’m done with it. Some only have windowsills or balconies to work from, though a way around this is to rent space for something like $25 per year in a community garden. At $25, without needing to fork over anything for property tax or water bills, this is a bargain. After establishing what space one will have, the next step is to plan for how it should look and where you will get your plants from. Phase one and two should probably take up most of your time, but if you are new to an area or just new to gardening, you might be just as lost about phase three (phase four, of course, is planting the goods and then maintaining them). Here is a review of some places in the area to obtain materials for the garden/yard/windowsill.
The Criteria:
- convenience of location: is this in a residential part of Hartford, another part of Hartford, out of town, on a bus line, or way out in the sticks?
- convenience of hours: does this vendor hold normal business hours, times geared toward morning people, or are they open when the planets are all aligned and the moon is in Venus?
- ambiance: no frills? warehouse? an oasis of inspiration? Is this a place that you would visit to linger, even when not seeking to purchase plants? Is this a destination or a quick stop?
- cost: dirt cheap or do they inflate the price of potting soil?
- the goods: obviously, all the above criteria doesn’t matter if the vendor does not have what you need. Is there a wide variety of plants, or just the standards? Are the plants healthy? What do they have besides plants?
- eco cred: selling plants does not automatically earn a person green cred. Are all or even some plants organically grown? Does this vendor use or sell lawn poison? Do they recycle? Do they use earth-friendly pots?
The Contenders: Continue reading 'A Guide to Getting What You Need for Growing Your Own'»
Environment, Frog Hollow, Hartford, South Meadows, Suburbs, access, how to, not Hartford, photos, quality of life, shopping
The Knox Parks’ Plant Sale is on!
Today until 6pm and Saturday from 8am until noon you can get relatively inexpensive plants at the greenhouses on Laurel Street (between Capitol Avenue and Park Street). There’s collard greens, okra, tomatoes, peppers, lavender, herbs, and flowers. I saw a blueberry bush there. Plants are cheaper than at nurseries and the proceeds go toward making Hartford greener.
The Market at Hartford 21 opened at noon today with expected fanfare in the form of speech-giving, ribbon-cutting, corny song-singing, and bagpiping. Kelleanne Jones, one of the store’s owners, got choked up while welcoming the crowd. In her speech, she noted that not everything was perfect yet and she wanted people to be understanding of that. With that in mind, here are my initial impressions of The Market at Hartford 21 Continue reading 'Market Rate'»
A mash up is a song or video made my blending two (or more) others together. It can also be the combination of new with pre-existing texts. When I heard about “The Mash Up at Billings Forge,” I was a little confused about why they were calling it such when it’d be more accurate to describe this as a festival. Maybe the use of “mash up” was to appeal to the hipsters and young people, just like every staged public performance this year was called a “flash mob” by the media, even though press releases were even sent in advance of some of those events.
Whatever you want to call it — since it’s right at the Chinese New Year, I’m considering it a New Year’s festival — the Billings Forge compound has a number of activities planned for February 3rd.
The Winter Farmers’ Market has been operating in The Studio on Thursdays, but tomorrow’s market will have demonstrations and tastings for an organic herb and spice line based in Litchfield. The Executive Director of Northeast Organic Farming Association (CT NOFA) will give a talk on how to develop our local, organic food system. The farmers’ market goes from 3:30-6pm.
From 6-9pm there will be a discussion on drink and dessert pairings in The Kitchen. No word on whether or not any samples will be available. At the same time and in the same building there will be a “Bore(d) Game Night.”
WNPR, perhaps tired of being snowed in on Asylum Avenue, will be broadcasting for part of the day from Frog Hollow. At 9 in the morning, Where We Live will be broadcasting live from The Lyceum. Continue reading 'Beer-Tasting and Adult Storytelling at Billings Forge'»
Frog Hollow, Hartford, Urban Renewal, access, food, fun, how to, music, myth busting, perception bias, shopping
Looking south, you see a pond, wooded area, sports fields, and perfect six homes bordering the park. There might be a carnival set up or a youth baseball game in action. There are pedestrians and cyclists. If you turn to face north, you see a dodgy strip mall surrounded by a weedy parking lot wedged next to the interstate. The lot looks mostly abandoned. It seems distant for pedestrians, as there is no inviting pathway from Park Street. The most lively aspect of this side of the street is the hot dog vendor in the lot.
View Pope Commons in a larger map
This used to be the Bradlees-Stop & Shop plaza. Bradlees filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2000, and that was the end of that story. Stop & Shop, which had been in the plaza since 1968, left Frog Hollow for Parkville, right on the border of Elmwood, in 1994. At the time much was made of the fact that a larger grocery store was added to the city, though it was barely within city limits. Now, there is a Save-A-Lot in the plaza, which generally does not have the same appeal as a run-of-the-mill Stop & Shop, let aloe the snob appeal of Whole Foods. Some residents are turned off by the lack of brand variety and others have questioned the cleanliness of the store. Yet, others like it because of the prices and the ability to bag one’s own groceries. The lack of frills makes it more attractive to some nearby residents. There is also El Mercado and a C-Town on Park Street, both smaller than Save-A-Lot, but offering healthier options than convenience stores. Continue reading 'Pope Commons: Evolution of an Eyesore'»
This holiday shopping season, I have seen the phrase and concept “buy locally” appropriated. People are beginning to describe shopping at the Wal-Mart in town as a local choice, as opposed to buying from online businesses. Their rationale is that this helps the store’s employees — we know they are paid something for their labor — but ignores the larger effects that these stores have on communities. Of course, most of us can see through this immediately. Big box stores do not reflect anything about the unique character of an area and they consistently drive smaller, locally-born-and-raised shops out of business. At the same time, there are locally-owned businesses that exist only online right now, often because the cost of renting storefront space is prohibitive.
We have many options for shopping truly locally, without having to ever rationalize stepping into a Big Box store.
This week, Tianna Glass is publishing about black owned businesses. So far, she has written about a beauty shop and a photography/makeup studio.
For other local options, check out something published here back in October.
Where can you get an umbrella, apron, vegetation identification guide, Hartford t-shirt, and hockey puck? The Hartford Holiday Store, which opened last week on Pratt Street, carries all of those items and more. They are looking to expand and vary the merchandise, possibly including apparel from Trinity College and the University of Hartford.
The store at 45 Pratt is open from 10-6, Tuesday through Saturday. I was informed that there may be a possibility of them remaining open beyond the holiday season.
Above: the scene today outside the Connecticut Expo Center.
Below: the scene today inside the Connecticut Expo Center.
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