On Thursday afternoons Farm to Hearth sets up a wood fired clay oven in the courtyard of the Billings Forge compound on Broad Street. The pizzas are made from fresh, local ingredients.
East-West Grille, a Pan-Asian restaurant with a generous number of vegetarian dishes, sells lunches from a spot in front of the garden.
If these quick lunch options are not adequate, Firebox — a slower and pricier alternative — is just steps away from the weekly farmers’ market.
There are vendors from several local farms. Finding fresh food is no problem. A recent visit showed variety in abundance: tomatoes, peppers, melons, beets, raspberries, blueberries, apples, plums, basil, and more. Pies made from local fruits and berries were for sale, as were loaves of bread baked on the Billings Forge grounds.
On September 16th there will be a Farm-to-Table Dinner. This is by far the most expensive of the options listed here and is included to show the range that exists on a single city block: Broad Street between Capitol Avenue and Russ Street.
This afternoon, for no apparent reason, a tree uprooted itself. Continue reading 'Timber!'»
A quick call to the Registrar of Voters yesterday confirmed that I belong to one of the two major political parties, which means little to me beyond my ability to vote in primary elections. It’s not a just system, blocking out those who choose not to affiliate for personal or religious reasons.
The photograph depicts the scene outside the Burns School around 7:30 this morning. There were about the same number of people inside as at the November election, though my polling place as changed, so this observation is neither here nor there.
The half dozen votermaniacs (pictured) were cheering even when no pedestrians or cars were in sight. Luckily, the building has a secondary entrance that sidesteps political cheering squads.
There was no drama to my knowledge (so far) down in Voting District 9, but elsewhere, a candidate’s mom allegedly got into it with her son’s challenger. Let’s hope this is an exaggeration and that people are behaving themselves. For a change, let all the ridiculousness happen elsewhere.
Many of the homes in this series have been rowhouses of some kind or another. I like how different parts of one structure get personalized with different paint colors or flowers. I also like how in a homebuying situation, one is making a commitment to share at least one wall of her home with someone who is most likely a stranger.
This week’s edition features a rowhouse that comes with a large front yard and is adjacent to a park. These, like a previous week’s edition, were designed by George Keller. (In writing this, I learned that what is now the Burns School used to be the Hartford Orphan Asylum!) Check out this website for a photo taken by someone lucky enough to find no cars parked out in front of the building. It’s a challenge to get photos that avoid power lines, air conditioners, cars, and political signs, all of which conspire to uglify pictures.
Continue reading 'Casa Linda: Week of August 10-August 16'»
This week’s home was born in 1880 and rehabbed a few years ago in an area where many homes had been victims of arson.
Continue reading 'Casa Linda: Fourth Home'»
Wheat? In the city? Isn’t that something for the Midwest?
Last Saturday, volunteers began to harvest the wheat that was planted in a Grow Hartford plot on Broad Street. I have been told that bicycles were involved in the process. The seeds were planted in April, followed by an invitation to the community to help weed the field.
The wheat will be used to bake bread, which will be shared among project volunteers.
Urban wheat farming is not unique to Hartford. London, New York, and San Diego are some other cities where wheat has been planted.
To read more about food options available to Hartford residents, go to Farm to Table.
This week’s home is actually several, but it’s so hard to isolate one home from these rowhouses. They’re all gorgeous.
This is/was 142-144 Park Terrace in the process of being demolished yesterday.
To find out the locations of other blighted properties, see the website put together by HART and Trinity College.
All three photographs by Christopher Brown
Will this become yet another parking lot?
142-144 Park Terrace is slated for demolition today. The City’s assessor website lists “142 PT LLC” as the owner of 142 Park Terrace. The six-unit apartment building is suffering from internal collapse.
You can see more photos of the structure, pre-demolition, on my Photobucket page.
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