Visitors in Martha Stewart's Culinary Herb Garden

What will you see?  For details consult the full schedule of events, but here’s a list to tempt you:

• cooking and entertainment demonstrations
• Martha Stewart’s herb garden (in photo)
• celebrity chefs
• gardening displays
• greenmarket on Wednesday and Saturday
• lectures and classes
• starting a vegetable garden
• composting
• learn how flowers become fruit
• practical gardening tips and suggestions
• and lots more!

The Edible Garden runs through September 13th, 2009.  General admission tickets are $20, and includes admission to all exhibitions and programs on the day of your visit.  Some special events require an additional ticket.  Save time by planning your visit and purchasing your tickets online.  The NY Botanical Garden is a plant museum located in the Bronx at Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road.  It is open year-round, Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am-6 pm, and on Labor Day and Memorial Day.

Photo credit:  Courtesy of The Edible Garden at The New York Botanical Garden, Talisman Brolin/TALISMAN PHOTO, photographer.

Visitors in Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden

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Visit New York’s Edible Garden in the Bronx

Queen’s Day

The birthday of the Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix is celebrated each year on the 30th of April. It’s not Queen Beatrix’s actual date of birth but her grandmother’s. Queen’s Day is characterized by a multitude of outdoor activities. Recognizing this, two queens in succession decreed that Queen’s Day should continue to be celebrated on 30th April due to the warmer weather in April.

This is the only day of the year that anyone is allowed to open a street stall and sell anything they want (usually old junk but a lucky gentleman once picked up a small painting for several Euros, got it examined by experts and it turned out to be an original Rembrandt!). The streets of Amsterdam turn into a massive open-air flea market just for this special day.

Amsterdam is also famous for its many Queen’s Day street parties and concerts (in photo right).  The parties begin the night before (Queen’s Night) and continue the next day. These are centered around the Leidse-, Rembrandt- and Museum Squares and attract thousands of visitors. This years’ Queen’s Day celebrations in Amsterdam attracted 600,000 people! For the foreign tourist, it really is an amazing, exhilarating experience to see the Dutch doused in orange (the royal color) and partying it up.

Open Garden Days

This is the perfect opportunity to get a peek inside Amsterdam’s historic canal-side mansions. These mansions were built during Amsterdam’s Golden Era in the 17th century and most are currently privately-owned national monuments. However, for several days in June, visitors are given a chance to step inside these stately houses and admire the interior as well as walk around the secluded, immaculate gardens (in photo left).

Holland Festival

Each year in June, cultural organizations from throughout the world descend upon Amsterdam to showcase their productions. For culture-lovers, the Holland Festival is a dream. Everything and anything one can think of: music, theatre, dance, opera and visual arts; the offerings are so diverse that visitors often have a tough time deciding what to see and do!

Gay Pride

Gay Pride is held during the first week of August but the highlight is undoubtedly the Canal Parade on the first Saturday of the month. The celebrations burst into life on Friday when the major gay areas in Amsterdam (around the Leidse- and Rembrandt Squares, the Reguliersdwars street and the Warmoes street) organize hugely popular street parties. Everyone, gay or straight, young and elderly, from all over the world joins in the fun. Later in the evenings, more parties are held in various bars and discos in Amsterdam.

The Canal Parade starts at about 2pm the next day (Saturday) and follows the entire length of the Prinsengracht (Prinsencanal) and the Amstel River. As many as 80 boats participated in the previous edition while about a half million visitors joined in the party along the canals and bridges.

Grachtenfest/Prinsengracht (Prinsencanal) concert

The Grachtenfest made its debut in 1997 and has since become a much loved Amsterdam event. Held during the warm summer evenings, the Grachtenfest offers classical music enthusiasts a unique opportunity to appreciate classical music in some of the most stunning locations in Amsterdam such as in the private chambers or gardens of canal-side mansions, the Westerchurch or in the Anne Frank House. This week-long event features world renowned musicians and ensembles as well as up-and-coming talent who perform opera classics and chamber music. The Grachtenfest culminates with the world-famous Prinsengracht concert. It is a free concert held on barges anchored in the Prinsengracht (Prinsencanal). It’s a great idea to pack a basket with some food and wine and get there early for the best spots. Set against the flood-lit façades of historic canal houses, the concert is an unforgettable, not to mention highly romantic, experience for every visitor.

Keith Jenkins is a 30-something based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  Travel and writing are his biggest passions, and he has traveled extensively across 60-plus countries on six continents.  The experience he’s gained from traveling are priceless.  You can read more about his adventures on his blog, Velvet Escapes.

Photo credits:  Keith Jenkins (Gay Pride); all others courtesy of Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board

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5 Not-To-Be-Missed Annual Events in Amsterdam

Among thousands of tulips on the grounds, along with lots of other flowers,  is a bell tower — a carillon — that was a gift to our country from the Netherlands.  There are 50 bells in the carillon, the largest about 7 feet in diameter and weighing in and over 12,000 pounds, and the smallest measuring about 9 inches in diameter and weighing about 35 pounds.  The bells are programmed to chime the hour 10 am – 6 pm daily.  They also ring out in special concerts.

Stairs lead up to an observation platform, and from there a smaller staircase leads up to the glass enclosed bell cabin.  Climb the stairs for the view, or enjoy the sights from ground level.

The grounds are part of the National Park Service, and are large enough enjoy a picnic, toss a frisbee, or walk around looking at the tulips, the carillon, and the Iwo Jima monument.  Admission to the park is free.  Parking can be difficult.

It’s a great place to spend an afternoon, but my favorite time is dusk.  As you watch the sun go down you can also see the lights of the monuments and the city come on.  It’s a special time just before nightfall.

Photo credit: cliff1066 @flickr

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Visit the Netherlands Carillon in DC

The Living Desert is just that kind of attraction.

Founded in 1970, The Living Desert is a combination zoo and botanical garden based entirely on the desert eco-system.  It covers about 1,200 acres of land, and is a pioneer in environmental education and native wildlife rehabilitation.  It also has active captive breeding and plant propagation programs.  The organization sustains itself through admissions and an aggressive membership and volunteer program.

I’d recommend visiting in the morning, shortly after opening.  The weather is not yet hot and uncomfortable, and the animals are a lot more active.  If you’re lucky, you may even get to see some of them having breakfast.  Be sure to catch the giraffes being hand fed.  It’s amazing to get an up close look at these amazing gangly creatures.

I also love the meerkats (also called mongoose).  They live communally and are quite playful and mischievous.  I’d suggest watching them for an extended bit of time, rather than hurrying by, so you get a sense of their remarkable personalities.  And they are just so darned cute!

As you walk along the various pathways, you’ll see other wildlife as well as lots of plants and flowers native to the desert.  There’s more to the desert eco-system than just cactus, and I’m always surprised as what blooms here.

There’s a children’s play park and picnic area, so the little ones have room to blow off steam, and adults have a place to rest up, too.  Another child friendly attraction is the Petting Kraal – a petting zoo where both kids and adults can get up close and personal with African goats, Ankole cattle, Sicilian dwarf donkeys, Jacob’s sheep and Nubian goats – species that live in the African deserts.

The Living Desert is located at 47-900 Portola Avenue in Palm Desert, just a few minutes from Palm Springs and Indio.   Season hours are Daily 9 am – 5 pm (August 30th – June 15th).  Summer hours are Daily 9 am – 1:30 pm (June 16th – August 31st).

Admission: $12.50 for adults, $11 for seniors (62+) and military, $7.50 for children ages 3-12, and children under 3 are free.  Discounted admission is available during summer hours.

A couple of hours should allow you to see everything The Living Desert has to offer, and if you’re a real animal fan, allow yourself 3-4 hours. Bring your camera, wear comfortable walking shoes, and drink plenty of water. Remember, it’s a desert out there.

Photo credit: SXC

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Family Fun at The Living Desert

Why just enjoy your garden underfoot? The hippest (and greenest) in new green roof design allows you to enjoy your garden overhead as well. January’s Custom Home Magazine reports that, “Between 2004 and 2005, total green roof square footage grew 80 percent in the U.S.” What’s this mean to home owners? Green roofing reduces cooling costs, improves air quality, and allows for green space to co-exist with architecture.

Enticed by the idea of planting flowers up above?

Hydrotech, Inc. is taking green roof design to a whole new level. Water-tight, energy efficient, and let’s not forget ultra cool to look at — Hydrotech has a garden roof to fit any builder’s or dreamer’s needs.

Hydrotech’s site covers all the basics. Visit to learn about designs, benefits of green roof systems, installation, and different type of roof systems.

Hydrotech’s site discusses roof types such as:

• The Intensive Garden Roof
• Sloped Applications
• Extensive Garden Roof
• Shallow-Intensive (Lawn) Garden Roof

To get an idea; here’s what Hydrotech says about the Extensive Garden Roof system:

“The Extensive Garden Roof is ideally suited for locations that will receive little or no maintenance, or where structural capabilities are a concern. Recommended plants include sedum, herbs, grasses and other vegetation that can withstand harsh growing conditions. The soil mixture, composed primarily of mineral materials mixed with organic medium, can be very shallow (as little as three inches). The entire system is very light, weighing little more than a traditional ballast roof, allowing for safe installation on almost any existing roof.”

Here’s my favorite garden roof.

Or, maybe this one…

Perhaps you desire a “going all out” approach:

Other positive aspects of green roof systems include:

• Stormwater management, (a green roof retains 50%-90% of a typical rainfall)
• Creation of a natural habitat for plants and animals.
• Reduced dust, smog, and noise levels,
• Increased life expectancy of a roof, (offers protection from physical abuse and extreme weather).
• Improved thermal resistance — helps to reduce cooling costs in the summer months.
• And much more.

A garden roof creates a livable and peaceful environment. Of course you’re not going to be basking on too sloped a roof; but imagine the possibilities for the average roof owner. It’d be so cool to have people over… to your roof! Coffee, up on the roof on a cool summer morning; a little after hours alone time with your significant other up on the roof; a lot of alone time with a book for just you.

And hey, with pedestrians, dogs, bikes, and more; a green roof ends the senseless trampling of flowers everywhere. Hmm, maybe this could be the new slogan for green roof organizations everywhere.

Or not.

All photos courtesy of American Hydrotech, Inc. (Thanks Hydrotech!)

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Grow Your Garden Higher, (Literally)