philly

Clark Park, situated just south of Baltimore Ave between 43rd and 45th Sts is a great spot serving as an anchor for much of West Philly. It's three part structure gives everyone ample space to stretch out their limbs bipedal or not. There's just so much going on at any given time, but come springtime, it's bursting at the seams. I went out there last weekend to check out the West Philly Tool Library's tool sale and passed through Clark Park a couple times. I saw lots of stuff going on and it's not even close to its peak. So let's start off with the horses. I think there were four of them. There was one woman and a few kids tending to them as they happily munched on the early green grass afoot. I think they were giving rides to the neighborhood kids.

The LARP tag. Oh man. I had heard of this for years and even saw the beginnings of it before. But this was the first time I saw it in full run. Young and old together in melée. Some had fashioned shields and even a bow and arrow. I have no idea what the rules are as to who can have a shield or not or why one wouldn't do so.

The farmers market at Clark Park is year round, but get there before 2p or this is what you'll be greeted with: farmers packing it up to head back home. I always run into a bunch of people I know when I get my ass out to the Clark Park market and it's always so fun to catch up at the markets. There's a certain camaraderie that exists there. Love it.

And then there's the ride back across the river on the trolley. I dread the 34 trolley. I had to ride it out to 50th St for an old job. It is, by far, the most infrequently running trolley there is. Why?!

If you're up early reading this post on a Saturday morning. Get out to Clark Park and poke around. The northern end of the park is currently fenced off though. They're redoing the park. Hopefully it'll be all ready for the spring and summer.

I just got word of a cool band coming to town later this month [after they hit up the behemouth that is SXSW as a featured "band to watch"] called Little Tybee. Play the video above (Nero) to get a feel for their sound and their personality. It's a great single take video. If you like their stuff, come out to see them March 27th at The Fire. Below, you can play Nero and Passion Seekers. Take a listen…

Little Tybee by Paper Garden Records

I'll be down at the show taking shots of the Atlanta based group courtesy of Paper Garden Records.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show is underway. About 250,000 people will pass through the Convention Center by Sunday and the area around Reading Terminal Market is just about a no-fly zone for locals. But for those looking for acres of plants and garden-related things, it's heaven. Get your tickets here.

I'm back working for my friends at It's Cactus / Beyond Borders and their colorful, prize-winning booth of Haitian steel drum artwork. It's fantastic stuff made from 55 gallon steel oil drums. All the work is done by hand and the company is Fair Trade certified. The sculptures are indoor/outdoor pieces so they can go anywhere. They're light so you don't need a masonry wall or crazy anchors to mount them. If you're headed to the PIFS, booth 315 is not to be missed. I'll be there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The bed of prize winning flowers. Here's a lady taking a look at some two-tone tulips.

Here's a crappy shot of the bonsai tree booth. They're incredible to look at. These miniature trees which are 40-70 years old are so cool to look at.

The City Harvest exhibit was a tantalizingly tasty look at what's in store for all of us this spring which is just around the corner. They had Swiss chard, kale, cauliflower, peppers and other veggies.

The American Boxwood Society's booth implores us to Save the Boxwood

The US National Arboretum is proposing the "de-accession" of several important collections including the Boxwood, the Glenn Dale Azalea, the Hemerocallis and the Daffodil Collections. The decision to destroy these collections will cause irreparable damage in the loss of extremely important horticultural resources, which are invaluable in the study and research of these historically important plants

* Update: The USNA has put a hold on the de-accession of the Boxwood and Azalea Collections thanks to a major contribution by the Friends of the National Arboretum. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the collections are safe, we now have a brief window in which to raise the funds to secure their safety. Your support is more important than ever, become a member today and help protect the boxwood.

The blooming exhibit at the back had some cool looking flowers in tight arrangements.

Back on the sales side of things, there was everything under the sun/soil. Bulbs of gorgeous flowers to-be and starter plants like these Brazilian firecracker peppers.

A selection of seeds at another vendor.

The cross section of people at an event this large is always interesting to see. People all decked out in berets celebrating the Paris in the Spring theme all over the place. I saw people with Eiffel Tower broaches and necklaces. Mardi Gras beads around some peoples' necks. The amount of hair spray used to keep all that poofed hair in place could probably kill most of the plants if they got too close.

There's the under construction new home for the Barnes Museum over on 20th & The Parkway. I walked by it on Saturday and was surprised at the progress. I guess I'm not up that way very often and haven't paid much attention to it when I am up that way. But I was on foot this time, as opposed to whizzing by on bike, and I stopped and gawked for a bit.

I really want to get to the museum in the 'burbs before it's too late. Not much time left.

I was walking by Farm to City's Saturday Rittenhouse Square farmers market and saw these cool terrariums by 4mula. I can't find any info on them other than this cool site which is for the company which sells other things. I guess this is a new thing for them.

Anybody know more about these things?