Normally, he is the gardener of the house. I watched him year after year, half paying attention. Seeds, coconut-husk soil; add water and in a few months boom… Chilis. Too many to consume. Habaneros, Thai, Jalapenos, Scotch Bonnets. The heat lamp has been set for a few hours in the evenings, on an automatic timer. Every day it clicks on and off. I think maybe I will go mad. I think maybe this is a gift. In our apartment, I set up to work at our dining room table. It’s not the most comfortable set up. The hard chair cuts the blood flow, just above my knees.
One conference call has ended and tasks have been assigned. We have no idea when we will meet in the office again as a team. The dates keep changing. The company provides status updates, the chains of command feign bold ignorance. We’re never quite sure of what is happening at the top, that’s just how it is. They leave that part out of the marketing campaigns and new hire information packets. We are the masses, with seemingly no control. I look over at the seedlings. If I don’t water them, they will surely die, but how much water is too much? I have no direction and no green thumb. Instead, I have an internal lie detector, razor-sharp detachment skills, and Google.
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by Guest Author | Pandemic, Stories
At a time when financial profit is all that cities are driven by, the Prinzessinnengärten seem to be a green oasis that gives us hope that, as long as there are active people creating such projects, the future might not be so bleak. Nomadisch Grün (Nomadic Green) launched Prinzessinnengärten (Princess gardens) as a pilot project in the summer of 2009 at Moritzplatz in Berlin Kreuzberg, a site which had been a wasteland for over half a century. Along with friends, activists and neighbors, the group cleared away rubbish, built transportable organic vegetable plots and reaped the first fruits of their labour.
The ultimate idea behind this project is for all unused spaces in cities to be turned to green urban farming spaces where locals produce their own healthy food. In this way, the microclimate would be better, there would be less CO2, and the biological diversity would increase. This project promotes community and aspires to be a place where a new style of urban living can emerge, where people can work together, relax, communicate and enjoy locally produced vegetables. Since more and more people are living in cities than rural areas, it becomes important that there is change towards a more sustainable way of living, eating and moving.
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by Stella | Cafés, Kreuzberg
photo: berlijnblog
Berlin is certainly not Paris. It’s not known for being a city of love, maybe more for short-lived adventures? But regardless of Berlin’s rough nature, it does have an utterly romantic core. Something that you will only discover when you take the time to get to know it, and look underneath all it’s layers.
Beside the obvious places such as techno clubs, hipster cafes, co-working spaces, and cheap tourist attractions Berlin has a couple of truly unique places that a particular charm that I would describe as traditionally romantic. Imagine greek columns entwined by ivy, boot rides in fairytale-like forests, hidden rose gardens and bridges leading to palaces. It’s the stuff of Disney movies and Berlin has these kind of places too! Maybe you know some of them, but didn’t pay attention to recognize their true beauty. Or maybe you have never heard of them. Either way we would advise you to seek them out, maybe on your next date, maybe on your next family visit, or maybe by yourself with a good book. Enjoy our selection of the most romantic places of Berlin masterfully captured by some of our favorite Instagrammers (and myself).
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by Frank | Charlottenburg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Neukölln, Tiergarten, Wedding
photo: steffimarla
Urban parks are more than just stretches of green amidst buildings and traffic. Entering a good park can change your whole sense of place, leaving you feeling like you just went away without leaving the city. We’ve compiled a list of 10 of our favorite parks, which run the gamut in size and features. Sprawled across the city, these urban oases all have something unique to offer, whether you’re in the mood for a picnic, a bike ride, a party or simply an afternoon stroll. Click on to start planning your next urban escape.
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by Skylar | Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Places, Prenzlauer Berg, Tempelhof, Tiergarten, Wedding
photos: ichbineinbaum.de
The Prinzessinengärten at Berlin Moritzplatz are an amazing place with a genious and innovative idea behind it. Using mobile vegetable patches, they transformed a 6,000 m² wasteland in the centre of Berlin into an organic urban farm. They also has several beehives and a cafe serving food made from the produce grown in the garden. Alongside its ecological aims, the project intends to offer local residents a new kind of urban space, where they can meet, work and relax together having several events there like concerts, dinners or even a fleamarket. We always liked the project and are now happy to support it. They already won the smart future mind award last year here in Berlin and are now in the run for the smart future minds community award which will support the project in the next year. Vote for them here and support our local heroes. After the jump more pictures of our trip to the Kreuzbörg Flowmarkt taking place at the Prinzessinengärten some weeks ago.
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by Claudio | Kreuzberg, Places
