Monday, June 2, 2008

Progress?



Phase 2 saw the removal of the blue tarps, with minor growth returning under some areas. This much to the dismay of Winnie, required some reassurances on my part. Faith in the tarps, bring on change, yes we can. Dried plant materials were gathered and buried in the beginnings of the composting burm against the CMU wall...I think the slope turned out nice, and right now the burm is about 2 feet higher that the average elevation, since its probably hard to tell in the pictures. We reorganized the tarps and tilled the shit outta a patch roughly 9'X10' on the shady side of the yard. Within this we planted 6 "ground cover" plants, 2 types working within the adopted color scheme for the area. A small row of torch sunflowers (bought here: http://www.seedsavers.org/) lines the fence, fingers crossed. With bricks from the neighboring yard, I edged by the fences to avoid unwanted vine growth from returning, and to give things a taste of formaility. Winnie started the vegatable/herb seed planting in ceramic/plastic containers that we have found or bought cheaply at my new home, National Liquidator Warehouse (smells like degrading plastic and feet). After cleaning and attending to blisters, alcoholic beverages were enjoyed.

up next: Phase 3: plant more, till more, pavers?, profit?

to anyone for comment: I want to "do something" to the back wall, spice it up, but maybe not anything as crazy as something permanent. We aren't going to be able to cover it with plantings (tall grasses and sunflowers take time to grow) for a while, so suggestions? My only idea at the moment is to just buy sidewalk chaulk and have people draw on it (tastefully of course)...rain, repeat.

2 comments:

David said...

This is exciting.
I think the chalking idea is cool. No abstract shape-y stencil murals allowed?

How long do sunflowers take to grow?

Paul said...

The chaulking can be whatever it wants to be, I bought a 12 piece color set last night for 99 cents. I am only wary of doing anything permanent (paint) that my lardlord would frown upon.

The seeds will begin to sprout in 10-14 days. Last night we upped the ante, ordering 3 more varieties of sunflower seeds, different colors/heights.

Some potential bad news from this morning: the carrot planter was minorly distrubed over the night, I'm hoping it was from when I watered last night in the dark (spillover) or wind...and not something looking for a seed treat.