Gardening 2024

[cineater]

Woohoo.  Moving right along at the Salvation Army.  Should be finished with a couple more hours.  That's if I didn't finish off my back tonight.   

I see no reason to get soil for Marsha and then mix in our compost and leaf mulch.  I should be able to order some kind of blend that is good for fruit trees that includes that stuff.  She's now telling me we have to let the soil settle for a month before the trees can go in and it needs watered several times a week.

[cineater]

Oh yeah, it's done.     The volunteers can help finish up on Tuesday.  If I can hear the cardboard under the chips when I walk on it, I throw down more.  We have a couple spots of those.  A few spots where we need to mulch between the plants and then put all the hardscape back in place.  The volunteers should be pretty energize when they get there to see there is so little left to do.  Apparently, someone at the club meeting brought up down sizing the garden.  Shocked the girl who is incharge of it and she's freaking out.  Look, don't make me come to that meeting and miss pinball.  Takes way more work to take out a garden then maintaining it.  And besides lady, I know who you are, how much you don't want to work and you don't want to have to participate in making it smaller.  Of course, the lady who is in charge of the garden sits on a stool to weed and stands there while I do the work.  So you know, I lose interest might just let mother nature take it over.

[cineater]

Marsha is starting to scare me.  She turned a policy writing project over to me saying it looks like I will have to finish the rewrite.  This isn't due until October and she loves shit like this.  Is she thinking she won't be around?

Really hot here with some decent wind.  That will dry shit out.  Looks like the heat is on through the end of the month.  Will move all of my small to medium size containers at home to the shade.  My in ground plants even though watered and mostly in the shade show signs of wilt.  Means my trees are thirsty.  They are bigger and can suck up that moisture leaving very little for the smaller plants.  Then again, I did raise my canopy last year and some of my shade plants are getting more sun then they like.  The sun will get higher in the sky as summer goes on and give them back their shade but right now they are getting afternoon sun.

[cineater]

Wood chips are in!  They were delivered while I was up there.  We never know when they are dropping off a load and today they brought us 2 loads.  We need it all over the place.  I have politely told the other leads that while I have helped them solve their labor issues in their gardens, they and their teams are not excused from group work sessions.  The conversation was all pretty manipulative but that was the basic point.     I don't bark out orders but I'm still giving them, just one of my better disguises.

It is fucking hot and humid out there with no end in sight!  And no chance of rain.  Real danger of overwatering.  Plants quit growing at higher temps and go into survival mode.  No matter how much water you give them, they aren't going to grow at those cooler temperature rates.  Quit stressing them out by drowning them.  Inch per week and that's it.  Hopefully they have sent those roots down way deep and only the top layer of soil is what's baking in the sun.  Unless your me and there's 4 inches of mulch that's keeping it from drying out.

[cineater]

My schedule hasn't allowed for morning watering so I'm up at the gardens in the evening watering the containers.  You would think I would be fresh meat out there for the mosquitoes but there aren't any.  We didn't have any of the cicadas either.  Something is wrong with that.  We don't use any bug repellants at the gardens so that's not it.  We had a late cold snap but I don't think that got them.  Not sure what is going on.

The deer rope fence is working.  I see damage in other beds but none where I put the rope up.

Our heat loving garden plants are loving this weather.  We have a lot of full sun and drought tolerant plants.  Edelweiss is thriving.  It kind of died back when we planted it but then took off again.  Doesn't really look like how it was described in the song but maybe it just needs to settle in.  We always sing, a little, when I show it off to people.  They are always interested.  Then again, it's not a native and I feel guilty for growing it. 

[cineater]

Marsha is dying.  She came by the house and gave me everything for the garden.  Her heart is failing.  She's going on hospice.  In typical Marsha fashion, she's trying to take care of everything.  She's planning her funeral. 

"I don't know just what I should do.  There's a blue mist in the air."

[cineater]

We got through the monthly meeting without the issue of Marsha coming up.  We're going to have to say something soon.  Key people are being told and the grape vine is going to get rolling.  I'm working this death and funeral.  Helps to get through it but delays the deep sense of loss I'm going to have to deal with.

Fuck if the damn put up a bluebird house didn't come up again.  I would like one on campus but I am not going to take responsibility for it and no one is stepping up to do it.  It requires a lot of attention to keep the sparrows out so the bluebirds who arrive later can occupy it.  Several times a week.  We've already had hard feelings between two of our members over this issue.  Don't even look to me to try to find someone to deal with that!

We saw a weasel at the garden.  I'm told they are good and eat rodents.  Hope that means moles!

The parks department dropped off over two hundred gallon pots.  We use them in our plant sale and saves us from buying so many.  And Donna's group is going to wash them!  I'm still down for cleaning the 500 small pots they already dropped off.  I've got till next February to do it.   

They wussed out on Wednesday bringing in the 2 cubic yards of soil.  It was not raining that hard and it was cool.  Now they are waiting two weeks before they try again.  It's going to be hot!  Little do they know, that's Marsha's area, it has to be ready for the funeral.  The life celebrating is at the garden and we are showing her hard work off.  They are going to want to do that.  I won't even have to ask.

[cineater]

Texted Marsha a few pictures from the zoo lantern show we went to.  Told her I was at the garden with cloud cover and light rain.  Not expecting a reply but she texted back, sounds like heaven.  I replied I expected her to have their garden in order when I get there and my assignment ready.  She replied and no pots to wash.     She's having a good day.  Later she sent her goodbye message to the gardening group.    She included something about getting the garden ready in heaven.  Catherine told me she talked to her yesterday and she was way better than when I saw her Wednesday.  I'm still hoping this all turns around.

It was a lovely day at the garden.  I hid around back.  If I went out front I was surrounded by people with all kinds of questions.  A man stopped by with some kind of Australian herding dog.  I think those are cool.  That was probably a young eagle that flew up the creek.  We did have cloud cover and it misted a few times.  Can't say I got a lot done with the people interruption and I still haven't got my energy back but stuff got done.  I need to get out the gas powered trimmer, maybe tonight or tomorrow morning.  We are beautiful in June and I'm taking it in.

[cineater]

No reason you can't read what she said.  She's been as much a part of the gardening topic as I have been.  "A lady always knows when to leave."

Subject line was Thank You
I wanted to make sure the 3 main groups I've worked with over the years realizes how much I respect and love all of you.  My journey is slowing coming to an end.  But I also know, you guys are so ready for the next part of the journey without me.  You are such strong teams now, from when we started.   And you can always answer a question like I did sometimes, and then fix it laterEmoji

The main thing, please try to be kind and if you start down a road that's hard - make sure it's for the good of the group.

Love you all and hopefully, I'll have the next MG gardens started by the time I see you again.

FYI - there will be a party after I pass to celebrate.  Bob will be in charge - so some of you may want to help him out.  That will definitely be out of his element.

Non of this is a secret.  Just wanted to make sure most of you knew first.

Love to you all my wonderful MG friends and family
Marsha

[cineater]

I think I know what she's getting at with this:  if you start down a road that's hard - make sure it's for the good of the group.

It's the board walk and the stone path in the Fruit Abortorium.  We originally got the composite for free.  It set back there for two years until she had the idea for the boardwalk.  Then it turned into a bigger project beyond what we got for free, lots of work and costly.  The stone path cost a lot.  I talked to her about it a couple of times plus her team was tired of doing it.  They have already terminated expanding the boardwalk any more.  I think Marsha felt entitled to spend the money since she made it with the plant sale and might be feeling guilty about it now. 

Both projects are fucking gorgeous.  They have bumped us up to a more professional level and the rest of the gardens are following the example.  When it's finished, it will be the only thing like it on this side of the state.  What's on the other side of the state takes up 10 acres.  This you could do in your backyard.  I've told her this too, many times.  If she could have finished it, it would have been worthy of national attention.  No pressure, I didn't want to tell her what I was thinking.  I'll let the team finish it off and the trees grow a few years.  I will still put it out there.  Marsha you did good.  It is for the good of the group.

So anyway, I'm going to stay as overall lead a while longer.  I will cut back on all the extra stuff and just focus on the gardens.