Gardening 2024

[cineater]

Fortunately I have a minor headache and my allergies are acting up.  Couldn't get a rise out of me if you tried.  Budget meeting went well.  The herb girls don't know what they are doing.  Revised budget came in $1000 more than the first time.  I put one bed in the budget and the other 5 on special request.  In the end, I have $100 left to make compost repairs out of this year's budget.  All that took 5 hours.     Meeting was only 2.  It's the budget dissection that is the pain.  First I have to know what each garden is spending so I can keep track of it for myself.  For the budget committee, I have to break it down the total budget into 5 categories such as plant, hardscape, etc.  Then I have to give them the month the money is to be spent in for the treasure.  All the columns did not add up right the first time.   The second go around, the month money was being spent in was off by $85, so I lied.     That one is just an approximation.  All in all, kicked ass on putting that together for them.  And I'm pretty much spot on with this year's budget, did not go over.

The panel donations included 3 panels of white, plastic lattice work.  I hate that shit.  I don't even use it at home and I'm a cheap ass.  Real wood people!  But we will use free at the gardens and Beka says I can paint it.  Hate it enough I probably will although I did live with some at the garden for a while before I gave it away.  We could really only use one of the hose donations.  It all helps.

Bob and the girls almost finished the base of the retaining wall!  Little bit left to go and then we can start glueing down the toppers.

[cineater]

Had to kill the herb garden plan.  The 4400 didn't include the other 1200.  They are way out of our ability to do this unless it's over several years.  Sending them back to the drawing board.

[cineater]

Now she's saying the 4400 is all of it and refusing to give me an updated sheet.  Fine, you're going before the money people and asking for funds.

Seriously, did I not just review our budget with him sitting?  Mentioned we were $2000 short in funds this year and we were spending what we had down to zero.  Authorized the president of the group to spend $160, leaving me only $100 to make compost repairs which may not cover it.  He texts me today saying he got a better price so he got more and went over by $8!  Okay, it's only $8 and the man can't hear worth a shit but I pride myself on keeping us under budget.   

Raining a lot here and more expected.  Cool, I have a lot of ground to dig up.

[cineater]

The creek is out of it's banks.  At 8 this morning it was right there but we're sitting at 20.86 now and rising.  We're not in trouble until around 22.5 feet.  Our normal is 1.46.

Jim has agreed to build all 6 of the herb garden beds.  I'm taking the wait and see approach on the costs.

[cineater]

Three and a half sides of the garden flooded.  Our usual flooding.  It will be gone by the time I get there tomorrow.  Head of the office wants me to let her know if there is any puddling on property tomorrow.  Why?  The usual soggy parts.  My attitude just shows I've been there too long.  The people who ran out to check on it are the folks I know who care more than the rest.  I guess I'm really at I know it's okay and I don't need to run out there.  I do care, I'm just tired.

[cineater]

Catherine is steadily working on the retaining wall.  Kevin has the supply list for the compost bins and has it on his to do list for next Wednesday.  Jim and Beka scheduled to help him.  Tom is scheduled to finish the shelving.  That would be all the fall projects completed.     I started cleaning up my beds.  The celosia while still pretty had to come out before it drops more seeds.  I think I'm going to go ahead and prune the crepe myrtle.  I did it last year because they were getting windows and it didn't seem to hurt them.  Normally they get pruned in March.  I'm not waiting much longer for the killing frost.  I need to get my beds cleaned up.

One of our members stopped by some political signs nobody picked up from the election before this and got us 8 T-posts.  Fair warning, pick that shit up or we will.    Not sure if we are stealing or cleaning up pollution.

[cineater]

Beka and I had our overall leads workday.  You can't get anything done on regular workdays when you're the overall lead.  I got there at 7:30.  She got there at 10:30.     I had some bushes to take down and we were wood chipping the front of the Bird Garden.  Did walk over to Pantry and discussed the redesign of that.  We want to put a fence around the whole thing so we don't have to use chicken wire.  Don't hate it but it is a problem.  I would also like to see a storage area and some seating.  Don't know where we'll get the funding for that but Beka will make it beautiful.  We'll probably lose two, half beds so the fence can fit between it and the annual beds.  We have a water system in there so she has to work around it.

The counsel approved Deana's brick fundraiser project so they will be bricking the pathways in the Perennial Garden.  We'll have to move all the stepping stones to the Native Garden.  Probably saving the install for next spring.

The flood gouged out part of my path around the greenhouse.  Waiting until it rains this weekend before I add that to the list.

No killing frost in sight.  I have some major clean up when that happens.  Nice out there today though.

[cineater]

These folks stir up a lot of shit.     I find out in steering committee the Extension Counsel expects us to install the engraved bricks after they install the blank ones.  Yeah the group where the guy yelled at me for asking for funding.  We are to pop one out when they ask, they will take it to be engraved and give it back to us to reinstall.  Sounds simple enough but we're talking 1000 bricks and popping in and out isn't that simple.  Then Leslie decides to go off topic and rant during an email about other gardens not deadheading their plants and them getting into her garden.  Well, if you're going to stir up shit, lets just get it out there.  I add a comment about those gardens and visitors complaining about chiggers in her garden coming to visit them.  And shut it down with a we'll discuss the issues at the March planning meeting.  She called but I didn't take that call.  Calm your ass down.  And then I dropped by the gardens and the new lead is totally tearing up one of the beds.  Good, it needs it and she'll do a good job.  The planting plan should get leads approval but the new lead is buying her own plants and the leads don't really care so I'm letting that slide.  Plus she's doing it when nobody is around so I expect it will be done before anybody even notices.   

I did talk to Earl about the Fairy Garden.  Who knew a 70 year old man would be so into that?  The leads liked it but voted no money for it this year to which several people said aww.  Told them I had a plan to do it at no cost if they would help with some donations of fairy stuff.  Apparently Dollar General has some cheap stuff which I'm sure is not going to meet my tastes but we'll see.  We're doing something under the new sign in my bed.  It needs to be elevated for the height to look right.  We can build a platform or maybe use a bunch of tall pots with a contest for people to put a fairy garden in them or maybe we can use that shallow, rusting wheelbarrow.  I think the wheelbarrow idea is winning, it's me but then again, it's Earl's idea for a fairy garden.  I can't take it over.

[cineater]

If mother nature isn't going to kill them, I have too.  Busy putting the yard to bed for the winter and collecting seeds.  Donna is right, don't leave your milkweed seed pods out to dry.  The heater kicks on and they take flight all over your house.     Donna is done with digging up the perennials.  Sure sign to wrap it up and close the gardens.  I'm not watching tomorrow.  Lots of projects that should wrap up, fingers crossed.

[cineater]

Tom completed the shelving project.  Katherine didn't show for the wall but she works other days.  Might be done, I'll have to check.  The lattice work, most of it, got installed.  I had 3 experienced woodworkers on that.  They only got it half done in 3 hours and did the decorative stuff first.  Why wouldn't they start with function, the finishing bin?  If they want to spend another day playing, it's okay as long as it gets done.  Beka said it took them a while to figure out how to frame in the lattice. Not like they didn't have the example in front of them.    Then again, we don't let me build anything so I'm going to go with they are the experienced ones and I know two of them love to bullshit.  Plus Kevin forgot the extra panel he had at home.  I'll go look tomorrow.

Phebe got in her new steel bed, white/gray.  Looks pretty good.  I would have went with the orange color.  

We have a winter storm coming in the end of next week.  I'm closing the gardens for general work sessions Saturday.