Last week and next week at the East Side garden

Hello everyone! Sorry it has taken me a while to post this update. I think we're all feeling the crunch, between the election debates, a deepening and worrisome global financial crisis, and work (aka putting food on the table for you and Joe Six Pack at your failing mortaged home on America's Main Street, etc).

But enough of that. We had a smaller turnout this past Tuesday, but we got a lot of work done and had a great time doing it. First, we took the plants that didn't make it through the past two weeks of drought, and replaced them with a variety of flower called, "Bat Face," and more veggies.

Here, Megan deep waters the doughnut garden. She admits deep watering is one of the great joys of her life.


We also readied the tree box. Robb deconstructed the bottom of the box. We'll be filling it up with manure to give the tree a nice cushion before it has to deal with the poor soil on the traffic triangle.

Then Megan got the idea to attach planks from the doughnut garden up to the box, and plant vining peas at the base. That way, our box will be covered in beautiful edible greenery! This is what it looks like:


Here is Robb hammering in the planks.

While we were planting the peas, we had a neighborhood visitor named James who gave us all nicknames, and was convinced to plant a single seed.

I'm optimistic that the neighborhood will eventually take ownership of this garden. At least one woman has done some watering, and we were happy to find that someone had made a border of rocks around the perimeter of the garden.

Next week is our last week at this garden, and we have a lot of work to do! Here are the projects that need completion.

• Planting the tree in the box
• Creating a welcoming walkway of rocks up through the garden
• Painting a Garden Posse sign, informing the neighborhood that this garden is theirs!
• Planning the next garden site and needs

We'll be meeting at 8 on Tuesday, as always. Bring your friends - we need extra hands!