Since my last post, there have been some exciting new developments in my garden project.
Early in the week, I spoke to Dan (the brilliant-civil engineer) and Sean (another brilliant civil engineer). It’s a good thing I know so many civil engineers. I talked to both of them about my plans at this point – instead of making large garden beds, I want to make several smaller beds so that the weight isn’t too concentrated. I am going to raise them above the roof slightly so I can put a tarp under them – I’m thinking of doing this with bricks, but as Sean pointed out, I need to use several bricks, since if I only use one in each corner, the weight will all be concentrated on those bricks. I think the tarps might be a good idea since if there is a lot of soil spilling, or if the beds break, it will be easier to clean up the mess from my roof.
On Thursday, I went again to the garden store on Bayshore Blvd. to check out the different pots and containers available for planting. The ceramic and wooden planters are nice, but kind of pricey, but on this visit I came across some biodegradable pots and planters that are cheap and lightweight. Here is a picture showing the material – they are made out of recycled paper, and they come in several sizes.
I spoke to a woman at the garden store about these containers, and she said that if they are raised off the ground, they should last an entire growing season. So growing lightweight crops like herbs, chives, lettuce, etc. would work in these, and it would be an affordable alternative to the more expensive ceramic and wood. So my plan on Thursday was to plant in these, which I thought would work pretty well.
My plans changed on Friday though when I had a lucky find on Noe St. in the Castro. I was walking down the street at 10:00 PM and came across a nice, wooden dresser discarded on the street. One of the drawers was missing, but there were still four left in the dresser and that was all I really needed. I immediately called Selby and Anne who came in Anne’s car to pick me up! It was very exciting to find these, since this goes back to Maria’s original idea for my garden. They’ll also look a lot nicer up on the roof than the biodegradable pots.
Here are some pictures:
David on Noe Street with the dresser
The drawers on my roof.
In other news, I joined City Car Share this week. Check out the link to see what this is if you don’t know. There are a few cars parked very near my house, including one or two SUV-type vehicles that will be helpful for carrying soil, pots and plants.
As of now, I am hoping to plant the following:
Definitely: dino kale, lettuce, chives, cherry tomatoes, mint, basil.
Maybe: another type of kale, arugula, spinach, marigolds, another type of flower, another type of tomato, chili peppers.
While Courtney was visiting last week, we prepared some crispy kale for our her to try. Apparently some other readers have tried making it too. Any reports? Here's a picture of Selby and Courtney enjoying kale.
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