Backyard fun - 24 Dec 05

Backyard fun - 24 Dec 05

Picked up about 12 of these bags full of leaves


Leaves 1stTrip - 23Nov05









and got them ready to chop under the blades of a lawnmower.


Before Leaf Mulching - 16dec05





Half way through I added some bokashi compost to the pile.


Bokashi - 18dec05





I was able to shred an entire bag in about 10 minutes. I even shredded the bags and added them to the pile.


Leaf pile finished - 18dec05




Now about those worms....


Worms - 23dec05





How did they get there? The container has been sitting on the bucket for almost a week. Did they hatch from eggs and just grow there? Any suggestions welcome.



One final mix of ingredients:


Bokashi Buckets - 23dec05





Coffee Buckets - 23dec05





First on with the Bokashi


Bokashi Pile - 23dec05





Then a layer of coffee grounds


Coffee Pile - 23dec05





and a final dressing of hay


Hay Pile - 23dec05





Technorati Tags: urban, gardening, compost, leaves, leaf, mulch, hay, bokashi, urbanwild, vancouver, bc

The end is near - September 27, 2005

For the Car Barn Garden

I knew this day might come. The white post of death, courtesy of the City of
Vancouver Engineering Department, has finally
shown itself in one of my guerrilla gardens.

"
New Width of 1stAve #5 - 25Sep05


Not sure when the contruction will start. Probably within the next year

It is the new width of 1st Avenue in advance of the Olympic Village



There is some good news: The Transit Museum Society's Downtown Historic Railway
Car Barn will move to Chinatown which means they get an expanded route
and Vancouver gets some more sustainable transportation.





Other stories about the OlympicVillage

Vancouver Blows Its Olympic Village Opportunity

Olympic Village Neighbourhood Green Enough?

WOODSTALK Used in
2010 Olympic Village Condo Prototype

Google search: "vancouver olympic
village"

Technorati Tags: carbarn, urbanwild, archive, 2005

White Clover growing in the city [pics] - Friday, June 3, 2005

White Clover growing in the city [pics] - Friday, June 3, 2005
Al on Observations and Cover Crops

Update May 14, 2006 - Google cache links replaced with active.

Update June 16, 2005 - 3 pics added

Update June 15, 2005 - 4 pics added

Update June 9, 2005: Link to Melanie Watts' blog refering to this entry.


Two Canadian based websites - and probably many more around the world - promote the use of White Clover in lawns:

Consider Clover Campaign

Their brochure: http://www.pesticidefree.ca/Clover.PDF

Establishing White Clover in Lawns

White Clover: Weed or the Most Valuable Species?

White clover is an important species in temperate and subtropical pastures worldwide.[V39] In the turf industry, however, it is viewed as a weed. An 805 page volume on turfgrass science published in 1992, mentions white clover only twice, and only as a weed.[L24] It was not always so. Dr. R. Milton Carleton , who introduced the herbicide 2,4-D to the turfgrass industry, made the following comments in 1957: The thought of White Dutch Clover as a lawn weed will come as a distinct shock to old-time gardeners. I can remember the day when lawn mixtures were judged for quality by the percentage of clover seed they contained. The higher this figure, the better the mixture...I can remember the loving care which old-time gardeners gave their clover lawns. The smug look on the face of the proud homeowner whose stand was the best in the neighborhood was really something to behold. (In New Way to Kill Weeds by R. Milton Carleton, 1957. Arco Publishing Co., N.Y.)

Regardless of its low status in turfgrass science, naturally seeded white clover still shares the stage with grasses in mowed parklands and in institutional and residential settings where herbicides have not been used regularly.

These great expanses of turf receive little watering and little or no fertilizer yet hold their greenness and withstand the trampling of many feet. The robustness of these systems is in large part due to the presence of both grass and clover and the synergistic interactions between them.

Plants For A Future says you can eat it!

Edible Uses Condiment; Flowers; Leaves; Root; Tea.

Leaves - raw or cooked as a potherb[13, 94, 183]. The young leaves are harvested before the plant comes into flower and are used in salads, soups etc[9]. They can also be used as a vegetable, cooked like spinach[9]. The leaves are best cooked[172].

Flowers and seed pods are dried, ground into powder and used as a flour or sprinkled on cooked foods such as boiled rice[183]. Very wholesome and nutritious[115]. The young flowers can also be used in salads[144, 172, 183].

Root - cooked[172, 177].

The dried leaves impart a vanilla flavour to cakes etc[172].

Dried flowering heads are a tea substitute.

My images to date:

16 June 2005 - at 20th and Cambie



15 June 2005 - at 10th and Ontario



15 June 2005 - a long view at 10th and Ontario



10 June 2005 - On the south side of a mini-mall driveway entrance near 6th and Willow.



16 June 2005 - After cutting



10 June 2005 - On the north side near 6th and Willow.



16 June 2005 - After cutting:




01 June 2005 - A clover patch near on BC Women's Hospital



01 June 2005 - A clover lawn near on 10th Ave near Oak St



22 May 2005 - A clover field in the heart of the city. The site of a church burned down at 10th and Quebec.



A closeup view



A view from the opposite side





Technorati Tags: vancouver, urban, gardening, cover+crop, clover, edible, lawn+alternative

18Apr05BeeSwarm2

18Apr05BeeSwarm2
Originally uploaded by urbanwild.

Other people had gathered and one person gently pushed a thin stick through the mass.


Full entry

18Apr05BeeSwarm1

18Apr05BeeSwarm1
Originally uploaded by urbanwild.

What a sight. Hundreds of bees [thousands?] had made a mass to protect others from the cold. They were docile, calm and I could put my hand a few millimeters away from them and feel the heat they were generating.


Full entry

Vancouver - Fruit trees in public spaces recommended by city staff

More good news about Vancouver's food policy.

Project won't bear fruit until trees grow up


By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer
If NPA parks board commissioner Allan DeGenova has his way, Vancouver will soon be covered in newly planted fruit trees.

On Monday night the parks board received a report from staff about planting numerous fruit trees throughout the city as part of Vancouver's sustainable food policy. The report includes suggestions for a community orchard-building on the community garden model-providing a suitable piece of
city property is available, an established organization commits to caring for the property and the community around the property is consulted. The board also wants to harvest excess fruit from trees on private property and donate it to local food banks.

DeGenova wants the board to speed up the orchard launch instead of waiting for more staff reports. And he'd like it expanded. The staff report calls for trees-apple, pear, chestnut and hazelnut-to be planted in public parks and spaces, community gardens and wide rights-of-ways, including boulevards.
"I want to see the board move forward on this as soon as possible," DeGenova said. "I'm tired of tests and waiting, when we could be feeding people."

DeGenova, who's involved with the city's fruit tree program through which excess produce grown by local residents is collected and distributed, wants a community website created for the project. Once people with excess fruit are registered on the website, volunteers would pick up the produce and transfer it to cold storage for distribution. DeGenova is hoping a local cold storage business will donate space.
"We could be contributing to that project," he said. "Wouldn't it be nice to give someone going through the food bank a bag of apples? Plus, most of the stuff grown in the city has no chemicals, so they're getting organic fruit for free."

DeGenova said speeding up the project is critical because fruit trees take time to flourish.

Feeding people isn't the only goal of the new tree program. The staff report argues planting fruit trees in parks and other public spaces will have environmental, educational and community benefits. It claims if organic fruit is grown locally and made available within walking distance of most
neighbourhoods, transportation emissions and costs could be reduced. Students in dense urban areas can learn about the way fruit grows, and possibly take part in caring for and harvesting trees, while longterm stewardship opportunities would create links between neighbours and
communities.

According to DeGenova, parks staff are proposing a cautious approach. Staff are researching which trees will grow best in the city's climate, and have planted several dozen small fruit trees at the board's Langley nursery for future planting in parks and rights-of-ways. A group of six fruit trees will
also be planted at Slocan Park when they are large enough. Parks staff are also working with the city's food policy council and social planning staff to educate the public about the benefits of planting fruit trees. "I say we need to get going now," DeGenova said. "Go big or go home."

COPE parks commissioner Heather Deal said a lack of mature trees is the only thing holding up the project. She said the board can't afford to buy trees old enough to bear fruit, and so is growing them at the Langley nursery.

"The cost of buying a tree that age is prohibitive," she said. "So now we're just waiting for the trees to grow."
posted on 02/02/2005

Fruit Trees in Parks and Public Areas[.pdf]

Vancouver Food Policy Council

Fruit Tree Project

Earthquake near Sumatra - location map and seismic charts - [updated 28Mar05]

28Mar05 Added recent earthquake information:
1. updated area map showing location of both events
2. Seismic Plot from Sydney, BC - compare with 26Dec05
3. Seismic Plot from Olympic Penninsula - compare with 26Dec05
4. a second animation of the 26Dec05 Tidal Wave [pending]


14Feb05 Added article from Royal Navy [UK] with images of ocean floor
03Jan05 Added link to Sri Lanka Government Tsumani Page &
Tsunami Blog

30Dec04 Update: Satellite Imagery from UNO added.

How can you help? Donate cash to a registered NGO development organization of your choice. Cash allows relief workers to buy what is needed from suppliers near the disaster area and start rebuilding the local economy.

List of Vancouver based organizations that are involved with
International Development from The Red Book online.

Link to news on relief efforts from ReliefWeb

Link to Sri Lanka National Disaster Management Centre

Link to The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog

++++
Living on the West Coast, I am always interested in earthquakes occuring in the Pacific Rim, because there will be a Big One here someday.

BC Provincial Emergency Program

Cause....

The Eathquake

25 December 4:58 p.m. PST: A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck just off the coast of Sumatra (at 06:58 a.m. Dec. 26 Sumatra time). This earthquake, the world's largest quake in nearly 40 years, was felt in Sumatra, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. There are reports of significant damage in the epicentral area, and many people were reported killed in Sri Lanka by a tsunami generated by this earthquake. There is no tsunami threat to Canada's west coast.

Distance from epicenter:
255 km (160 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
315 km (195 miles) W of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia
1260 km (790 miles) SSW of BANGKOK, Thailand
1590 km (990 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Detailed tectonic map of the area provided by USGS



Comparison Map 28 March 2005



Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey,
National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

The devastating megathrust earthquake of December 26, 2004, occurred on the interface of the India and Burma plates and was caused by the release of stresses that develop as the India plate subducts beneath the overriding Burma plate. The India plate begins its descent into the mantle at the Sunda trench, which lies to the west of the earthquake's epicenter. The trench is the surface expression of the plate interface between the Australia and India plates, situated to the southwest of the trench, and the Burma and Sunda plates, situated to the northeast.

In the region of the earthquake, the India plate moves toward the northeast at a rate of about 6 cm/year relative to the Burma plate. This results in oblique convergence at the Sunda trench. The oblique motion is partitioned into thrust-faulting, which occurs on the plate-interface and which involves slip directed perpendicular to the trench, and strike-slip faulting, which occurs several hundred kilometers to the east of the trench and involves slip directed parallel to the trench. The December 26 earthquake occurred as the result of thrust-faulting.

Preliminary locations of larger aftershocks following the megathrust earthquake show that approximately 1200 km of the plate boundary slipped as a result of the earthquake. By comparison with other large megathrust earthquakes, the width of the causative fault-rupture was likely over one-hundred km. From the size of the earthquake, it is likely that the average displacement on the fault plane was about fifteen meters. The sea floor overlying the thrust fault would have been uplifted by several meters as a result of the earthquake. The above estimates of fault-dimensions and displacement will be refined in the near future as the result of detailed analyses of the earthquake waves.

The world's largest recorded earthquakes have all been megathrust events, occurring where one tectonic plate subducts beneath another. These include:

the magnitude 9.5 1960 Chile earthquake, the magnitude 9.2 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, earthquake, the magnitude 9.1 1957 Andreanof Islands, Alaska, earthquake, and the magnitude 9.0 1952 Kamchatka earthquake. As with the recent event, megathrust earthquakes often generate large tsunamis that cause damage over a much wider area than is directly affected by ground shaking near the earthquake's rupture.
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usslav.htm

Seismic plot from Sidney, BC [30 minutes]

The plot below shows seismic data from the past 24 hours, as received at PGC and enhanced to show major earthquake events from all over the world. This special "Long Period" plot is optimized for displaying very low frequency vibrations that travel over long distances from earthquake sites. Each horizontal line shows 30 minutes of data. On the left side of a plot is the starting time for each line in Universal Time. On the right side is the starting time in PGC Local Time (PST or PDT).

Data in BLACK starts "On the Hour". Minutes past the hour are on the BLACK scale (00 to 30).
Data in BLUE starts "On the Half-hour". Minutes past the half-hour are the BLUE scale (30 to 60).

A different chart overlapping earthquake time and showing aftershocks:



Current status


http://www.pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/seismos/24hr-PGC.LHZ.shtml

Seismic plot from Port Angeles, WA [10 minutes]
this gives detail of seismic activity over a shorter timeframe



http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/BB/OPC_SHZ_UW.2004122600.html

Event: 2004/12/26 00:58:50.7
Description: OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA
Source: SPYDER®
http://www.iris.edu/quakes/quakes.htm
Click on the "Seismic Monitor" link

Station: PALK - Pallekele, Sri Lanka ~1650 km from epicenter
Network: II - Global Seismograph Network (GSN - IRIS/IDA)
Lat: 7.27 Lon: 80.70 Elev: 460.00
Event Name: 20041226_005850.7.spyder
Available Channels: BH1,BH2,BHE,BHN,BHZ,BLE,BLN,BLZ,LH1,LH2,LHZ
Available Locations: 00,10







primary (P-) wave - earthquake body wave that travels fastest and advances by push-pull mechanism. Also known as longitudinal, compressional, or P wave.

S -Wave - a transverse seismic wave produced by shearing motion. S-waves are so called because they are the second set of waves to arrive from an earthquake.

Interesting coincidence:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscvad.htm
Magnitude 6.6 - SOUTHEASTERN IRAN
2003 December 26 01:56:52 UTC
**1 year and 58 minutes to the day!!**

...and Effect

Tsunami



Image found at Digitalcatharsis apparently from the NOAA

Area affected [large image 1600 x 1100] opens in a new window

From UNOSAT - satellite imagery for all

More Satellite Images from DigitalGlobe

####

Navy survey ship scans tsunami earthquake zone
10.02.05 11:43



A Royal Navy survey ship has provided scientists with the first
detailed images of the sea bed which triggered the devastating
Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

Ocean survey vessel HMS Scott was in the western Indian Ocean
when a massive earthquake struck almost 100 miles off the coast
of Sumatra, sending a massive pulse of water which destroyed
waterside communities around the edge of the ocean.

She would have ridden over the wave at some point on that day,
but because of the depth of water in the region near Madagascar
her ship’s company of 42 would not have felt it – the wave only
poses a threat when it reaches shallow water and rears up into
the huge wall of water which terrified communities thousands
of miles apart.

With the co-operation of the Indonesian government, Scott is
spending almost three weeks above the epicentre of the quake,
obtaining three-dimensional images of the sea bed using
state-of-the-art sonar and computer equipment.

At depths of up to 5,000 metres, Scott found evidence of massive
disruption, with faults many kilometers long and several hundred
metres high associated with landslides as the Burma and Indian
tectonic plates collided, causing a huge release of energy which
was transferred by the ocean itself to the countries bordering the
Indian Ocean, with Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka being
particularly hard-hit.

Current estimates are that more than a quarter of a million people
died when the waves swept ashore. Scott was on site exactly a month
after the quake, allowing scientists to get a good look at the scene
before sediment and the action of the sea starts to mask the scars.

The images are low-resolution – they will be enhanced using powerful
analytical computers in the weeks to come – and the colour-coding
shows depths in the ocean.

The area is not one which has been well-charted in recent times – i
t is believed most surveys date back to the early quarter of the 20th
century, and some as far back as the 1880s.

Scott, which is part of the Devonport-based Hydrographic and
Surveying Squadron, carried with her experts from the British
Geological Survey and the Southampton Oceanography Centre.

It is hoped the information gleaned by Scott can be put to good
use in determining danger signs for future earthquakes and
tsunami, and will also figure in investigations into early-warning
systems.

More images:
2/4
3/4
4/4

28 March 2005 - Earthquake / Aftershock

Monday, March 28, 2005

A great earthquake occurred at 16:09:36 (UTC) on Monday, March 28, 2005. The magnitude 8.7 event has been located in NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude8.7

Date-TimeMonday, March 28, 2005 at 16:09:36 (UTC)

Monday, March 28, 2005 at 11:09:36 PM

Location2.065°N, 97.010°E
Depth30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program
Region NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

205 km (125 miles) WNW of Sibolga, Sumatra, Indonesia
250 km (155 miles) SW of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia
535 km (330 miles) WSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
1410 km (880 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Felt Reports

At least 290 people killed, 100 injured and 300 houses destroyed on Nias. Extensive damage on Simeulue. Felt in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and as far north as Bangkok, Thailand.




http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/BB/OPC_SHZ_UW.2005032812.html




*please contact me if images not visible
Thanks to ImageShack
for Free Image Hosting

Technorati Tags: sumatra, earthquake, tsunami, seismic, charts, map, aftershock

Edible Landscapes provides seed to UrbanWild...

http://www.ediblelandscapes.ca/

is a successful microbusiness on the Sunshine Coast of BC that provides Permaculture information. Much of the stock was taken from healthy, food bearing trees and shrubs of the lower mainland of BC, or as seed purchased from England, a close mirror to our own marine climate. All plants are raised using BC Organic Standards and Edible Landscapes provides ongoing assistance to the limits of my own knowledge for the lifetime of your plant.

The minute Robin Wheeler heard the term Permaculture, she realized she had found the niche she had been looking for. Breeding plants for Permaculture gardens offered her a practical application for her happy urge to propagate any vegetation she could get her hands on.

Link from Plants for a Future database

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) An annual, but self sow readily
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Calendula+officinalis

Corn salad x 2 – (Valerianella locusta) low, small spring and fall salad green, spreads from seed so clear mulch away from base and let “mother” die down after seeding. Plant will reappear in fall.
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Valerianella+locusta

Nodding Onion (A. cernuum) Native variety, low growing clumps, pink flowers
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Allium+cernuum

Salad Burnet x 2 (Sanguisorba minor) "Occasionally cultivated in the herb garden, this is an evergreen herbaceous plant and it supplies fresh edible leaves all the year round, even in quite severe winters[K]. When grown as a salad, the plant should be prevented from flowering."
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Sanguisorba+minor

Sea Kale (Crambe maritima) Used since antiquity. The Romans preserved it in barrels for sea travel. Cabbagy plant with thick, plastic looking leaves. Blanched and eaten raw or cooked. Another plant interesting for its own visual merits.
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Crambe+maritima

Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) A fern-like licorice flavored shade lover, all parts edible. (B)(S)
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Myrrhis+odorata

Welsh (perennial green) onion (Allium fistulosum) plant these once and let them spread. When they reappear next spring, begin snipping the onion greens for salads. Spread about 3 fold a year. (S) (B)
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Allium+fistulosum

Violets (Viola odorata) – leaves and flowers good in mixed salads. Research shows plant to have tumor reducing properties.
http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Viola+odorata

...in exchange for this announcement.

http://www.ediblelandscapes.ca/

Robin,

Thank you so much!

Al

Technorati Tags: ediblelandscapes, robin, wheeler, permaculture

New link added - Cucurbit Disorders - 28 October 2004

New link added - Cucurbit Disorders

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cucurbit/intro.html

Does your pumpkin have a problem? To find out what's noshing on your squash, click through the images on this pest management "online problem solver" for cucurbits (plants of the gourd family).

Found on the 'net: A vegetable garden plan - October 26, 2004

Apparently this information comes from the U.S. Peace Corps but the link is dead. I have seen the same details in books. Remember those.:-)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/urbanwild/message/56


TABLE 1 Seeds per ounce and Germination Rates

Table 2 Spacings For Intensive Method Of Growing Plants In Beds Crop Spacings

Plating Centers Per 100 Sq. Feet

Table 3 A List Of Common Garden Vegetables With Their Companions And Antagonist

Table 4 Time Required To Raise Vegetable Seeds To Transplanting Size

Seeds To Start In Planting Beds

Seeds To Plant In Seed Beds And Transplant

Table 5 Cool Season And Warm Season Crops
[No Table - No info]

Table 6 Estimated Yields Per 25 Ft. Row

Table 7 Estimated Yields Per 100 Sq. Ft. Bed

Table 8 Row Crop Spacings

Table 9 Estimated Yields Per 1 Acre Of Intensely Planted Ground


Technorati Tags: garden, plan, seed, planting, produce, yield, urbanwild

Not posting but not unbusy - Monday, October 25, 2004

Not posting but not unbusy - Monday, October 25, 2004

Getting back online after an abscence is not esay. So much has
happened and yet nothing has changed.

I have borrowed a digital camera and that makes it easier to
document my projects, but it takes longer to process
an entry.

So in the next few days, I'll be posting updates on my garden
locations, including a new one added a few weeks ago.

A new location - October 25, 2004

Construction zones are intersting places to grow things.

In Vancouver, when a building is constructed the trees on the
boulevard must not be cut down, so they are protected







The site is guaranteed not to be disturbed for as long as
the construction is ongoing, allowing for long term growth and
observation. One of my hopes is that if it is attractive enough
when the barrier is removed, people may not disturb it

When I first saw this site it was one of four trees and it had the
most open ground before the leaves fell. I had a small prescription
vial that I had filled with White clover, red clover, crimson clover
and spread it out of the area.

This is a picture from about a week later






You can see the clover starting to sprout.

Here's a picture from yesterday - October 24, 2004







Here's another side, also from yesterday:

Road Island - Seedballs sprouting Sunday October 10, 2004 [Pics]

The seedballs that remained intact are starting to sprout!!



The difference between the seedballs sprouts and the ones that
fell apart after the first rainfall is striking. They are about four
times the size since they started inside the growing medium.

I'm convinced.



.
.

Walking beside winner of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize - October 9, 2004

Walking beside winner of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize - October 9, 2004

Sandy Gillians, writer of Pollenatrix, one of the sites on
my blogroll wrote an entry that mentioned an environmentalist
winning the Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize 2004

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the
Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 to Wangari Maathai for her
contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

Then I started looking a bit more closely at what the Green Belt Movement does:

The Tree Planting Program (Phase 1)- Tree planting on private land (farms, schools, churches, etc)

In Phase 1 of the project (1977-1997), GBM focused on planting trees on farms with women groups as the main
implementing agency...By 1997, over 20 million trees had been
planted and survived.

The Tree Planting Program (Phase 2) - Tree planting on public
lands (parks, forests, road reserves, etc)

The stakes are much higher in Africa, but still it is a great
feeling 'cause I'm doing that too!!

My first seedballs ready - October 2, 2004 and updates [Pics]

Update: October 10, 2004 - New entry with pics. Seedballs sprouting!!

Update: October 6, 2004 - rained a few days ago. Many of the
smaller seedballs have disintegrated. I can see the clay debris
and the seeds open on the ground. The larger ones are intact.
Next time, I will make sure they are more compacted before
considering them done.

Update: October 3, 2004 - put the seed balls on the road island. Using the guideline of ten balls per meter I covered about three meters on each side. It is a long road island. So, I am probably going to need about 200 - 300 seedballs to cover it all.

===

I found a potter on Granville Island who sold me some red clay and a few days ago I made them. He said it was a brand/type called Redart

I used the instructions on the Path to Freedom page [that's their picture too - not direct linked!!], because they used measured quanities, 1 1/4 Cup clay 3/4 Cup compost, 1/4 Cup seeds.

There is a road island

that I found on my way to work and a few weeks ago, the city cut the weeds that were growing in the cracks. I figure if the "weeds" are pretty enough, they may not cut them as often.

I used the seeds I received from Cristina [see Wish List] and made a mixture of

Wildflowers [shade tolerant]
California Poppies
Mint
Red Clover
Crimson Clover

It all went very well. I made the mixture and sprayed it with water until it started sticking together. In the end, I had a ball about the size of a large apple - about 4-5 inches round.

The balls I made are a bit smaller than what was recommended, since I knew that they were going into a crack in the pavement. so while the recipe suggests I should get 40 - 50, I probably have around 70 - 80.

The smaller ones break under the pressure of my fingers giving them a tight squeeze. I'm not sure if it has to do with the size
or that I didn't compress them enough.

The weather outside is sunny so I put them outside to dry and
realized that I could do that just as easily on top of my 'fridge when the weather is not so good.

I'll "plant" them on Sunday.

See also Replanting Stanley Park with Seed Balls July 18, 2004

......