"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartanlike as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." from Henry David Thoreau's Walden

Friday, June 4, 2010

tree planting

So I FINALLY got all the plants I bought for the EcoHouse yard into the ground. I had to get help from Terry Gorman of the security office so that I didn't accidentally dig into any wires or pipes. (If you're ever planting anything that needs to go deep in your yard, make sure you know where things are). As it is I NARROWLY missed some wires when I planted the raspberry transplants... EEP!

I don't have internet so that's part of why I haven't blogged in a while. Hopefully I can start getting more posts up. It's actually kind of cool though because I'm blogging from the garden right now. 

Anyway the soil in the EcoHouse yard has a high percentage of clay, which means it has a tendency to hold onto water. This is a problem because when it rains, the water can't seep into the ground. Taking this into consideration, we mixed a hefty amount of compost with the soil as we planted. Hopefully that will help the plants establish a little better. As it is, they'll have a tough time of it. Once plants start to establish they have an overall positive effect on the soil, they tend to make it better for other plants after them. I have a feeling this will be a multiyear project.

Over in the South MULCH garden, I have a chipmunk problem. Unfortunately there is no magic plant that will deter chipmunks, so I only have a couple of options. The first one I want to try is rebuilding the fence. While it is rabbit proof, the chicken wire has holes that are big enough for a chipmunk to easily run through. It's eating the plants I have sprouting down to the ground, and has killed a bunch of the seedlings. The other option I have is to trap it, but if I trap it then another chipmunk will come and take its place. So I'll get some funding for new fences from Suzanne. 

In the North bed things are doing WONDERFULLY. The soil there is SO good! The beans are getting so big I'm going to have to give them things to climb soon. More info on that once I research it. Also the seedlings I planted there are getting bigger... no chipmunk to eat them! (also, I saw a cat prowling around, so maybe it's helping my cause). Anyway, I'm off to go shower before tour guide training (my OTHER job on campus this summer) but hopefully I'll have an update later this evening with information on beans. 
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