Today, after weeks of back and forth planning, the old bee shed was taken away to it’s new home in Germantown. Ed and Janice, our super contacts with the Share the Harvest community, knew of a fledgling garden in need of a storage structure. The Pickett Mastery Charter Garden gathered a group of burly members along with a pick-up truck, and came down to our garden to take possession of the old shed They came prepared with four dollies to try and roll it out to the truck. Despite the use of plywood to create a smooth and solid pathway, things bogged down in the wood chips. In the end, the group lifted up the shed and carried it to the truck. There it was strapped down for the ride to it’s new abode. It should be noted, that our visitors were extremely impressed with garden and all its facilities. The space where the old shed sat has been returned to us. We have made some new friends in the community gardening world, and at their invitation, we plan a road trip to their garden to visit our old shed, and learn how others go about providing green spaces in the urban environment.

December 14, 2011
Honey House/Multi-Purpose Shed Summary

Thom Hardenbergh and myself, Edward Bell, are officially declaring the work on the Honey House complete as of the end of December, 2011. With the hanging of the security gate at the bottom of the stair, the exterior enclosure and our scope of services will be finished. The gate will be hung before the end of December. This is especially gratifying for the two of us, who have been working since the 100 degree weather of May and into the frosty days of December.

Work might have been completed sooner had we not been halted in August by opposition to the roof rails from the adjacent neighbors who perceived the rails as a security risk. In fact, the negotiated settlement which required us to remove the rail around the edges of the roof and build a gate into the stair rail, was also contentious to some.

Never-the-less, it is gratifying to see the building in place and consider how it will be used in the future. It provides about 300 square feet of interior work space which is well ventilated, naturally lighted and should be pleasantly cooled by the evaporative green roof. Power, task lighting and plumbing have been provided. An ejection pump is in place to remove water from the stainless steel sink provide by Carolyn Scott. Future projects will include finishing the interiors with casework, shelving and whatever fit-outs are deemed necessary.

We agreed to complete the construction for $18,100 which, for various reasons, turned out to be somewhat less than the actual cost to us. Our records show that each of us have contributed approximately 300 unpaid hours beyond our budgeted time. On the other hand, the Green Roof Workshop in June was an additional project which helped demonstrate green roof technology and our environmental awareness to the community. The roofer, Ray Nocella, was pleased enough with the project planning and the people who participated, that he agreed to donate back to the garden a portion of his fee. That amount and fees from the workshop, totaling $520, remains in the project bank account. Please find enclosed copies of the final accounting sheet and the original proposal for work.

Happy Holidays!
Ed

Green Roof Workshop Video (held in the garden, July 16, 2011)
July 18th, 2011

HINT: If the video keeps stopping to rebuffer (“spin”), just let it play thru while you do something else, then hit “replay” to watch without interruption.

Happy spring gardeners, nothing like a seventy degree day to make everyone want to get out and garden. We turned the water on at 8:00 AM this morning, and turned it off again at 8:01. It seem someone drove a stake through an underground feed pipe [probably a piece of re-bar ] . When the water was turned on we had a mini-geyser. Our turn on technician was able to cut out and repair the damage and the system is now up and running. This is the beginning of the fifth year for the irrigation system. In that time, we have had few if any problems, which means we have spent very little money on maintenance. When you go to turn on your water, you will notice a brass fitting on the spigot. This is a back flow preventer. It’s function is to prevent water in the barrels or hoses from being sucked back into the main system and polluting it

Please do not mess with it as they are not yet permanently fixed and will not be so for a little while. The reason they are not permanently affixed is because, you will notice, that almost every spigot is leaking, many badly. When you go to turn on your water you may get squirted in the face. We are getting prices to replace all of the spigots that will be levers rather than the twist wheels and will never need replacing [hopefully].
When this gets done, we shall have a tighter, safer, less wasteful watering system. HAPPY GARDENING.