Sorry I took a break from posting for a while; I've been a bit out of sorts lately.
The first bit of news I have to share relates to--you guessed it--the community garden. No, i haven't finally secured permission to grow there or anything momentous, but I did speak with the family that lives next door to the property. I have apparently been barking up the right tree, but there's a lower branch I overlooked. The owners are indeed the C----- family, but there are two brothers who control the property, and the one who is directly involved in decisions regarding the land lives in Skokie (much closer than Wisconsin).
The guy who bought the north half of the property to build his home said that he had tried to also buy the southern (still vacant) half to develop another house on. His offer was turned down by Mr. C-----, who is reportedly very difficult to contact (or at least to get answers from). Mr. C------- does not appear to have any imminent plans for the property, but thought (I guess) that the offer wasn't high enough. At any rate, the guy that lives next door promised to ask his lawyer this week to get contact information for Mr. C------- so that I could contact him directly. Additionally, the family on the north half seemed generally agreeable to the idea of a community vegetable garden next door, saying that the land should be used for something.
The second news item relates to my cold frame--which is now useless! Yes, friends, the lower pane of the window lid (a piece of glass about 10" by 48" was shattered in about three nights ago now. There were no rocks or tree branches or other implements of mayhem lying nearby, so I can only conclude that the damage was caused by a Malamute paw (or butt). When it's cold and a 100-lb dog stands on a thin sheet of glass, bad things can happen. Milady does not appear to be hurt (other than by my very suggestion that she is in any way culpable), but 1 group of tender little seedlings inside were not so lucky. Besides having to pick splintered glass out of my lettuce (grr!) the impact had bruised or cut several of the plants. We'll see if they survive. I went to Home Depot to find a replacement panel of acrylic or Lexan (don't want to use glass again, right?) and found that the box store wanted $42 for a piece of that size...much more than I care to spend on a free cold frame. I am pondering what to do...
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David, I've had good luck for a "cold frame" in my community garden by using big clear plastic storage bins and weighing them down with half a brick on top!
ReplyDeleteHey, David-- if you're worried about breakage, you might just get by with heavy-weight (10 mil or more) clear plastic sheeting, stretched taught. Maybe even two- or three-ply? That'd certainly be an inexpensive solution!
ReplyDeleteI'm about to install some cold frames up at the front of the house, myself (where the blueberries last year didn't take...)