One concern that I have for subsequent years is code enforcement complaints or violations. To help insulate the orchard from unwanted mowing, violations, and fines I’ve been able to self-certify it as a wildlife habitat and monarch butterfly waystation. In order to be certified as a wildlife habitat I needed a source of water. When I mentioned this to my mom, she donated a really nice cement bird bath to the orchard. My new signs should be here within the next few weeks! Woot!
I used some reclaimed bricks to create a base for the bird bath. Once I got the bird bath up and going I planted lobelia cardinalis at the base. These guys wont mind the extra water overflow from when I add in fresh water or clean the birdbath. If I notice any mosquitoes developing here, I’ll add in some mosquito bits which contain a bacteria that only affect black flies and mosquito larvae.
I added in 96 more plugs! 32 Columbine, 32 Cardinal Flower, 16 Savannah Blazing Star and 16 Foxglove Beardtongue.
Eco-fest Fort Wayne donated a brand new shovel and two new hand tools for me to use at the orchard. I’m constantly in awe of the generosity being shown to me.
It’s stopped raining long enough this week that I can install the pavers underneath the tree swing. Once that’s complete, I’ll look into plants that would be a good fit there. I’m glad I haven’t planted that section yet because it’s become apparent that the girls need a little more space there to push each other on the swing and get in and out. I’ve got a lead on some potentially free bricks, so fingers crossed that pans out! Since it’s getting late in the season, I’ll probably have slim pickings as it relates to plants so waiting until spring may prove beneficial.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
In just the past two days I’ve had 3 encounters with my orchard neighbors. One older gentleman told me its the best the corner has looked in the 35 years he’s lived there. Another young girl with locs stopped to ask me about the flowers we had planted. When I got to the milkweed, she exclaimed “MILKWEED! There’s gonna be monarchs!” She said she’d come down to help us the next time she saw us working.
Members of The City of Fort Wayne’s street department were doing chip and seal work on our street but had not put up the “no parking” signs the night before. So my neighbors across the street had a car parked in a spot that left them vulnerable to tar overspray. (Yuck). Employees knocked a few times trying to get someone to answer the door but were unsuccessful. About 15 minutes later one of the adults came home but she told me that she couldn’t drive a stick shift and her partner wasn’t home. Although this was my first time speaking to her, I offered to move it for her and she accepted.
That’s one way to meet your neighbors, right?! Haha.
C loves heavy machinery, so the chip & seal caravan was a true spectacle for her.
PLANS CHANGE, A LOT.
One of my original design elements was a fence that ran along the perimeter of the orchard. I found out that in order to do this I’d need to adhere to the minimum setbacks as well as the property lines of my parcel. My setbacks would be 5ft from the sidewalk that runs the length of the land and 25 ft back from front. The initial purpose of the fence was to keep the girls and dog contained and safe.
But there’s a few issues with that: the girls spend a lot of time outside of what would be the fence zone playing on our super long sidewalk and the tree swing; and Mac is a flurry of destruction. So the new solution is to create a small shaded dog run for him. The area adjacent to the firepit area is ideal location for this because it contains a lot of construction debris from where the house used to be (which makes planting harder). I’m still mulling over what types of posts to use (t-bar, wood and cement, or ground spike post anchors) but I’ll for sure be using 7ft sections of hog wire fence aka remesh sheets. This adheres to the COFW’s requirement that the fence is 4ft max height and 50% or less opacity. This type of fencing is one of the very few universally permitted uses for vacant lots. To help save on costs, I signed up for Chip Drop and marked a drop zone at the back of the orchard off the alley. Once I get a drop, I’ll line the bottom of his dog run with the free wood chips to help suppress weeds and mud. Another added bonus to this dog run is that visiting dogs can use it and it will keep their excrement away from any of my edible plants and produce.
I love it when a plan falls apart, sometimes.
Poop.
While bent over planting this batch of plugs I felt something hit the interior part of my frames. I assumed it was some huge bug or something, but no. Bird poop. No other part of my hair, hat, or face were hit. What are the chances of that?
This is a good omen right?