errantember

First I went Wednesday evening to H(o)abitat Suites, a local all-organic hotel that is generously loaning us space for our free permaculture classes, to see a presentation by Andy Erwin, formerly of Boggy Creek Farm. It was all about ways to succeed with small-scale farming in Austin. He mentioned countless plants, tips, website, and other information and was very driven and inspirational. I definitely plan to tap him as a resource regarding future home farming efforts.

So after including a lot of trellised walkways in the design for my yard, I decided I should return to Construction Site X around midnight to take advantage of the big-ass pile of ash juniper that had been massacred I saw on my last walkabout there. After getting lost for a while, I discovered the Big Fucking Pile where all the topsoil for, evidently, the entire development is being kept. I climbed a small mountain of dirt, rocks, roots and twigs in search of decent sized pieces of juniper to take home. The tree pile didn't show itself. In the meantime, I pulled and sawed a few pieces I found sticking out at random. I also collected a few interesting root clusters that could make lawn ornaments and good habitats for wildlife. I finally located what was left of the tree pile, and about doubled my juniper find there. More importantly, however, I discovered where the trees had gone. Next to the big mountain of dirt, there was small mountain of wood mulch. The timing is perfect, as I just returned a shitty $30 wood chipper to Goodwill largely because it was too noisy and dangerous for my lot. I've been meaning to find a way to utilize the entire bed of the CR-V for such cargo, and I think I've an idea that will work. I'm going to duct tape together a bunch of contractor bags to cover the entire bed as high as I can attach it. Then I can go forth with a wheelbarrow and a rake and, as they say in investing, "back up the truck." I heard from a local source that they often have to pay someone to take the mulch away, so the small amount I can nab will be doing them a proportionally small favor. I may also be sneaky and transport my trash lumber to their pile so they can mulch it for me.

Not that I'm routinely a sneaky individual.

In addition to the above booty, I also nabbed several limestone rocks with the holes in them. I may also pick up a few more next trip, as all the limestone I've gotten so far has been hole-less.