Compost Cricket Corral — completing the wildlife installation.

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, Blog  Comments Off on Compost Cricket Corral — completing the wildlife installation.
Oct 102014
 

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

Compost Cricket Corral is a wildlife habitat installation at The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation‘s complex, Laguna Environmental Center, in Santa Rosa, California, 95401.

Compost Cricket Corral, installed on October 8, 2014 (2 days ago at this writing), is also about both creating an efficient compost system for the Laguna Environment and also having students experience working with Nature, in Nature.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsStakes mark the pole locations for Compost Cricket Corral. Nice view of Stone Farm’s northern pasture, Irwin creek, and Mount St. Helena while we work! The above pic is where Spore Lore left off detailing the progress of Compost Cricket Corral, on 9-4-2014: “Compost Cricket Corral“.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsCompost Cricket Corral – The Before. This is installation day, leaving off from September’s prep of the site. The stakes, as discussed in last month’s article, show the location of the 8 posts to be installed. Six postholes have been partially dug.  The 8 posts will create 3 compost bin areas, each roughly 6 feet X 6 feet.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsSome prep before the students arrive today. The 8 post holes are started and filled with water to make digging deeper in the adobe clay soil easier. Large concrete chucks were found under the soil; they will be used later in the project.  True, the blocks were very hard to extract from the soil but they will come in handy to support the posts upright.  As is said in Permaculture, “The problem is the solution.”

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsThe students are here! Biology students from Orchard View School, in Sebastopol, will be installing Compost Cricket Corral. Lots of posthole digging! Old wood to be gathered and a wood chip pile to be shifted over a few feet.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsDigging, digging, digging.  Outdoor classrooms include fresh air, sometimes exercise like this one, and kinesthetic learning, or otherwise known as, tactile learning.  Doing is learning!  Note the large wood chip pile (right foreground).

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs5/16” holes are drilled 3″ deep into the top of the posts to encourage insects to habitat in them.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsMeasuring holes to get 3 plus feet deep.   The deep holes will better support the posts without having to pour new/fresh concrete at their bases.  Also, the overkill deep, untreated fir wood posts will hold life-sustaining water for the habitat’s soil microbes, larger critters, and fungi/plant growth.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsA post is placed in its hole, then leveled vertically. Concrete chucks are used to hold the posts in place and to create shelter cavities for wildlife.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs Habitat installation at the Laguna Foundation might be hard work but it sure beats being in the classroom. Outdoor classrooms rock!

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsThe Biology students from Orchard View School (Sebastopol, California; teacher: Sunny Galbraith) have installed Compost Cricket Corral’s 8 vertical posts AND have fled. What great work they did! Local materials, especially those that others consider “junk”, will become this wildlife habitat’s treasures.

The compost bins now have defined areas – making compost will now be more efficient for the Laguna Environmental Center at Stone Farm.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsNW view. Student-carried oak logs await insertion into Compost Cricket Corral.

Class is over; Tony stays on to finish the habitat installation. Students gathered these oak logs from the farm to be used in the habitat installation. The logs are used to edge the back of the compost corrals and to create a wood pile next to one end bin. That log pile will house gastropods (snails and slugs), insects, other crawly critters, lizards, snakes, and other animals. The purpose of this habitat installation is to maximize the compost area – the animals sheltering nearby will visit the compost and add to its richness. Rich biodiversity at the compost will create better soil, faster.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsW view. Half of this refuse concrete blocks pile was used to support Compost Cricket Corral’s posts. The blocks were snuggled up against all sides of each post, in the gaps of the posthole.  No new concrete was poured/made for this installation.

Stacking functions (Permaculture) – let’s clean this place up, raise the level of the compost, AND create habitat. Old concrete chunks are used to bolster the back edge of the compost. A raised floor to the compost pile will help it drain better, preventing an anaerobic condition (no oxygen to support decomposition) in the rainy winter months.  Besides holding logs in place, the concrete chunks also create cavities for critters.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs The sun is setting on this project. Posts are in, the soil base is leveled, and the log pile has been started (far end).

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsTime to call it a night. I finalized the project under a rising full moon. Excited to see the finished result in the morning!

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsNE view. Compost Cricket Corral (CCC) was completed last night and given a good sprinkle of water before being to put sleep by the chill night, enjoying its warm Northern California October night, till the warm fog rolled in this morning.

 

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsE view.  The next morning.  Finished and looking good! Ready to make compost and invite the growing neighborhood of critters.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs N view.  3 compost pile bins, each roughly 6 feet X 6 feet.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsNW view. Note the sawdust from drilling insect holes on the tarp in the foreground.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsNE view. The log pile, Log Pile Apartments, will house many critters.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsWest view. Critters will travel between the compost, log pile, wood chip pile, and surrounding fenceline.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsVacancy at Log Pile Apartments.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs5/16” holes drilled into posts to encourage insects to live in the wood. These fir posts will invite insects and fungi to thrive in Compost Cricket Corral. Fir wood (#3 rough) was specifically chosen because of its vulnerability to Nature.

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logsClose-up of post insect holes.

Other Photos of Habitat-Friendly Features of Compost Cricket Corral:

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

Nice job, again, Sunny and the Biology students (Uly, Tristan, Nick, Moses, Matt, Lily, Leo, Lauren, Kaleb, Jenna, Hannah, Cordy, Coco, Brendan), and Dave.

Everyone, enjoy your wildlife habitat creations!  Play outdoors!

Tony

Compost Cricket Corral

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, Blog  Comments Off on Compost Cricket Corral
Sep 042014
 
The BEFORE -- area behind the Laguna Foundation's native plant nursery before installation of Compost Cricket Corral, which will consolidate the compost pile and provide wildlife habitat.

The BEFORE — area behind the Laguna Foundation’s native plant nursery before installation of Compost Cricket Corral, which will consolidate the compost pile and provide wildlife habitat.

Yesterday, I started prep work for a wildlife habitat installation, Compost Cricket Corral, at the Laguna Environmental Center, which is the headquarters and showcase educational property for the Laguna Foundation.

Staking out Compost Cricket Corral's post locations, which will define three compost piles/bins.

Staking out Compost Cricket Corral’s post locations, which will define three compost piles/bins.  No T-square, but piping with a 90-degree elbow worked fine.

We will be installing vertical driftwood posts to replace the current stakes; the posts are to encourage insect activity.

See:

Insect Hotels — Inspiration Green

Insect Hotels – Encourage Beneficial Insects Into Your Garden

Creating Habitat For Native Bees | Deep Roots at Home

spore lore, habitat it and they will come, tony mcguigan, habitat garden, wildlife habitat, soil, soil under my nails, gardening, gardens, native plants, permaculture, wildlife garden, environmental education, ecological landscaping, compost, cricket, corral, buried wood, hugelkultur, native bees, native pollinators, Laguna de Santa Rosa, Laguna Foundation, Orchard View School, fir posts, oak logs

 

Compost Cricket Corral, that is, the new and improved compost pile(s), will be within easy access of the nursery’s work stations.

Stakes mark the pole locations for Compost Cricket Corral. Nice view of Stone Farm's northern pasture, Irwin creek, and Mount St. Helena while we work!

Stakes mark the pole locations for Compost Cricket Corral. Nice view of Stone Farm’s northern pasture, Irwin creek, and Mount St. Helena while we work!

This project will be completed in October by Sunny Galbraith’s biology students from Orchard View School, Sebastopol, California.  Compost Cricket Corral will be our first wildlife habitat installation for this school year.  Chirp chirp!

Enjoy your habitat garden.

Tony

 

Creating Perches To Welcome Pond Wildlife — my monthly post at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, Blog  Comments Off on Creating Perches To Welcome Pond Wildlife — my monthly post at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
May 152014
 

 

Oak Tunnel Tower -- BEFORE.

Oak Tunnel Tower — BEFORE.

Oak Tunnel Tower -- AFTER.

Oak Tunnel Tower — AFTER.

Lizard Stone House -- BEFORE.

Lizard Stone House — BEFORE.

Lizard Stone House -- AFTER.

Lizard Stone House — AFTER.

Turtle Pond Pier -- BEFORE.

Turtle Pond Pier — BEFORE.

Turtle Pond Pier -- AFTER.

Turtle Pond Pier — AFTER.

See the post

Creating Perches To Welcome Pond Wildlife

for more pictures and for how these habitat installations were created.

Yesterday (the 14th) was my monthly blog post at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. This month, my blog article discusses these wildlife habitat installations at the Laguna Environmental Cental in Santa Rosa, California.

Enjoy! And please comment me under my NP & WG article if you have any comments or questions.

Tony

 

Snake Sedge Rockpile Resort — my monthly post at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, Blog  No Responses »
Apr 142014
 
The BEFORE.

The BEFORE.

The Plan.

The Plan.

The AFTER.

The AFTER.

 

Snake Sedge Rockpile Resort

Today (the 14th) is my monthly blog post at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens.  This month, my blog article discusses this wildlife habitat installation with high school seniors from Orchard View School in Sebastopol, California.

Enjoy!  And please comment me under my NP & WG article if you have any comments or questions.

Tony

 

Habitat of the Month Contest — contest begins April 2013

 4-Habitat of the Month Contest  No Responses »
Apr 022013
 

Contest Entries

During each calendar month, Spore Lore will accept postings of residential wildlife habitats to Spore Lore’s facebook page, Habitat It and They Will Come.

click to post your Habitat of the Month entry

Click to post your Habitat of the Month entry.

Contest entries must include:

1) The name of the garden habitat.

2) The 4 components of wildlife habitat:

SHELTER =

FOOD =

WATER =

SPACE TO RAISE YOUNG =

3) At least one picture of the the wildlife habitat.

Entry Awards and Contest Winners

All Habitat of the Month Contest entries will receive a “Habitat It!” bumper sticker.  Habitat of the Month, as in the The Winner, will receive a signed copy of Tony McGuigan’s book, Habitat It and They Will Come.  The month’s winning habitat will be chosen from a review of Comments (facebook) posted to the entry AND ALSO from Tony’s impression of the contest entry.  In the case of a tie, two (2) winners, both declared “Habitat of the Month” will be announced.

Contest entries (postings to the facebook page Habitat It and They Will Come) will be accepted till noon (Pacific treefrog time) of the 28th day of the month (26th day for February).  Contest winners will be announced by 6PM (Pacific treefrog time) on the 30th day of the same month (28th for February).  Contest winners will be announced primarily at Spore Lore’s website (sporelore.com\Blog\Habitat of the Month Contest) and at Spore Lore’s facebook page (Habitat It and They Will Come).

To receive your contest entry “Spore Lore” sticker, and/or receive a book if your habitat is chosen as Habitat of the Month, please email your postal address to habitatofthemonth@sporelore.com; please include the name of your habitat in your email.

Please enter your garden habitat one time only.  However, if significant changes have been made to the habitat and/or significant documentation (like pictures!) of the habitat is available, then the same habitat may be re-submitted as a new contest entry. 

Create wildlife habitat and have fun.

Post your habitat to Habitat of the Month.

Good Luck!

Fine Print — Other Rules

There is no cash value for any contest rewards or contest prizes.

Participants/Entrants of the Contest give Spore Lore permission to leave contest posts on Spore Lore’s facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HabitatItAndTheyWillCome, and to post Contest entries and Contest winner announcements to Spore Lore’s facebook pages (Habitat It and They Will Come, Spore Lore, and Tony McGuigan), as well as Tony McGuigan’s/Spore Lore’s other social media sites (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube) and Spore Lore’s website (sporelore.com).   Spore Lore reserves the right to use the winner’s name (if provided in the contest entry), habitat name and habitat location (if provided in the contest entry),  for publicity purposes only in connection with the Contest and for no other reason.

Spore Lore is not bound to announce contest entries/winner/winners. 

GOVERNING LAW: Contest governed by the laws of California and subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Accordingly, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Contestant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction). The Contest is void where prohibited by any applicable law. Contestants, by participating in this Contest, hereby waive and release, and agree to hold harmless Spore Lore and all of its respective officers, directors, employees and representatives and agents, from and against, any and all rights, claims and causes of action whatsoever that they may have, or which may arise, against any of them for any liability for any matter, cause or thing whatsoever, including but not limited to any injury, loss, damage, whether direct, compensatory, incidental or consequential, to person, including death, and /or property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from their acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, or their participation in this Contest, or any prize-related activity. By participating in this Contest, Contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor. Except where prohibited by law, by accepting a prize, winner agrees that Spore may use the winner’s name, address (state), photograph, likeness, and/or prize information for advertising, publicity and promotional purposes and to the use of statements made by or attributed to winner relating to Spore Lore or to this Contest and grants to Spore Lore any and all rights to said use without further notice and/or compensation except where prohibited by law.


20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 3 of 3

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Feb 082013
 
Side view of Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair animal habitat.

This is the third of three videos showing a garden animal habitat created when our apricot tree was almost entirely uprooted and partially buried on it side.  Features of the completed project are explained:
–The up-ended rootball serves as an animal habitat.
–The buried tree trunk acts as a retaining wall for the wood chip path.
–The retaining wall allows a watering trench to be dug into the garden bed slope.

 

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 3 of 3 (video):

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair (pics):

Grandpa’s apricot tree is snug in the ground.Grandpa’s apricot tree is snug in the ground, upside down between the slate wall and the pineapple guava tree.  Note the also up-ended apricot tree rootball, which remains partially buried.  Some of the roots may thrive and send life to shoots reaching for the sky (like a tree!).

 

Woodchips are scooped aside to create a watering trench for the garden bed trees.Woodchips are scooped aside to create a watering trench for the garden bed trees.   The pineapple guava is tan-colored and the mission fig (thicker, in back) is a pale green.  The buried tree trunk serves as retaining wall to the left, allowing a deeper watering trench to be dug.

 

Side view of Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair animal habitat.Side view of Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair animal habitat.  Note the mix of Medusa-like roots and soil in the up-ended rootball.  The mass of roots and crown wood will become homes for wood-loving critters.  As well, the fingers of soil converging into the root mass will become homes for soil-loving critters.  In the end, ALL ARE WELCOME!!!

 

Enjoy your habitat upside down creations!

Tony

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 2 of 3

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Feb 072013
 
The apricot tree is resting off to the side (left).

This is the second of three videos showing a garden animal habitat created when our apricot tree was almost entirely uprooted and partially buried on it side.  Highlights:

–Preparing the trench (hole) to receive the tree trunk and crown.

–Pruning the tree to live peacefully in the garden path.

–Stamping the tree into position before it is buried under the garden path.

 

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 2 of 3

 (video):

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair (pic):

The apricot tree is resting off to the side (left).The apricot tree is resting off to the side (L) until its trench will be dug between the slate border and the pineapple guava tree (R).

 

Enjoy your habitat thinking-out-of-the-box creations.  Nothin‘ is “debris“ in a habitat garden food forest!

Tony

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 1 of 3

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Feb 042013
 
Close-up of nearly removed apricot tree and its rootball.

Time to remove the apricot tree, Grandpa’s Apricot Tree, in our back garden.  Almost no fruit in at least 6 years.  Seasons, soil, water, and our hungry food-producing mindsets will wait no longer!  Time to nurture another tree.  We will plant a Santa Rosa plum tree, who’s namesake is the next town over from our sunny California garden.

 

Almost!  I almost got the entire apricot rootball out before coming to my senses.  Yes, I like to create an animal habitat EVERY time I dig into the soil.  But, I thought I would shortcut that vision because so many parts of the garden call for my attention.  (Truth be told, the garden would do very well without my meddling.)  Then, with ¾’s of the root ball removed and even less breath in my lungs, I came to my senses. 

 

Yes!, this is a habitat.  I can stop right here.  This rootwad DOES NOT have to be completely removed from the bed.  The Santa Rosa plum can be planted next to the almost-removed rootball of Grandpa’s Apricot Tree.  My exhausted muscles can think of many reasons why to keep the leaned over, buried tree trunk.  Watch today’s video and the next 2 to come to find out why!

 

Habitat it and they will come!

 

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair 1 of 3

 (video):

20130130 Grandpa’s Apricot Root Worlds Fair (pics):

The apricot tree was pruned to make removal easier.The apricot tree was pruned to make removal easier.  Note the old grafting sites (with yellow grafting sealer); even new stock would not produce fruit.  A shame – the tree growth was vigorous with beautiful structure and wood/bark.

 

A tree is down! Repeat, a tree is down!A tree is down!  Repeat, a tree is down!  After cutting some roots with a shovel, and bronco-riding the tree, other roots snapped and the tree was rendered a soil dweller.

 

Close-up of nearly removed apricot tree and its rootball.Close-up of nearly removed apricot tree and its rootball.  This is where, when I discovered that the tree need not be completely removed, that the soil-rich rootball makes a fantastic garden animal habitat.

 

Enjoy your habitat thinking-out-of-the-box creations.  Nothin‘ is “debris“ in a habitat garden food forest!

Tony

20130114 Pine Brush Pile

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book  No Responses »
Jan 172013
 
Insect Eggs on Pine Needle.

Pine Brush Pile is a  Zone 4 or 5 (Permaculture) habitat oasis in Tony’s back yard.  Great place to resource this year’s Xmas tree.

 20130114 Pine Brush Pile (video):

 

Pine Brush Pile (pics in Tony’s book):

Insect Eggs on Pine Needle.Figure B.4 Insect Eggs on Pine Needle. [The picture has two parts: the background is from a distance and an insert is the close-up of the eggs. See post below for the close-up.]

 

 

Close-up of Insect Eggs on Pine Needle. Figure B.4 Insect Eggs on Pine Needle.  The insect eggs shown are probably true bug eggs.  True bugs, order Hemiptera, are insects like cicadas, stink bugs, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, aphids, and others.  All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs!   True bug eggs often have the visible “escape hatch” (the circular disc on the top of each egg), which is visible in the inset photo close-up view.   I particularly love the outer texture to the egg wall — looks like lime bumps on an orange.

 

 

Pine Brush Pile (pics from Tony’s garden):

Nest-building supplies made available for birds.Nest-building supplies made available for birds.  Lots of birds come and go in Pine Brush Pile thicket, some looking to build nests.  Yarn, string, and hair is left to help them color coordinate and insulate their nests.  Always fun to discover “foreign” articles in a bird nest.

 

Ground view of Pine Brush Pile from Snake Shores.Ground view of Pine Brush Pile from Snake Shores.  Perhaps a snake will slither down from the thick, warm slate of Snake Shores.  It can enter Mayan Totem Seat, the 18-inch-deep stack of slate AND spacers in the foreground, or go beyond, into the coolness and food-rich jungle of Pine Brush Pile.

 

Pine log, shaped to maximize thicket-building.Pine log, shaped to maximize thicket-building.   The branch stubs left on this log will keep the log off the ground and from snugging up to other logs.  More space between logs means…[who knows but Habitat It and They Will Come!].  See next pic for the placement of this log in Pine Brush Pile.

Nobody but us pine logs here!Pine logs and branches in Pine Brush Pile.  Helter skelter never looked so good!

 

Enjoy your habitat thicket creations.  Nothin‘ is “debris“ in a habitat garden food forest!

Tony

 

 

20121206 Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Dec 072012
 
Watering with finer spout holes.

First a video re “Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4”, then some pics of the project (below the video):

Bucket Watering Can DIY 4 of 4 (video):

From the project (pics):

 

New and Improved watering can (model 000000000000000002) has smaller holes. New and Improved watering can (model 000000000000000002) has smaller holes.  A smaller spout stream helps distribute the water more evenly and is less harsh on bare soil and fragile seedlings.

 

A look inside the watering can ready for application.A look inside the watering can ready for application.  Note the floating food particles that would clog up the spout to an ordinary watering can.  THIS is no ordinary watering can!

 

Watering with finer spout holes.Watering with finer spout holes.   Mission accomplished – the new watering streams are less sloppy than the larger-holed watering can.

 

 

Happy DIY projects for your Habitat Food Forest.  See you tomorrow.

Tony

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