The Adventures Of IndeMoJo: September: Post Punk Apocalyptic Urban Gardener
It’s been a long, hot, dry, summer here in IndeMo for me: IndeMoJo! That’s a fact, Jack! But this “Post Punk Apocalyptic Urban Gardener” has survived and thrived through it all.
Sometimes it still seems sureal I’m here—living in Missouri. I’m a NJ boy-man-child; born & raised! But here I am—none the less. And even though it seems incredulous, I actually love my new 112 year old home and all the things I’ve already accomplished putting my mark on it. There have been a massive amount of “#joProjects” posted to Instagram & Facebook. And some I’ve gathered together in previous posts.
BTW … the mask in the photo was to protect my lungs from the dust that was in this last delivery of mulch. We had so little rain this summer, and I think the mulch supplier was hitting the bottom of the barrel—so to speak—of their massive mulch pile. All I know is that with each pitch fork full of mulch came a huge plume of dust. Not so good for my lungs or sinuses.
Meanwhile … back at the ranch …
I have done an unbelievable amount of work on this house already; either by myself, or hiring tradesmen to do little jobs … like … replacing the termite eaten main floor beam of the house. Yeah … that was fun—and expensive. But that’s the price one pays for living in a 112 year old (as in built in 1910 & not by a Fruitgum Company) house. New gutters and downspouts were finished just yesterday (October 18th). And those were certainly needed.
But it’s not only been joProjects to making the house house function better and more livable, safer, and warmer, I’ve done some amazing transformation of the property. I’ve created an “L-shaped” garden the entire 60 foot width of the property and 150 foot depth of my property. At the back of the property the lilac planted and mulched garden is 12 feet deep—to accommodate the 12 foot high and wide dimensions of the lilac plants at maturity—which will also act as a fragrant and beautiful natural fence. The connecting garden is about 8 foot deep—and 150 foot long. It’s already planted with hydrangeas, Joe Pie Weed, Butterly Weed, a multitude of cone flowers, sunflowers, purple asters, and even four grass plants at the very front of my property.
Every inch of that 2100 square feet of garden was covered with grass/weeds that I weed-whacked with my new Ego string weed trimmer—down to the dirt. To the point I was digging into the dirt with my Ego an inch or more to depot some of the grass/weeds. The once done, the new section was covered with cardboard to act as weed deterrent, and heavily mulched. In total I used over 22 cubic yards of mulch from Missouri Organic Recycling. Oh, and how can I forget buying enough 1″ x 6″ x 12′ & 2″ x 4″ x 8′ pressure treated wood to make and install garden edging to not only decorate, but to help hold the mulch which about 4 inches deep in most places.
Yeah … I’ve been busy here in IndeMo.
There was a confluence of events that occurred that contributed to this bed of just coneflowers.
Much earlier in the summer I had bought three small pots of purple coneflowers. In the process of doing the front porch flower beds, & the first hill flowerbed, I was so physically exhausted, I just decided to dig one big hole & put all three purple coneflowers in that hole & be done. They barely made it through summer. But they are still kicking.👍
I was at Home Depot a week ago & coneflowers were on sale: 3 pots for $9.99. I bought 9 pots. What a bargain!
Also with my having an extra 6-ish cubic yards of mulch over ordered I needed to do something with it. Hence another 8 foot coneflower bed.
But this time around I decided to try cardboard under the mulch to NOT have weeds/grass push through 4 inches of mulch as they have been doing in other beds. Grrrrrrrrr.
Hopefully come next spring/summer and following years this grouping of coneflowers will bush out and become a sea of purple & white pollinator heaven. 👍 🐝 🦋 👍
#garden #gardening #coneflower #mulch #mulching #cardboard #weeds #weedbarrier
Community Action Agency Of Kansas City strikes again … with a helping handful of goodness & caring.
A crew from local HVAC contractor JC (Jesus Castaneda) Mechanical Heating & Cooling LLC came Tuesday to clean & check my furnace. While they were here they decided my hot water heater DID need to be replaced.
The crew contacted CAA & and the same HVAC crew were here today to install my new high efficiency hot water heater.
It’s so purdy!!!
Besides being much more efficient & up to date … there is no longer a gas pilot light burning gas all the time. When water needs to be heated, the gas jets are lit by a piezoelectric ignition system. This will help save tons on gas & cash out of my wallet!!!
I am humbled & appreciative of the help I’m getting from this program.
Also still on the agenda: house insulation (walls, basement floor joists, and attic crawl space), leak sealing, & heating/cooling pipe insulation wrapping.
My house will be downright toasty & draft free this winter! Awesomeness!!!$
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
#communityactionagency #hotwater #hotwaterheater #hvac #hvactechnician #humble #thankful
This was a HUGE undertaking … on so many levels. lol The bed is 60 ft wide x 11ft deep. I also measured the depth of my property yesterday: 160 ft deep!
But MAN it looks so good. It will look even better when I pick up & install the 1″x6″x12′ pressure treated boards that will be the front edging. And even “more betterer” when (over the years) the lilac bushes reach their mature height of 12 ft! Wowzer! Just a wall of purple. Hope the fragrance will waft everywhere!
The photos are over the past several days. 90% of the boxes came from McDonald’s. Their boxes are so heavy & thick. They are perfect for moving & weed barriers. So multipurpose! And talk about recycling! Half the boxes moved me twice, and now will become compost eventually. Yesterday I hit 2 different McDonald’s and dumpster dove for boxes.👍
Figured I’d post these now, while I have time.
As my grandmother Rose use to say: “… another job well done by the Treasury Men in action!” And yes … her fave flowers were lilacs!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
#lilac #lilacbush #lilacbushes #gardening #garden #theresnoplacelikehome #grandmother #rose
#joProjects: Wood Delivery & Set Up
A new hom-o-wners work is never done!
All this pressure treated lumber is for my new flowerbed edging. It will run in an “L” for the backyard flower bed & the entire length of the hill—which will eventually become all one big flowerbed.
Lots-o-work! For sure!
Once the dries out after my installation, I’ll stain or paint it. Yet another project! lol
#gardenborder #pressuretreatedlumber #gardening #garden #theresnoplacelikehome
I ended up returning it a few days later. The more I thought about it, I figured at some point I’d be better off with a table saw.
But yes…. a Bosch 12″ sliding dual bevel & stand would make a nice housewarming gift. 😝
But for now my Ryobi cordless 5″ & my ancient corded Black & Decker 7″ will do me fine.
A circular saw & a speed square as a guide work well. Not like I’m doing precision woodworking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So far they’ve cleaned and tweaked my furnace. They replaced my gas hot water heater, & installed a carbon monoxide alarm.
Today they seal and make the house airtight, wrap pipes, and insulate EVERYTHING!
I’m so grateful for the program & the work they do … for free.
The furnace ductwork wrapping looks like a lunar landing module: all bright, metallic, & shiny.
And the floor joist insulation with it’s black netting cover is pretty wild! And the acoustics have been changed as well. No more/ less echo in the basement. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
First impression was: did Christo do a wrapping artwork project in my basement? How cool! ❤️
Every crack, crevice, HVAC register was caulked. The entire house is now airtight. So much so they installed a ceiling fan to pull air into the house. These guys were so thorough!
And let’s not forget the roof/crawl space. They made sheet rock covers for every recessed lighting can and sealed them. Finally they blew 46 R worth of cellulose insulation.
It was also pretty wild how one of the workers blew insulation through drilled holes, after lifting & propping up lengths of the vinyl siding.
And over the 2 days they did their thing … I did mine: clearing out another hill section for planting. So many flowers. So little time & energy. But still can’t wait for it to be done! 👍😃👍
#ductwrap #insulation #gardening #flowers #missouri #independence #engelwood #homeimprovement
#joProjects: I guess rain is one reason to take a break. Saves me from watering the plants today too!☔️🌦️☔️
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#gardening #cottonburrcompost #peatmoss #plants #plantsmakepeoplehappy
After this end/street bed is done, I have 2 more hydrangeas to plant. That will be two 8 ft beds right and left of the big center hill bed.
So much property. So little time & energy. lol
My greatest garden volunteer plus is purple flowering creeping thyme that popped up on a small hill under the roses . It needs no mowing , never grows over 2 ” high and has crowded out all other weed type plants in the little hill it is now coming down . I saw that neighbors have it too . An animal , maybe a bird is the garden helper ? My second favorite of the volunteer plants is chamomile. It is tiny , fern like and has teeny tiny daisy like flowers . It is real chamomile , suitable for tea.
Just out for a small walk in my “arty” neighborhood: Englewood.
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#englewoodarts #englewood #independence #mo #missouri #ButisitArt #joPhoto
New Boots But No Panties. A new shirt, hoodie & truckers hat … but still no panties. 😝
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#iandurry #newboots #boots #workboots #hat #hats
#joProjects: Hill completely cleared. Finally! Mums planteded in back lilac bed. Finally!
Tomorrow cardboard the hill & order more mulch.
Both projects completed Wednesday & today. Tuesday I felt so ill I HAD to take the day off. I had severe fatigue, felt cold even though the indoor temp was 70° all day. Couldn’t find my thermometer & my COVID tests were dated. (Yeah I felt so bad I thought I might have COVID-but no.)
So I slept, watched too much TV, ate, slept more and swallowed a ton of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Went to bed my normal time & woke up at 7:00 am on Wednesday & felt fine.
Very strange!
Cool days are feeling good here. Getting more work done. Not just limited to the early AM hours.👍
Back in May I bought four of these lilac twigs—nay bushes—from Amazon. That was the first mistake. Even though they hadn’t grown in a months time, I bought two more to, one day, have a lilac wall/fence at the back of the yard. NOT with these puppies!
So I recently called Amazon and asked for my money back. To my surprise they refunded me back for both orders.
I went locally to Farland Farms nursery & bought six (real) Sensation lilac bushes. They do well in this area. They will grow to 12 feet tall! Wowzer! This I have to see! I have plenty of time.
I am now in the process of uprooting, saving the old, and re-digging larger holes to the plant the new.
I will ask my fellow gardener friend, Janice, if she might want any of the old plants. She stopped by one day to introduce herself. Was nice to meet her, I do admire all the years of work/gardening she has done to the front of her house. Anywho … nice to meet the neighbors.
File Under: You live & you learn … or you live and you don’t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have a feeling three’s another truckload in my near future. We’ll see. lol