Gardens and Planters

office hours

Another cold, rainy Tuesday for Office Hours, but we were inside imagining spring. We pushed ahead on doing some more research and development on the planters, started a plant list and design ideas for the community garden, and got closer to finalizing the list of submissions from Text In-Transit.

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Owen and Laura came out for the first time and worked on brainstorming what would go into the community gardens (and Owen also made this panorama)!!

Bree researching via Google Maps

Bree started the research on the community gardens by taking a look at the site from Google Maps.

Michelle and Cristina

Michelle finished editing a video of the install for You Are Amazing (which will be posted shortly), Cristina, Michelle and I watched it.

seed bomb recipe

Our simple seed bomb recipe is being spread around thanks to Green Corridor!

the glue

Danielle started on making another batch of pulp for our planters, this time adding some substrate (as Jodi suggested).

the newspaper

The newspaper ready to be blended.

Danielle working on the planters

Danielle is now a master at paper-pulp creation.

Danielle working with some flour

It was probably a little overkill, but flour and glue were added to the first batch of paper pulp.

newspaper, flour, and glue

Ready to be blended.

add water

Adding water to the newspaper, glue, and flour.

working with the first mix

This pulp was pretty goopy.

goopy mix

This pulp wasn’t going to work, but we weren’t sure if it was the flour or the glue or the combination of them that made it so unstable.

the pulp

Even after getting a lot of the water out, the consistency was strange.

Danielle working on a planter

Lots of newspapers make for good drying tools.

Stan and Bree

At the other end of the table, Bree, Stan, Owen, Laura, and Darren were working through some ideas for what to plant in the community gardens.

the first mix

This pulp wouldn’t stick together, let alone stick to the container we were trying to shape it around.

Danielle at the blender

So, round two – a different recipe.

the recipe

This is approximately what we tried to do: 2 tsp of white glue, 1 part paper for 2 parts water.

the next round of pulp

This pulp’s consistency worked a lot better.

squeezing out the water from the pulp

Dan working the water out of the pulp. We do need a screen to do this properly, but for now we’re using this spongy thing.

Danielle working with the pulp

This time, the pulp worked a lot better.

squeezing out the water

This pulp stuck together much like the other recipes we had tried in previous weeks, but we’re hoping the glue adds some strength.

Michelle going over Text In-Transit submissions

Michelle was working on paring down the list of submission for Text In-Transit.

Michelle making a condensed list

Michelle is organized.

measuring out the garden plot

Bree and Stan laid out an outline for the size of the 12 x 6′ plots.

Bree and Darren

Bree and Darren doing some more research on best practices for community gardens and what plants should be included.

Stan's notes

Stan’s notes …

Bree researching

Bree working her way through the internets to find information on native plants.

community garden research

Collaborative research practices at work.

the right fit

The finalized recipe and the little box around which we’re shaping the pulp.

the right fit

This size should be ideal for the magnets, giving them a flat surface to sit against.

the next day, the planter is dry

This photo was from earlier today, after having these dry over night.

magnetic planter

It seemed strong (not quite dry enough to know for sure though).

magnetic planter

It stuck to this paper towel dispenser really well, even with these kind of weak magnets.

Broken City Lab

And, from much earlier this year, Michelle’s custom Broken City Lab notebook paper holder.

We’re taking next week off, but we’ll be back for Office Hours on April 28th.

3 Replies to “Gardens and Planters”

  1. Have you thought about complete vertical gardening and planter boxes for buildings? Chicken wire or old/recycled snow fences could be used to create large scale netting for a vertical plant system.

    1. That’s a really great idea Richard.
      I like the use of snow fence, and taking over some vertical space. I’ll bring it up at the next meeting and add it to a google doc we’re working on for the community garden!!!

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