Great inspirations

With all the activism that's energizing us from around the world, it can be difficult to focus on the work right in front of us. But my collaborator, Shahreyar, returned to town this week and we discovered that our schedules only gave us a couple of days to meet in the next two and half months. How crazy is that! Anyway we used our time well yesterday and walked the site. The weather was exciting, raining one minute and then brilliant sunlight and then rain again, back and forth the whole two hours; the chill kept us moving, round and round the site. We shared ideas about the deer fence we want to build to mimic some of the aesthetics in the park and how our story hives might echo some of the lines and shapes of the chain baskets in the disc golf course. There's a tiny view of the Quartermaster Harbor from the site and it feels quite right.

We realized that we need to expand the footprint a bit to offer visitors sufficient space to sit and relax. We looked at last spring's edible garden and discussed the process of transplanting.

We will meet with our team of permaculture design consultants and soil remediators in mid-March to stake the site and do soil tests. And then in late March we will do our digging of the beds and use the old, ugly deer fence from the edible garden as a temporary barrier.

As soon as I get back to town in early March I will begin to organize the volunteer teams. Fortunately from May 2 until August, both Shahreyar and I will be able to build the story hives, fences, and get the info plaques in place.

More soon.

So here's the site plan

We will build our project in an area around 30 by 30 feet - that's the brown circle in the map. There will be two intersecting arcs, with two gates, two benches, two story hives and one or two heirloom apple trees.

Soil tests will happen within the next few weeks.

Staking will happen in March and some meetings with consultants. Stay tuned.

Third time is a charm

Just got home from the Vashon Parks District Commissioners meeting, and after about 15 minutes of sharing my powerpoint and answering questions, they voted (unexpectedly). I thought I would have to wait until Feb 22. And they voted "YES!" All those many months of preparation (many of them filled with frustration due to the lack of support for the project) have finally yielded fruit.

I am thrilled! Can't celebrate with my collaborator, Shahreyar Ataie, until next week when he returns from a meditation retreat on Mt. Baldy. But I am going to paint up a storm in the studio for the rest of the evening. YIPEE-DOODAH!