T.I. Garden Update

After about a month, everything's up and thriving-- peas, potatoes,
carrots, multiple kinds of lettuce, chard, cilantro and radishes. Last
week's rain and our new close water source really got things up and
going. The photo shows the lettuce slice of the garden pie.

Guerrilla Garden #1 - Sprouts Ahoy

So in under one week our first large guerrilla garden has taken shape. The dirt is pretty sandy and rocky so we have taken a lot of time to pull up rocks and remove old roots masses. We have been stirring up the dirt in hopes we can keep it soft enough for some root crops. Currently planted is chard, cilantro, radishes, mesclun salad mix, green leaf lettuce, potatoes, snap peas and carrots. In the picture you can see the mesclun salad mix has sprouted and taken off very quickly.

There have been no vandals and we have found a water supply that is very close. Treasure Island itself can be miserable. Yesterday the wind was so strong we could barely stand it. However, our location is completely shielded from the wind and once you reach the garden it is 10 degrees warmer inside.

I am kind of curious how long it will be till someone notices us. Carrying 4-5 gallons of water from a faucet in front of a convenience store to the back of an abandoned building has to look kinda fishy.

Guerrilla Garden #1 - Treasure Island

Abandoned naval dorm on Treasure Island. Cleared of trash, clover, weeds and dead plants all in a couple of hours. Re-planted with potato, chard and mixed greens. Mostly shaded or diffused light but we plan to add carrots and a few other shade tolerant plants on our next visit.

The site had no disgusting debri but a very strange collection of plastic bottle squirt lids was collected. Upwards of 100 bottle tops were found in the center area.

So we tried to begin collection of green debri in a compost pile and trash pile. Since we bike and bus to the spot the trash will need to be removed little by little. Hopefully we can sweep and rake the area on next visit. There are benches and an arbor that have been abandoned for years that surround the plot. This space is wide open for public use. Though the island can be wind
swept in places, and it's all landfill, there is some good dirt in the empty planter boxes. It is sandy but you just need to plan and work with what you have.

Well, this final shot shows the border pieces we dug out of the undergrowth as well as our sign. The wood for the sign was trash found on-site.

We planted 3 things today and will return for more. There is plenty of water nearby so we will need to return somewhat often to water.

No telling if this will make it for long but it seems to be an abandoned area that just needs someone to use it. Hopes are our sign will detour vandals and the mysterious water top bandit.