I suppose I need a lot of people to be in Cahoots with...

What I'm obsessing over this week

Banging my head against the wall! We have to remove a lot of lichen from concrete areas, and I am struggling to find an eco friendly way to do this.

In my gut, I know that waterblasting will make everything worse long term, because it will lowkey damage the areas we need to remove the lichen from, and make it more susceptible to lichen. Sandblasting has been recommended, but…same issue.

Wet and Forget have some products whose active ingredient is Dodecyl Hexadecyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride, which, they proudly tell me via email, is not a chlorine but a chloride. Ok, how safe is that then? DuckDuckGo directs me to a Canadian regulatory website which lists this compound with others and states “Statements such as non-toxic, non-irritant, safe, non-caustic, harmless, etc., are not considered appropriate for disinfectant drugs.”

That doesn’t sound super “eco friendly gardening business,” now, does it?

Bleach is also recommended a lot- something which I know is also a biocide and probably not so hot for an eco friendly gardening business- it kills everything in waterways, etc… ok, next one..

Sodium percarbonate is recommended for cleaning exterior decks. It is a salt, which isn’t super great, and it requires a little scrubbing. I found this data sheet, it converts to oxygen and sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate is Soda Ash, which I have experience with (you can use it to make really cheap, good, laundry powder). Soda ash is caustic as heck and can’t be great for the environment! I found this, which says it contributes to water pollution.

Baking soda, I know, is considered vaguely fine. And so is vinegar, something I make a lot of using manky apples. So I will try both, and see what the results are.. I suspect, not a lot. But there is no great solution that I can find in the chemical world that won’t poison the waterways. Watch this space. Or fill this space, if you have some tips for me.

What staff learnt about this week

Our weekly focus was weeds! And will be for the next few weeks. Here are some that we’ve been looking at-

Red dead nettle, with the little pink flowers; false valerian in the middle. False valerian can be quite pretty but its roots expand and make it impossible to remove, so you need to stay on top of it when it is self seeding everywhere.

Convolvulous, the vine with the heart shaped leaves which is the absolute bane of many of our lives..

Montbretia, which at this time of year looks suspiciously like a freesia, until you pull it up and find the orange bulb.

In Cahoots with Jade

I was very excited to team up with Jade from Cahoots, the sliding scale, bike powered, queer builder to build this planter box for a client the other day.

I like to think that I have some carpentry skills, but compared to someone with actual skill, I am proud to say that I am very competent at carrying bits of wood and picking up the right things from Bunnings (but not a lot else).

We transplanted rengarenga behind, to cover the awkward area between the fence posts so no weeds would come up; the client painted the fence herself, and we moved the rhubarb from the previous garden bed into the front.

We chose two apples and 3 feijoas to go in the espalier half of the bed, although the feijoas will be gently trained as opposed to espaliered; annoyingly I didn’t take the photo after cutting back and tying down the apple branches.

One thing which I quite liked about this project was that the client asked us to put pavers down the middle of the planter box, this is so she can walk down them without compressing the soil (smart woman!). We ran some 2x4 along the middle and glued the pavers down.

We used a wide angle lens to take this shot, it has made my espalier look saggy!

I also got to talk to Jade about her amazing bike trailer, which has a computer of its own so that it can power the wheels and brake, and add more or less power dependent on the slope she was going up/down.

I asked if she’d ever make such an amazing trailer for anyone else- a trailer which incorporates a home made circuit board, welding, cycle mechanics, brake mechanics, 3D printing and a few careful additions so the wheels won’t twist on their homemade axel.

She tells me that if anyone wants a trailer, it is a cute project for them to make themselves! I don’t think Jade appreciates how talented she is, but I don’t think any of you appreciate how talented you are, so learn to weld already!

Have a great week, everyone!