A new use for this old blog; a reference

So I haven’t really been keeping up with this blog and frankly I am not sure of its fate. Since I haven’t been updating it regularly like I once did, this blog has turned into more of a static website, and I think that is fine. I think the value of this blog lies in is utility as reference and as a resource to cover topics in depth, but after eight (!) or so years, I find many of the issues with native plants and wildlife gardening keep coming up, so rather than reposting an old article or updating a subject I have written before,  I am thinking about turning these posts into a book (though I have been threatening that for a while). 



When I started this blog in 2009, social media was really (at least to me) in its infancy.  Now, platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are a more useful tool for updates and news.  As a result, I post garden news and pictures on these platforms, ignoring this blog.  But I do think the in depth articles I have posted are a compliment to a nice Instagram photo.  Having said that, some of the most commonly requested topics are the following:

• How to remove a lawn
• How to build an urbanite path
• How to build a bee house (in 5 minutes!)
• How to build a brush pile (hint: it is easy!)
• Why not to use bird feeders
• Your garden as a bird feeder
• Bird house basics
• Honey bees suck (yes, you read that correctly)
• Pollinator (or whatever) garden
• Should I start my new garden by seeding (the answer is NO)?

In general, "why native plants are important" is always a common topic, and the subject of the whole blog!

I still post unique or timely things, like our Cat of the Year or SponCon projects, but day to day social media seems to suit the general needs of this one time blogger!

So, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook!

Spontaneous Construction '15 is almost here!

 

SponCon's coming!  This year celebrates over ten years of Spontaneous Construction, Home ReSource's annual festival of creative reinvention.  

It is my favorite event of the year- a day devoted to building something with materials found at Home ReSource.  A day when all I have on my calendar is to build something with our team.  And this year, our team (Butterfly Properties) will have our missing teammate Barry back!  We were the first team to register. 

Every year is a struggle to build something in the allotted time; seven hours goes by really quickly.  Each year we endeavor to make something smaller and quicker.  That never works.  Just the other day, Barry and I were discussing a couple of project ideas for SponCon, and he suggested we build both.  At first I laughed, but then I said, "sure".  We both figure fun is secondary, work comes first.

It is always a good opportunity to see  Barry (he lives in Idaho, and we don't see each other as much as when he lived in Montana).  So on September 19, we will get to stand next to each other, and work side by side all day, probably without any breaks, wearing hearing protection and eye protection, and not mutter a single sentence to each other.  Then at the end of the day, we will say how exhausted we are and how much fun we had together.  WTF?  Maybe we need a new hobby.

Team Butterfly Properties, circa 2011

Team Butterfly Properties:

Marilyn:  Work site custodial engineer, public outreach coordinator, chief information officer, paint application specialist (if necessary)

Marilyn, paint application specialist, inspects her work.  Acceptable!

Barry: Chief Welding Operation Officer, Chancellor of Fabrications, Woodworker

Barry at his happiest.  Getting it done.

David (me):  designer, vice welder,  woodworker, field marshal, resourcing logistician

No time to smile for the camera

So, what will we build?  We don't know yet, but it will be for the garden!

In the last four years our creations have been finalists, and we were fortunate to take home the grand prize in 2012.  All of our projects have used junk inventory from Home ReSource, be we especially endeavor to use stuff that otherwise does not sell well or at all.

We have made, a mobile garden cloche (my favorite project),

 a garden table and chairs made from garden tools, 

 

an outdoor garden shower,  

and last year Marilyn and I made a potting bench.

Come down and see us and the other contestants on September 19, but you will have to talk to Marilyn, the chief information offcer, because Barry and I will be too busy catching up with each other.

Barrry and me: 7 hours of building side by side and never said a word to each other.

SponCon 2014 Recap

When I get asked why I like Spontaneous Construction (SponCon), I inevitably say because it is such a unique event.  It is challenging; it is a difficult test of your skills, creativity, and craftsmanship.  It is so different from other Missoula events. Yes it is a building competition (I am not aware of any others), but the competition is not really with the other teams, but with yourself.  I love building things and every year I challenge myself to build something and unique out of discarded materials.  

What a day.  SponCon 2014 is done, and it didn't disappoint.  It is always demanding and exhausting.  I look forward to it every year.

All our tools, supplies, and dreams loaded into the truck on our way to SponCon

A day devoted to building something- I love it.  Every year brings its own set of challenges and this year was no different.  We were already down a team member (my good friend and excellent woodworker, and welder, Barry, was on a much deserved vacation this week) so it was just me and my wife, Marilyn.  I was concerned about having enough time for building the project I in mind.  So concerned, I woke up at 3 am stressed about this.  Maybe I was just excited.

Moments before the competition began- team Butterfly Properties, me and my beautiful wife.

I quickly cut, grinded, and prepared all the steel stock for assembly (all of the steel in this project was from discarded bed frames- something there are a lot of in the world, and the landfill).  I switched over to welding, and that's when the day took a turn for the worse.  I turned on my welder, and pulled the gun's trigger, and got nothing.  I spent the next one and a half hours trying to figure out what was wrong with my welder, and never could get it to work.  It worked the night before- I changed the spool and tip in preparation for the day.

Around noon, with a non-functioning welder, for what I had planned to be primarily a welding project (!), I came to terms with the fact I wouldn't be able to complete a project. I was incredibly disappointed.   I had looked forward to this day for so long, and I was afraid of letting everyone down.   In retrospect I realized that there was the challenge this year, and this is why this event is so difficult- one thing goes wrong, and time keeps going by.  This is why I enjoy this event so much- you put yourself into a difficult and unique situation, and you just don't know what is going to happen.

I ended up borrowing a welder from one of the most talented SponCon builders, and former Home ReSource employees, Jimmy Willet (pictured on the left below).

Jimmy Willet (on left), the man that saved SponCon for me, and his teammate Josh Decker

I then spent the rest of the time figuring out how to use his welder!  His is actually better than mine, but I was used to using mine.  By the time I was done with all the welding, I was finally producing some good welds.

Back in the game

I ended up reevaluating my project and scaling it back.  In the end, I am happy with how it turned out, though it was not quite how I envisioned it.

Our completed potting bench

We made a potting bench that has all the features you need: a place to store soil, hooks for hanging tools, a big work surface, large lower shelf, and a grate (made from wrenches) over which you can pot plants or water them and have the soil and water drain to a basin below.   But, it also functions as an outdoor side board or buffet.

The tool hanger (made from a garden rake) also serves as a wine glass holder, and the soil container could hold ice to cool beverages and the grate works as a trivet for hot serving dishes.

It is made for the garden, so appropriately, it is made of garden tools and adorned with a couple of insects, a lady bug (whose feet are also tool hooks) and a long horned beetle, made from various shovels and diggers.

The frame is made of bed frame steel for long life outdoors and the wood is all 2 x western red cedar from a deck and raised garden beds.
It was a long, exhausting day, and I am already looking forward to next year.

Miles and Marilyn after a long day of SponCon

Miles was happy to see us when it was all over.

If you are interested in seeing this and the other creations that are grand prize contenders, from SponCon 2014, come by Home ReSource where they will be on display.  And if you are interested, you can bid on them at the auction on October 24 at the Doubletree Hotel in Missoula.

SponCon's Coming...

This Saturday (September 20) is our favorite event of the year- Spontaneous Construction! This is Home ReSource's annual festival of creative reinvention. It is a celebration of reuse and a building competition where teams have 7 hours to build anything they want from stuff found at Home ReSource. I love it! Seven hours of designing and building fun. It is a great event for competitors and spectators alike, including lots of fun activities for kids.

As usual, our garden coaching business (Butterfly Properties) is a proud sponsor of the event and we will also have a team.  Though this year our team is smaller - just me and Marilyn. Our friend, expert welder and craftsman , and loyal team member is taking a well deserved elk hunting vacation. So, Marilyn and I will have to pick up his responsibilities the best we can. 

 
It is always helpful to divide up jobs for this sort of project, so here is the division of labor this year:

• David: designer, welder, woodworker
• Marilyn: chief information officer, custodial maintenance engineer, and paint application specialist.

Each year we build something for the garden. Who knows what we will make this year, but here are a few projects from the last three years:

2011- a mobile garden cloche (my favorite of our projects)

2012- a garden bistro table and chairs, made from garden tools (and the full Butterfly Properties team of Barry, me, and Marilyn)

2013- an outdoor garden shower