Can everyday be Action Day? There are bandwagons all over the place that I want to jump on. Here is a post about the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) that reminded me to rave that Fred and Dan, Blithewold’s groundsmen are expert at Reusing/Recycling. They took sills from the old greenhouse when it was renovated and rather than hauling it to a scrapyard, they re-invented it as a bed edge and grass stair risers. Sometimes with a wide open to the possibilities imagination, a useless cast-off can be rescued from the landfill and transformed into the perfect solution!
This morning I found a sidetrack bandwagon in this (otherwise really interesting) post. I’ve been on a (passive) lookout for an alternative to the soilless potting mix that we use in the greenhouse. Most (all?) potting mixes are made with peat which is not a renewable resource. It also bears mentioning that peat harvests are killing precious bogs and I don’t want to be a party to bog death. I perked right up at the mention of coconut coir in this post and did just a little searching and found that it’s available by the brick and bale. I’m curious now – has anyone has used it either in or as a potting medium? What’s your source? Did you and your plants like it? Do you have any other peat-free potting medium recommendations? Enquiring gardeners want to know!

And if everyday is action day (sometimes action is not about Activism…) the volunteers have had a couple very active days! Here’s a before and after of the Cutting Bed – note that Gail and I have allowed the Asclepias physocarpa ‘Oscar’ (a.k.a. Hairy balls) to live on for the time being!… Next week we’ll be planting tulips.

And the Fairies have been pretty active too. The fairy family at 4 Dust Ave. has acquired some overstuffed furniture! Looks like they’re still working out how to get it up the stairs and down the hall…