A few gray clouds and a little drizzle (ok, I admit, it was a bit more than that at times) didn’t keep almost 40 neighbors from coming out to 14th Ave NW to show some civic pride. Our sign in table was swamped with volunteers noshing on donated treats from the Ballard Market, homemade blueberry banana bread from a neighbor and fancy cheeses left over from Rob’s dinner party the evening before. With bellies full, volunteers had the choice of 3 different tasks;  pick up trash along 14th, plant the planters, or dig out weeds in the remaining median ends in preparation for gravel delivery.

Since we started cleaning up 14th on a regular basis, I’m pleased to see that the number of bags of garbage being collected is getting smaller and smaller. It’s become manageable enough that we plan to sort out the recyclables next time in October.

The planters look amazing at the intersection of 14th and 60th. Steph showed up at my house early in the morning with a latte’ from Cafe’ Bambino in hand and we got started sorting out plants, and transporting them out to the sites by wheelbarrow. Neighbors came out in full force to help plant and by looking at the pictures, I think they had a pretty good time! Stay tuned for opportunities to help within the next couple of weeks to get the rest of the planters installed!

Last, but not least, my heartfelt thanks goes out to those who dug the trenches and pulled out the weeds in the median ends. This was really back breaking work, and to be honest, the part of our project that I worried about the most, because the labor requirements were so high! I’m truly amazed at how much these folks did. All of the medians are now ready for laying out burlap (much easier work) and gravel delivery. The hardest part has been done!

Upcoming Opportunities:

Monday April 26th 6-8pm
Weed barrier work party part 1
Meet at Blowing Sands Glass 5805 14th Ave NW
We’ll be nailing down weed barrier in the median ends between NW 58th and NW 63rd
Dress for the weather and bring a hammer or mallet. We’ll provide the weed barrier material and stakes

Canceled cause we got the job done on Monday
Wednesday April 28th 6-8pm
Weed barrier work party part 2
Meet at Blowing Sands Glass 5805 14th Ave NW
We’ll be finishing up what we didn’t get done on Monday.
Dress for the weather and bring a hammer or mallet. We’ll provide the weed barrier material and stakes

Week of May 3rd
Sometime during this week, we plant to get soil delivered,  which means we’ll need some brawn and trucks, trailers, etc to help move the planters into place. Contact me if you want to help, along with your availability that week. We might be able to work around the volunteers’ schedules.

Saturday May 8th 10am-2pm
Planting Day
Meet at Blowing Sands Glass 5805 14th Ave NW
We’ll be planting the planters in the median ends between NW 58th and NW 63rd.
Dress for the weather. We’ll provide tools.