THE SUCCULENT GARDEN
AT CAL STATE

BCSS Garden Journal
April 17, 2004

Today was a good day in the garden. We had three wheelbarrows going! Ralph, Kenneth, James, Maynard, Bill and Linda all showed up to work for the morning. It was overcast and a lot cooler than it has been during the previous month of work. It was actually a perfect day for the work we were planning on doing. Between the 6 of us, the western dirt pile (a little more than a dumptruck load) was all relocated in its new area against the wall. It looks nice, with the elevation really adding a contrast to the flat areas. It is starting to look like a "plan" has actually been in existence! Maynard and Bill concentrated mostly on the wall. They were able to finish concreting a section and added blocks to the rest of the wall, which should be worked on again next week. In order to get all the dirt in, we had to move (and remove) some agaves, a yucca, some Opuntias, and a golden barrel cactus. Most of these have been replanted; some have been relocated to new homes. Most duplicates will be sold or given away, so we can have a more diverse garden. We have a load of white Echinopsis and Aloe vera, all nice and big. I hope we'll be able to sell some at the yard sale. Maybe next weekend someone will help dig them up and pot them for the sale. I guess that means bringing some big pots with me! so, next weekend--on Sunday--I think our jobs are: figure out water lines, figure out which plants to dig and pot for the sale, finish the wall, and if there are enough people, move the east dirt pile!

BCSS Garden Journal
April 25, 2004

Another day of work in the garden. It was much warmer today, so we tried to get an earlier start. During the week a lot more dirt was delivered, so we will have plenty to do whatever we want! Once again, James, Maynard, Stephen, Bill and Linda manned the shovels and moved dirt. This time we spread the eastern hill of dirt over the section of the garden destined to be the "Old World". This part of the garden will contain aloes, euphorbias, asclepiads, etc., all native to Africa and Europe and Asia. After reducing that pile of dirt to a mere suggestion of a mound, we turned out attention to the "New World". A few cacti needed to be moved so that more dirt could be added; I worked on banking the curve of the future path, building a rock wall to hold back the slope. We worked until about 11 am and it really seemed to be different when we were done! We will not be working next weekend, since we will be helping with the Yard Sale. But the weekend after that we should be back out there, probably on Saturday morning (May 8). It would sure go faster if we had more help! All are welcome; there are jobs for any skill level!