THE SUCCULENT GARDEN
AT CAL STATE

BCSS Garden Journal
Saturday, May 8, 2004

Today we had the help of Stephen, Nathaniel, Brian, Maynard, and me (Linda). We started by moving a lot of plants that were in a place where dirt needed to be mounded. This included moving a rather large clump of Golden Barrel Cacti. Unfortunately, we didn't think to get the camera ready before they moved it... and the movers (Stephen and Brian) weren't willing to repeat the act for the camera! After moving the cacti, we once again manned the shovels and moved a bunch of dirt. Also accomplished today were: widening the paths to a more realistic width and trying to identify some of the cacti that came without names. Luckily, we discovered some of the name tags when we moved a few of the cacti! Nathaniel was a big help in moving cacti and building tunnels. Thanks again to all the helpers! We will work again next weekend, but on Sunday instead of Saturday, since some of us want to go on the field trip on Saturday. See you there--early!

BCSS Garden Journal
Sunday, May 16

Lots of help today! In addition to me (Linda), Steve H, Maynard, Stephen C, Ralph, Kenneth, Kelly and Lynn came to help! We had 3 wheelbarrows going, as well as watering. After working several hours (and discussing a variety of subjects, such as old-fashioned discipline in the schools, bad backs, solar stills and carnivorous plants), we finished moving enough dirt to make the central "island" mound. After moving so much dirt by hand, we all agreed that renting a small tractor might be a big help for finishing the rest of the job! Next week we'll meet on Saturday, at 7-ish.

BCSS Garden Journal
Saturday, May 22

Today there were only two of us to work--Linda and Maynard. We moved a bunch of plants into the central mound and then moved a sizable amount of dirt into the central "desert wash" area. We put in a few hours and managed to get a lot of work done, even for just two of us. There were still lots of plants blooming and as usual the ducks came to visit. Next week we'll work on Saturday, again around 7-ish.

BCSS Garden Journal
Saturday, May 29

Today we doubled the number of helpers! Linda, Sidney, Stephen C, and Maynard all arrived ready to work. Maynard and Stephen had already picked up some cement blocks and concrete mix for the wall, so Sidney and Linda started laying blocks while the guys made concrete and finished the blocks that were waiting. Sidney and Linda went to Home Depot and got the rest of the supplies so the wall could be finished--and it was finished! We also watered all the plants and weeded! It was a great day to work: the weather was cool and breezy. We will not work next weekend; we are going to wait a couple of weeks to see if the facilities guy at CSUB will move the rest of the dirt for us and then we will be ready to plant more plants. We will probably take most of the summer "off" due to the heat and plan out exactly which plants we want and where we will put them. Then we will be ready to plant them in the fall when the weather isn't so horrid. We also want to plan a trip or two to the desert to get some landscape rocks. We hope everyone comes to the June meeting at the garden!