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Michele J
July 26th, 2010, 01:07 PM
Come check out some of Buffalo ReUse's treasures..

Our Rain Garden at the corner of Northampton & Michigan is very new! It was installed by National Grid employees as a corporate service project this past Earth Day 2010. The garden was designed by Matthew Dore of Buffalo Horticulture. Matt regraded the vacant double lot to guide rain water into the middle (like a shower drain) where a pergola was built surrounded by blueberry bushes. The lot also features a privacy fence using reclaimed flooring. The perennial flower beds have a backdrop of foundation stone. Planters built from reclaimed hemlock floor joists double as seating along the sidewalk.
Keep traveling down Northampton and
You’ll discover a Bee Sanctuary which was once a vacant lot, but is now a warm blanket of yellow, amber, and bronze with summer wild flowers. (In the spring the lot was dotted with blues, pinks and purples). The wild flowers are native to the North East and are helping to fortify a sagging urban bee population.
Our Children’s Vinery is truly unique! It has an apple tree and six arbors supporting a variety of pole beans, melon, squash, tomatoes, eggplant and chard. We have Mobile Victory Gardens donated by artist, Stella Maars which are growing herbs and pumpkins. We’re just adding a teepee of morning glories. We have experimental containers for growing potatoes and a strawberry patch which has delighted people of all ages!
The Patchwork Garden is also a sight–50 different beds which neighbors, volunteers and groups have adopted! Folks plant whatever they want in this community garden and they enjoy having a place to grow their own food and relax. We host events like movie nights, cooking demos, art, performances and free gardening workshops in the garden.
Just around the corner there is another style of community garden, The Cold Spring Community Garden on Southampton and Masten, managed by Dan Ash and Jessica Lang. Their garden is a site where five houses once stood, but now there is an 8foot wall of tomatoes, several rows of vegetables and raspberry vines. There are also fruit trees which will mature into a mixed bowl of cherries, plums, peaches, pears and apples! Volunteers and neighbors work in the garden and are able to eat what they harvest.

NBuffaloResident
July 26th, 2010, 01:09 PM
Awesome work Michelle! I'll make sure I do the rounds and check those sites out. Looking for a best use idea for a vacant lot on my block :) And, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Michele J
July 26th, 2010, 01:13 PM
TY:)
My favorite is the patchwork garden..Perhaps it would be something your neighbors would be interested in too..
If you need any advice or ideas just let me know.

NBuffaloResident
July 26th, 2010, 01:18 PM
TY:)
My favorite is the patchwork garden..Perhaps it would be something your neighbors would be interested in too..
If you need any advice or ideas just let me know.

Is there already a "Virtual tour", or photo album online somewhere of the sites?

Michele J
July 26th, 2010, 01:22 PM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/buffaloreuse/page5/

NBuffaloResident
July 26th, 2010, 01:26 PM
Thanks :)

Linda_D
July 26th, 2010, 01:38 PM
The trellis made of bicycle rims is worthy of the funky stuff the Garden Walk gardeners do on the West Side!

How deep did those 6x6 uprights go in? Now that it's rained enough to soften up the ground, I'm looking to dig a hole to make my bottle tree and I was wondering how deep to put it.

Michele J
July 26th, 2010, 01:53 PM
I will find out and let you know.

We are also selling rain barrels for only $30 each
http://www.buffaloreuse.org/blog/2010/07/reuse-rainbarrels-are-back/

granpabob
July 26th, 2010, 06:09 PM
The trellis made of bicycle rims is worthy of the funky stuff the Garden Walk gardeners do on the West Side!

How deep did those 6x6 uprights go in? Now that it's rained enough to soften up the ground, I'm looking to dig a hole to make my bottle tree and I was wondering how deep to put it.

if you are putting anything in the ground 36 inches is the minimum. some compains try to claim 30 put they are just cutting corners. I worked in the fence industry for over 30 years. the post we had to reset and straighten were all less then 36 inches in the ground. 36 inches will hold and prevent heaving leaning and sinking. unless you have drilled into solid rock you will need concrete double the width of the post usually works 6 inch post 12 inch hole. 4x4 goes into an 8 inch hole but always 36 inch deep or more. any structure. (deck pool dock) reguire 42 inches deep by most zoning laws

Linda_D
July 27th, 2010, 04:17 PM
if you are putting anything in the ground 36 inches is the minimum. some compains try to claim 30 put they are just cutting corners. I worked in the fence industry for over 30 years. the post we had to reset and straighten were all less then 36 inches in the ground. 36 inches will hold and prevent heaving leaning and sinking. unless you have drilled into solid rock you will need concrete double the width of the post usually works 6 inch post 12 inch hole. 4x4 goes into an 8 inch hole but always 36 inch deep or more. any structure. (deck pool dock) reguire 42 inches deep by most zoning laws

Thanks.

SafeWNY
July 27th, 2010, 04:23 PM
Michele;

I finally made it to the store today - what an amazing place. Looks like they are out of rain barrels though :)

We came home and measured some door openings - some great ideas came out of a 30 minute walk through the aisles!

A HUGE thank you for all that you and the other members of ReUse do for the community.

Michele J
July 28th, 2010, 01:58 AM
So glad you liked it:)