Parking Strip - Weed Farm

What to do with that strip of land between the sidewalk and curb in front of your house? Well mine is a haven for weeds and, again, cat poo. The weed barrier was showing through in some spots and generally looked like hell.

Executive decision! Saturday I started to scrape off the top layer of dirt, poo, weed chaff & whatnot. Starting to look good you say? Yes I would agree. Of course J says I need to take the level down about 3" from here - oy my aching back. But lowering the grade will help with sidewalk runoff.

Sunday morning we wake to rain, torrential downpour, monsoon? Well at least it's a warm rain. Welcome to the mud flats of St Johns.

This strip is belongs to the City of Portland and they are particularly vague about what is and is not allowed to be placed here. Garden boxes you say? Well that's OK unless a neighbor complains about it and you might be on the hook for fines up to $1000/day. Are trees OK? An Oregonian article from earlier this year sheds a little light, or shade, in this area. I love tree lined streets even though the sidewalks suffer from root lifting and the home owner is responsible for the maintenance of a tree that benefits all on the street. The Portland Green Streets Program is great but it's pretty much reserved for professionals.

So no permanently installed structures, anything placed in the strip must be <3' tall and portable. Sand set pavers may be installed without permit provided you stay <50% of the strip area, yadda yadda yadda....

Maybe the weeds weren't so bad after all.

Compost Bin

Composting yard and food waste seems to me to be a pretty easy thing to do. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest where we had to take care of our own trash. We tossed food waste to the chickens (when it was chicken type food) and table scraps went to the dog. If it burned, we put it in the incinerator. If it didn't, it would be piled up behind a shed somewhere until we had time to take it to the dump. Was it environmental or "green"? I doubt it. But anyway....

We wanted a compost bin to take care of our food waste and yard debris. I found plans for a 3-bin compost system online through the Oregon State extension office. I made a couple modifications based on available space.



I built a two bin system with removable slats in the front for access. Wire mesh on the sides and nailed in slats on the back.

I figured out a kick-stand to hold up the lid. This way it won't bash you on the noggin or flip over and rest against the neighbor's fence.

Here is the bin in action. oooooh - look at it go! This year I've dumped the majority of the yard leaves in the bin. We should have a good crop of dirt for the garden beds next spring.