Monthly Archives: August 2020

The Patio Gets New “Walls”

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I’ve lived here for a little over 10 years. In that time, the patio walls have been a particular challenge. They’re made from cinder blocks and have been painted maroon. They probably contribute to the concrete oven effect, and over the years, I’ve gotten really tired of looking at them.

One of the neighbors has some reed fencing that they used to cover their patio walls. This year, I decided to try it for my own patio. The patio is still really warm, and it will probably still be an oven next summer, but at least it looks better now..

I ordered something called ‘reed roll fencing’ and used zip ties and string to attach it to the rebar coming up from the cinder block wall. At the bottom, it’s pushed against the wall by the planters. The trickiest parts of the installation were getting the fencing unrolled and keeping it upright while I attached it. (It might have been easier with a 2nd person, but there’s a pandemic, so I just did it myself.)

The results are a little wonky, but overall, I’m pleased.

On the USPS

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Blue USPS Mailboxes. Image by EraserGirl / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
EraserGirl / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

It’s time for another political detour, my loyal readers. As you are probably aware, the US Postal Service (USPS) is being sabotaged. This is at least partly because Trump wants to steal the election. However, it also seems to be that the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has a financial stake in several competitors to the USPS. DeJoy is also a top republican donor.

The following tweet shows a map of where mail sorting capacity has been reduced overlaid with 2016 electoral results.

Here’s what’s being done so far:

So what can you and I do?

If you’ve experienced an issue with your mail, you can fill out this form from Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who is leading an investigation into mail delays related to the actions take by DeJoy. I think this is also open to people outside of Michigan.

It’s possible to email DeJoy or to the members of the USPS Board of Governers. The Board of Governers does have the ability to fire DeJoy, but they are also Trump appointees, so that may or may not do very much. This tweet thread provides email addresses.

And as always, you can call or email your elected representatives and ask them to tour a USPS facility and to hold DeJoy accountable. If you’re not sure who your elected officials are, this site will tell you who represents you on a local, state, and national level. 

Heat, Water, and Weeds

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I know I’ve been absent from the blog for a while, I am probably one of the laziest gardeners in the world. My last baby chard harvest was on in mid-July, and after that, I basically let my garden go a little wild—at least as wild as it’s possible to go in the middle of South Philadelphia. There are weeds everywhere, and things are looking a little… spent. About the only garden task I’ve kept up with is refilling the bird feeder, and that’s not really gardening.

The stoop hosta, which seems to thrive on neglect.

Fortunately, I’ve learned from previous years that I am a lazy gardener. Back in May, I had set up a soaker hose with a smart timer. It took a little tweaking, but the plants now get watered every day for 5 minutes at 6am and 5 minutes at 7am—without me having to lift a finger. It’s a smart system, so it automatically delays watering in the event of rain. And if I think the garden needs extra watering, I can turn it on using my phone.

The hose setup, with a regular hose (bright yellow-green) on the right, and the smart timer and soaker hose (black) on the left.

You have no idea how much I love how lazy this allows me to be. No. Idea. Now if only the garden would weed itself.

Asters, perennial salvia, and annual salvia—doing well despite my neglect. (I did cut back the old growth on the perennial salvia, though.) You can see the soaker hose snaking through in the backgrounds. The asters are glad I set up a watering system. Last year, they dried out and didn’t bloom.