Pathways: mulched

On Thursday I got a call back from Bayview Greenwaste who said they could deliver mulch to PG on Friday for the paths. I'd been waiting for a call back so jumped on the chance, and met the delivery driver in the morning.  Unfortunately there was a car parked right where I planned to have the mulch delivered, so we couldn't take as much as I planned. But that was a good thing, in the end...

I immediately sent out the email to our subscribers, posted to Twitter, Facebook and NextDoor, and texted people asking for help to move the pile on our Saturday workday.

Then I went to work right away and managed to move about 20 wheelbarrow loads myself in 2 hours. At that stage I was absolutely shattered and went home hoping for a great volunteer turnout to help shift the remaining 3/4 of the huge pile. I also emptied the tool chest - someone was again trying to break into it, and I've had enough: I brought everything inside it home for good. We haven't stored anything really valuable there in ages, but it is handy to have extra tools there. Unless they get stolen... I also picked up dozens of needles and a pile of trash from the back area, and put in a 311 app request to pick it up.

Saturday's volunteer workday dawned with a big rush: Matt and I had to drop by Home Depot to rent an extra wheelbarrow, and also pick up drinks for the volunteers. But as it turned out we didn't need the extra drinks... because nobody showed up :(

We managed to get about 40 wheelbarrow loads of mulch moved,  in another 2 hour stint. About 1/4 of the pile remained before we ran out of energy.

Today, Monday we returned, and this time Chris and Jim showed up to help move the remaining pile in record time. We also deeply watered specific areas of the garden that really needed help to get through the summer.

I've never put out a request for help and had NOBODY show up before - even people who said they would. Perhaps it was the holiday weekend, perhaps it was the heat. But it left me feeling deflated.