Denver's (delayed) sidewalk fee. Wild horses: the romance vs. the reality. A bee lawn update.
Denver's (delayed) sidewalk fee
The first sentence of the article below is:
"Denver residents will have to wait a bit longer before seeing any significant sidewalks improvements."
Hmmm.
Could have just as accurately been: Denver residents will have to wait a bit longer before having to pay out the nose for sidewalk improvements.
The article below is an update on something I've posted on in the past. Denver voters in 2022 voted in a fee that would be used to fix sidewalks around the city (with home/property owners paying a fee proportionate to the amount of sidewalk that fronts their property). Prior to this, sidewalk repairs were the responsibility of homeowners.
The plan got delayed before ...
and
... according to the article, it's delayed again.
Ah the wheels of government slowly, slowly, grinding forward. Remember this snappy response the next time you hear someone talk about how it would be a good idea to let the government take over yet more of your life.
More details below.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/local-government/denver-city-council-delays-neighborhood-sidewalk-repair-program/article_34e7acf6-0fb2-5d01-b3c3-d24bd6fa4ea0.html
Wild horses: the romance vs. the reality.
When you see things about wild horses, you often see the upper left of the photo heading this post: prosaic scenes and/or manes flapping in the golden light of morning.
It's a feeling of freedom. Of the wild west. And it often starts early: my child has a book that is clearly propaganda about the animals (though my wife doesn't see the book that way).
They aren't of the wild west, however. They aren't native to this region, and like many invaders they can have serious impacts on the native plants and animals (see the lower right portion of the same photo above--the half that looks chewed up is unmanaged public land where a herd of wild horses has access while the other half is managed private land used for grazing).
Don't nobody try to convince our governor though. He recently wrote a letter to the BLM about a proposed roundup (one of the ways the BLM tries to manage the population of the wild horses) urging them to reconsider. This letter being one in a series of them penned by our governor. You can read more about our governor's concerns for the horses in the first link below.
By way of offering a different perspective on horses, and perhaps a sense of the problems that they can cause, take a look at the second link below. It's about one of the larger herds** in California and the havoc that they (the horses) are wreaking on wetlands and nature in general. Worth a look so you can get a sense of what these animals are capable of; worth a read to get a different perspective on them.
I wonder if our governor is just as gravely concerned with ecological effects like those in California (and those that would be unique to our state such as landscape degradation) as he is with protecting the wild horseys.
Maybe if his livelihood depended on the quality of the rangeland, maybe if he lived somewhere besides a condo in Boulder and wasn't insulated from problems like these he might.
**The BLM here in CO is trying to stop one of the herds here from growing too quickly, preventing (one would hope) problems like those of the one in CA. Our governor seems to think this can be done without resorting to a roundup like the BLM has planned.
Bee lawn update...
Well, back at it again. Taking a few days off from posting to rest up a bit (and catch up on some things). I'll be back to posting on Saturday this week, the 13th.
That means this post will be something for fun and not related to politics.
I thought I would share a quick update on my bee lawn. I posted in the past about removing the last vestiges of grass at my house by smothering it with cardboard, topsoil, and then seeding that with a pollinator mix (clover, grasses, and assorted wildflower perennials).
The hope is to end up with a "lawn" that doesn't need watering or mowing, one that attracts/feeds pollinators, and one that the little birds can hunt around in.
Results have been, well, mixed. Some things are taking off like a rocket, and some aren't.
Picture 1 shows some bunches of clover that are coming up well.
Picture 2 shows some of the wildflowers that have popped up.
But if you look at picture 3 (an overview of the lawn) you'll note that it's still pretty patchy. That is, there's lots of open dirt.
Same with picture 4.
I've overseeded some of the worst spots a couple times now and still not much germination. It's exceedingly difficult to get seeds to go in those areas that get blasted with hot sun and wind all day (see esp the region in picture 4). I could stand there with a hose all day and still struggle to keep the dirt moist.
I don't want to paint an entirely bleak picture though. The plants that are doing well are growing about like I'd expect. They're getting taller by the day and will (some of them) likely flower this season. I've even seen a few little sparrows darting in and among the plants. This tells me that I'm on the right path. I'm meeting some of my goals.
I've been in contact with my seed supplier through the process and he said he will send some more plain clover (unmixed) seed to try as an experiment this Fall.
I know too that some of the plants currently in the lawn will, if they flower, seed themselves well: some are vigorous re-seeders.
My impatience tells me to get some plugs (grasses in particular, maybe some creeping thyme, either would love those hot dry spots once established); plugs are a safer bet since they're already plants. Plugs cost money though.
Dang. The usual quandary. I have an intuition that if I can just wait, things will even out. Those plants already there (perhaps with the clover experiment this fall where they'll start and then overwinter) will fill in and be fine. Waiting makes me think of all those weeds itching to get out in the bare spots and run wild though. I keep thinking that dirt invites invasion.
Ah well. While I think it over, I will try to remember to enjoy the progress I have so far and remind myself that, while I'm not where I want to be, I'm not in a bad spot either.
Have a good middle of the week. Back at it Saturday.
Related:
Brought in the garlic and put it up to dry.
The yield (due to the hail storm we had) is down. If you look at the photo, the heads first and third from left are typical of the usual size I get but I got a fair number of heads that looked like the one second from left.
Dang. Still gonna taste good, just tiny heads and small cloves.
Next year....
We had a horrible weed grown patch of rocks we needed to rehab. We pulled everything out, put down cardboard, topsoil, etc. You are right about bare dirt being problematic. We got tree mulch (Chip Drop or your municipality might have a collection center) to cover the dirt and give time for the plants you want to fill in. If you don't want anything to grow fast, 4 inches deep is good. If you want to give your baby seeds plants an easier time, 2 inches is good.