Upgrade a Physical Location that is Already Branded - PEP BB community.community.straw.brndup

Sand - Previous
-Brand a location:
0. Initial sign, trellis, some plants.

-Improve an already branded location:
1. Expanded guerrilla garden fence line.  Planted gourds.  Planted pomegranate tree.
2. Watering can location + sign.  
3. Surplus supplies location + sign.
4. Burndoodled birdhouse.
5. Central tool location + sign.

Straw - New!
-Summer progress:
6. Added signage to encourage community participation.
7. Added garden surplus sharing basket.
8. More plants: Beans, chives, lettuce, buckwheat, kale... strawberry plants.  
9. New “keyhole” and lobed shapes emerging with added stones.   Deeper stone terracing around pomegranate.   *Lots* of new plants added and still thriving. (See results picture below)

-Fall results:
10. Officially shared the garden with the community through newsletter.  Successful community engagement as people both add plants and receive produce.  I've received a few compliments over the months.  Someone called it "beautiful" and another neighbor said she and her son "have been admiring it every time we're in the garden."  Also I've been playing with temporary natural artwork.

Tree Fort House has been upgraded further. The last upgrades were documented here in 20219 and looked like this:

Tree Fort House in 2019

Since then, I have made and added (in order of their creation):

The stool that caused Tree Fort House to be (I was going to cut down one of the coppice trunks to use for the seat of the stool for the dry peg stool BB. The kids claimed it as theirs instead! 1 hour)

The stool 4 years ago when first made

the stool after 3 years of sitting out in the elements!

Tin can phone (about 20 minutes to make and install)

Tin can phone, connecting Tree Fort House and Huckleberry Book Nook

Rope Swing (15 minutes)

rope swing in action

Rope ladder (20 minutes to make --the wood was already pre-drilled)

rope ladder, because the original ladder had one of the rungs pop off the tree as the tree grew

Basket (made from blackberries harvested at Tree Fort House. 45 minutes-1 hour to make)

basket holding salmonberries

basket after a few months, alongside an old--not good--broom

Dolls crafted from cedar and blackberries growing around Tree Fort House (20 minutes?)

first doll I made, in 2021

I didn't take a picture when I made it 6 months ago, but it's still holding together well!

Three Log Bench (made from the tree itself!--my dad cut the logs, I carved them while teaching my daughter how to carve. 1 hour)

child-sized bench--though comfortable for me, too!

Wreath (made from hemlocks growing around Tree Fort House. 10 minutes) See picture below
Hand made broom (made entirely from branches and blackberry vines harvested at Tree Fort House. 1 hour)

made entirely of branches, held together solely by trailing blackberry vines. Also pictured is the wreath

Tipi/play structure that my kids have named "The Necessary" (because that's what Colonial people called their bathroom, and this is their pretend bathroom . 40 minutes)

Kids love their silly 'bathroom'

The Necessary, in relation to other landmarks

A total of 6 hours of working time, which probably rounds down in Oddball points to 4 points?

Some improvements have degraded naturally over time, which has been a great lesson for the kids in maintenance and repair, and how natural materials like to compost back into nature.

Here's a before and after of Tree Fort House itself:

before these improvements, and after

The lower portion (Huckleberry Book Nook)

before

 

after