One lovely bonus of planting in a community garden is the need to haul stuff back and forth to the garden. Unlike a home garden, you can’t just keep your tools in the garage and pull them out as you need them.
Community garden tools
Granted, the garden does have a well-stocked tool shed with basically anything you might need. I use the community tools that don’t fit in my bucket like spades, rakes, etc. But for the smaller items, I bring my own either because of preference, availability, or (initially) because I didn’t want to walk to the other end of the garden, unlock the shed, re-lock it etc. for a trowel.
The garden bucket
I started with bags, backpacks, bins etc. but eventually got frustrated that I could never find the smaller things, and didn’t have any space for bigger things. Enter: the bucket organizer.
I got a small bucket at Home Depot, and an organizer on Amazon. I slipped the organizer on and here it is:
I really like it because it’s a good balance of little pockets to keep thing organized, and a nice larger internal space to dump other stuff that might need carrying (a water bottle, harvest, special tools, etc.)
What’s inside
Plant tags and markers. Always helpful if I want to flag something that’s just popping up, a seed I planted, a mysterious volunteer plant, etc. I’ve grown to prefer plastic because the wooden ones, although more durable, tend to rot and/or mold. Ties. Zip ties for attaching trellises to poles/ supports etc., green rubber coated wire for tying plants up to trellises. Tools. Trowel, clippers, little curved snippers for smaller plants, a utility knife, gloves, and a headlamp. Sometimes I go to the garden in twilight to avoid the heat of full sun and it comes in handy. Lotions and potions. Bar antibacterial soap to wash my hands after a gardening session, other soaps to make bug drowning buckets etc. Reusable bag, flour sack towels, etc. Small containersThings for getting harvested stuff safely home. Power bank. I’m regularly going to the garden with a nearly dead phone or speaker. This is a power bank that works with the batteries for my power tools and it’s really nice to be able to take instead of waiting for things to charge.
Other stuff sometimes sneaks into the bucket, but these are my go-to tools. Occasionally I bring it into the house to clean the tools or reorganize / clean out any trash that snuck in. For the most part, it just lives in my car so I’m ready to garden at a moment’s notice.
Leg 1 is nearly complete! We made it from Detroit to Denver to pick up my car, and run some final errands before hitting the road!
Wait, I thought you moved already?
It’s confusing, I know. Earlier this month I was in Juneau for 2 weeks doing house hunting and work, and then I came back to the lower 48 for a few weeks for a work trip in North Carolina, and to work remotely from Michigan.
THIS is the big road trip. The one where we drive for some days and then get on the car ferry for some more days. Here’s the rough itinerary:
Fly Detroit to Denver
Drive Denver to Moab, UT – hit Arches, Canyonlands, and the general area
Drive Moab, UT to Pocatello, ID
Drive Pocatello, ID to Boise ID – hit Craters of the Moon National Park
Drive Boise, ID to Vancouver, WA – recoop, drive lots, check out Portland
Drive Vancouver, WA to Seattle, WA – check out Mount St. Helens, meet up for dinner in Seattle
Drive Seattle, WA to Bellingham, WA – pack the car, get groceries, get ready to board the ferry, board the ferry
Ferry ride from Bellingham, WA to Juneau, AK – boat ride, 2.5 days
Arrive in Juneau, AK, and start work!
Detroit to Denver
We encountered some turbulence. Twice.
On Friday my dad and I flew from Detroit to Denver, and started final preparation in Denver before heading on the road. We got up bright and early, leaving the house at 5:30 AM to catch an early flight. We arrived in Denver at 8:30 AM local time, magically traveling back in time so that we were ready for second breakfast.
Denver errands
Of course I had a few remaining loose ends to tie up in Denver before leaving:
Snooze breakfast… yummm
BREAKFAST – If you want a recommendation for dinner or lunch in Denver I might have a few, but breakfast…. that’s my specialty. We have hit a few favorite breakfast spots this weekend one last time before leaving.
PACKING THE BIKE – I had some issues getting my bike packed up for moving before the movers came, so my friends helped me out and took it to a bike shop while I was out of town where they disassembled it and packed it in a box. We picked it up and it fit EXACTLY in the remaining space in my car on top of the back seats, with the pre-packed boxes and our suitcases underneath. It was perfection.
Will it fit?
Of course! Not an inch to spare.
We dropped the bike off at a UPS Store where they marveled at their own high cost to ship such a large package to Juneau. With that, my bike began its journey to Juneau!
PUPPIES – I had to say a final farewell to the puppies at the shelter. I’ve been volunteering at Maxfund for about 6 months and have fallen in love with several dogs. My dad and I went and spent a few hours wrangling some newer crazy puppies, and took a few older dogs out for walks.
Still shy, but so big and healthy!
The most important goodbye was to three puppies from the “chili pepper” litter. These little pups were abandoned in a box of chili peppers, and came into the shelter one night in horrible condition. Their bellies were full of worms, they had ticks, they had skin burns from the peppers, and they were understandably hungry, tired, and scared. I was there the night they arrived at the shelter, helping bathe them, remove ticks, and feed them. This weekend I got to visit them, over a month later, and they are grown, healthy puppies! Still a little shy, but absolutely adorable.
PACKING, PACKING, and more PACKING – I bought some totes at Costco, figured out that 4 would fit nicely in my trunk, and then used those to pack stuff for the past few months so that I’d know how much space I had in the car. When I left Denver 4 weeks ago I had them packed and stacked perfectly in my car, with room to spare, and even closed the cargo cover in the back.
When we arrived on Friday and reunited with my partially-packed car, we had a few more suitcases, and one more box stored at a friend’s house to fit in the car. I also had all kinds of clothes for work, hiking, travel, weather, special occasions, and random stuff that got thrown in at the last minute. We had to repack everything strategically based on what we’ll need for the next week. I’m sick of packing, but I also kind of like the puzzle. Plus, there is nothing as satisfying as a well-packed trip.
Cool kids in RiNo.
Fun in RiNo – We got our errands done early, and had time to explore Denver’s RiNo (River North) arts neighborhood.
Goodbye Denver!
Being a tour guide during two days of beautiful weather in Denver have really tugged at the heartstrings. Ok Denver, I get it, you’re very missable and cool. It turns out you became home at some point. I will miss your food and parks and bike trails, and endless amounts of things to do and eat.
Also you have a lot of sunshine. Almost an excessive amount – in fact it’s annoying. Who wants to hang out somewhere with pleasant sunny weather? Yuck.
ROAD TRIP 