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drasaid

Guerilla Gardening with Figs

drasaid
12 years ago

I will now describe what is behind the big Texas State Archive warehouses on Shoal Creek (4400 Shoal Creek, in Austin.) If you walk around to the back on the north side, you will come eventually to the creek. Looking south, you will see some downspouts which have dumped the rainwater from the tops of the warehouses out to the creek. Now, they also, daily, dump the dew that gathers on the top of the warehouses. Someone planted fig trees in front of some of the downspouts, and some are now five feet tall and bushy, with figs on them.

Fig trees are not hard to get (Get Permission From The Owner! I have permission, but I don't want any tree nabbing done after reading this) in fact quite often you can nab water sprouts from underneath the tree, just yanking them or digging down to cut them where they have roots. Then you put them in a bucket and go plant them in a spot that will get water (and apparently under a warehouse downspout is just perfect. These have NOT been watered at all by any person, just by the daily dew from the metal roof).

So that is a way to plant, not just seeds, but fruit trees. A mulberry is also in one of the downspouts, it may be a seedling but it is doing just as well as the planted figs. Rocks around the base of the trees make sure the mowers stay away-the same person who planted them put old cotton and linen fabric around them as a mulch so the weeds were down. Otherwise the mowers would have gotten them.

Just a little idea, in case any of you have big ugly warehouses nearby with lonely downspouts and a desire for figs.

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