DIY Culture: Projects & ideas worth sharing

[enjoypolo]

Hey THCs,

Dunno if this is the right place to post it, but I just wanted to start a DIY thread after being inspired by the various gems found in this forum.
I invite anyone to share an idea worth sharing, a hobby, or some good old DIY skills you may have.

I'll start with a project I've convinced myself to start: Guerilla seed bombing Cannabis plants across my locality (Burnaby, BC).
Recently, I was gratefully given a pack of 100-seeds containing CBD (10%) / THC (1%) for cannabis activism by a fellow named Dana Larsen. So as I'm preparing to leave Canada soon, I thought, what better way for me to give back gratitude to the land than to spread those seeds (after giving some to friends, I have about 50 seeds left).

So got my bike fixed, started a colony of 10 seeds growing (how quick and resilient they are!) and started tinkering some DIY. Based on my observation and efficiency, I've decided to "bomb" along the Skytrain (3-5 stops length) which provides nice, unconspicuous area, as well as facing North, so that it has maximal sun exposure.
I also wonder whether it would be more effective for pollination. It's also important for me to be able to check up on them in the beginning, so keeping

Keep in mind, hemp/cannabis have numerous benefits for soil ecology, including preventing soil erosion and nutrient highways. I used toilet/kitchen paper rolls made of carbord, cut them into 1" high cups with cardboard holes at the bottom. Thinking of even putting a layer of oyster mycelium first, then the seed on top, and sprinkling sawdust. The mycelium should have enough food from those to start, and then from the soil. Fungi will help decompose resources, and break down nutrients.

Spoiler: How-To:

1) Acquire seeds. Anything works. If you lack ideas, I'd recommend herbs (Mint, Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano) which bees love, or flowers (Sunflowers, basil, lavender). You can't go wrong with those.

2) Creating a container. Youtube is your best friend for that. I think the papier maché method, or balled-up soil; clay may work better than my idea, so I invite you to check out a few videos to see what's best for you. The idea is to have golf-ball sizes. Most importantly, use natural materials that are easy to decompose (paper/cardboard/clay). Don't use glue, plastics or metals, it may end up causing more harm.

3) Find suitable spots. This one is really up to you, but for me, cannabis loves sunshine, so I try to use spots that face North. I want them to have a good life, so while municipal gardens are nice, they may get noticed and pulled away. So I might go with parks, train tracks, and some passive green areas around my home.

4) Bombs away! I haven't done that part yet, so I'll keep you updated. Should I dress up like Antifa, or be more casual? not sure, but I'd rather be Ninja about it.

Most of all, have fun doing it! This is the best way to spread love, as well as supporting bees which are so essential for our food systems.

Maybe next time, I'll post a brief how-to on growing mycelium from stem butts of mushrooms. That's hella-fun too!

Cheers everyone, and thanks to those who've inspired me along the way.

PS: I just realized that technically, I'm passed the seed-stage, and doing more guerilla seedling plantings, but hey.. no panic.

Cool link courtesy of Rani from some time ago about Guerilla seed bombing.

 

[enjoypolo]

Some updates regarding Op GreenMaria:
After last week's initial success at planting over ten seedlings around my neighbourhood, I decided to switch gears a bit.
And so, after my work shift ended yesterday, I proceeded to go to the beautiful, quiet creek nearby. Although located next to a park, it's beyond the bushes and out of reach from the public.
From the beginning, I've been mesmerized by the beauty of this creek, and though it's largely abandoned, it still sways (instead of running straight) which gives it its quiet, beautiful character.

So Op GreenMaria consisted in rehabilitating the soil erosion along the banks, so I went there and planted a few seed bombs on each nodes (at the apex of the curves) in hopes that the hemp roots will strengthen the soil. Not to waste this occasion, I threw some seeds in the bushes as well, all the while thanking the plants (Oryngham) It was a majestic moment, and it felt great being there, with the vortexed water passing by next to me. In fact, I quickly noticed tiny, baby trouts swimming in groups, so that was a memorable Schauberger moment.

There were signs of homeless people coming to that area (makeshift camp; some garbage left), but otherwise, it's pretty untouched. I will definitely come by again, and maybe see if I can find suitable mycelium to grow in the area.
Paul Stamets in his book Mycelium Running describes the complex, circular food-chain that binds mushrooms and the ecosystem along rivers, including how mushrooms (protein) become nests for fly larvaes to thrive, which then feed the fish; feeds the bear; dead fish decomposing releases minerals, like phosporus that then feeds plants and soil.

Voila, though I probably won't see the fruits of this labour, hoping for the best to come

 

[rani]

Awesome. I'm inspired. Mash up DIY suggestion - put your seed bomb instructions on a paste-up!
Let's get everyone doing it!

 

[enjoypolo]

This may sound foolish, but as I’m spending my last days in Canada and cleaning my balcony garden, I learned a lot from my past mistakes.

The biggest mistake I made with my initial planter, was to leave the soil bare to dry with little or no mulch on top. I can’t stress enough how this one thing is crucial for healthy top-soil, including mycelium growth and micro-organisms to thrive.

In my new planter (which will soon be transplanted in a friend’s garden) I mulched the soil using expired green leafy veggies. I also had kelp which I used firstfor the broth, they make for excellent fertilizer in the soil.

Immediately, I noticed the soil holding more moisture (less frequent watering required), and shading/covering the soil for organisms to grow.
Very quickly, white hyphae from mycelium started growing underneath the cover, spreading on the soil.
It took me five months to figure this simple, basic fact. I wish I’d known this earlier. Alas, my surviving plants immediately seemed happier as a result.

The compost is probably the most interesting of the experiments. My laissez-faire attitude with the compost have yielded bad results (fly infestation) after much hurdles. Alas I have finally reached a point where its thriving with fungi of various kinds. These magical creatures appear out of nowhere from one day to the next.

Once I get to Amsterdam, I am hoping to join a community urban farm to improve my food growing skills, as well as growing some herbs at home (ideally, some Provence lavender which I love, and calms me down).
My plan, is to start with cover plants, nitrogen fixers like clover or alfalfa. Or perhaps even some pepper vines which grow fast and can yield, well, peppers. And of course, useful fungi like oyster to get the soil interweb strong.

After that, I don’t really have a concrete plan, yet. Come spring, I’d like to grow upside-down tomatoes, and maybe try my hands at Milpa techniques.

Recently, while watching Pocahontas I was surprised at the details of the fields, where beans where crawling up the maize, and squash on the ground as soil cover; all in symbiosis.
Of course, the weather in northern europe is still different so I’m sure there’s much to figure out.

Biggest lesson so far is, to have fun, and take it easy. Gardening should be fun. And lastly, patience. I’m still learning to listen to the plants, and be more patient with them. In return, they provide me with what I need.

 

[enjoypolo]

There’s a lovely lady I follow on Twitter, Corinne Okada, an arts educator inspiring kids (and adults alike) with lots of cutting-edge projects, like making stuff out of mycelium, kombucha, and other bio-materials.
She’s a real gem, and she’s blown my mind more than a few times.

One of those was this cheap, DIY method called Vacuum Forming. It’s essentially a way to make a plastic mold out of any object. Kinda like 3D Printing but with much ingenuity (and no fancy printers). This tweet of hers illustrates it brilliantly:

https://twitter.com/corinnetakara/status/1166502333842223104?s=21

Here’s another take I found on Youtube:

But Corinne’s model is much simpler, using only a plastic jar fitted with that plug adapter to connect your vacuum nozzle to suck the air out around the object. She even provides the 3D adapter template free (the only part that requires effort, really)

I haven’t tried it myself just yet, but it looks so cool, and easy to try (especially the heat-gun method). Only thing is, where I live now, we don’t even have a vacuum anymore..lol but that’s not too hard to find to be honest.

..One more thing:
I asked her, not really expecting much, how I could make a kudu horn mold. This lovely soul posted this DIY template (see attachment). It looks like a really cool way to make a mycelium water vortexer.
I’m gonna try to attempt this project, but I thought it could inspire others as well.

Cheers everyone!