Welcome gardening enthusiasts to a more somber update. As some of you may already know Florida was hit by a major Hurricane last weekend. While I am thankful for the "relatively minor impacts" to my local community and house, the impacts to family, friends, and others just miles in any direction are more extreme.
It's one of those crazy things to think about... just a few miles deviation in the path of the hurricane bringing it closer to Cuba before turning North into Florida weakened the storm just enough that it spared us the catastrophic impacts we would have gotten. At the same time, we then see the images coming out of the islands showing how much they have lost and are suffering. Newer houses here in South Florida are built to withstand 135mph winds with little to no structural damage, others in the path weren't so lucky. While we lost power and water for a day or so and have trees down all over the place, others have lost their homes.
With that said and understood, I give this update...
During the hurricane, a branch from the large tree in front of our house broke off and fell into the front garden smashing through the Plexiglas rain guard and breaking the top hydrogarden cover box. The system itself is still functional. I was able to reconnect the 3" return pipe that was knocked off with the impact and the water flow through it is smooth.
Damage to the cover box and access lid.
The full extent of the damage is seen when I moved the slats that were popped off the top. I am not really sure yet on how I will repair the system in place since it really can't be removed. The excessive rain also liquefied the dirt around the tank which got under it and lifted the left side about an inch. This is warping the whole box as well and pulling it apart from the back dutch bucket section.
I will give it all some thought and figure out a plan in the coming week. Part of me wants to just throw a new layer of play and slats on top and call it a day, but I struggle with the need to make it look nice as well.
A view showing the hole in the top plywood sheet.
The broken Plexi sheet.
Yes removing this before would have been the best option, but it was not an option since it was screwed and glued down to the braces with adhesive. It would have broken either way.
Showing the broken rain guard.
Vertical wall garden destroyed at my Father-in-law's house.
This is something I want to share since I was preparing a post about the vertical wall garden I built at my father-in-law's house that now lays in a broken pile due to the hurricane. The force of the wind was strong enough to snap the internal 2x4 supporting brace posts. Over the years it has grown a mix of flowers and food in soil.
This coming weekend we will be taking it apart and clearing out the space. I will work on a new design that will be a mix of hydroponics and containers with staggered pass-through spacing to still provide privacy for the pool area, but allow for high wind to pass through it (hopefully).
Peanut Plant doing good.
On a positive note, my peanut plant is still going strong. It had a safe place next to my indoor wall garden during the storm. There is a lot of new growth and new stems coming up from the base.
Looking For Niche (LFN)
Join the discussion in the new lfn-gardening channel.
As you may know, I have become an Official Community Advocate for the the Looking For Niche (LFN) project. The purpose is to help connect people with similar interests here on Steemit. Simply join the LFN Discord, it's free, and use the friendly WhaleBoT to enter your interest or "niche". It will reply with a list of other users registered with the same niche.
Example: Whalebot LFN Gardening
WhaleBoT will reply with: These other users are also interested in talkin' about "gardening"!
Find the Looking For Niche Discord Here:
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Thanks for reading, now get out there and get GROWING!