The Daily Dirt Day 7: Rooftops are Closer to the Sun

 

DON'T SOIL YOURSELF WITH EXCITEMENT

We began our day by meeting at Roots on the Roof. We met Carly who gave us a grand tour of the very cool space. They produce 1300 lb of produce every year. We helped in weeding the paths within the garden space where we discovered so many worms and other grub life! We also fawned over their lovely dirt they have up there. 

UBC Facilities has politely asked that the rooftop garden does not truck bucket-loads of dirt through the pristine AMS Student Nest. Once the Garden was installed upon the completion of the building in 2014, no new soil has been brought up (allegedly). One suspects that the avid garden team may have snuck in the odd shoefull, Great Escape style. It really is nice soil. Our host tells us that the UBC Orchard Garden’s original soil was brought up to the custom built garden space on the roof of the Nest. 

UBC grows as quickly as a garden in spring, with new buildings sprouting from the earth willy-nilly. One might fancy that the rooftop garden was carried aloft in a sudden uprising, but its provenance is a bit more mundane. It is part of the design by B+H Architects and DIALOGUE, the design teams that collaborated on the concept of the building. The garden itself has been planted by successive teams of student volunteers, who have helmed the project since its 2014 inception. The garden’s planting scheme is very dense and intermixed, part of the intensive green roof style plan, The soil is up to two feet deep, and can support anything from weeds to small trees. 

ICARUS

With some regret, I must report that we (Zoe and Matt) flew too close to the sun. An overcast day presents the illusion of safety, yet the grey sky hides its treacherous star behind a thin gauzing of clouds. A say gauze, because I will need to break out the medikit to remedy the sunburns I picked up today. 

Today started cool enough that a sweater and pants seemed the wise choice when leaving the house. A gradual cranking of the heat led to us slowly discarding our protective layers while ignoring the seemingly mellow sunlight. Alas, like frogs in the pot we were cooked before we realised it was hot. An Aloe Vera selling executive is cackling in a boardroom somewhere.    

SELLING SEEDS IN THE SUN

Come on down! We got Beets, we got Mustard Greens, we got Scallions, we got Sweet Onions, we got Gai Lan, and Bok Choi! We situated ourselves outside the nest and sold our seedlings in the sun. We chatted to a variety of characters, from visiting professors to skateboarding youths. All of them were interested in what we had goin' on. Unfortunately I did not bring sunscreen today as it was looking rainy before I left for the Gardens this morning. I was misled, and am as red as a cherry tomato.