Under The Rug

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to redesign the dining hall at CSJ. It was a blast to put on my architect hat for a bit. I will have to gather up before + after photos of the space for another post. 

** But for this post, let's go back outside and see how I used the old carpeting from the dining hall in the garden! **

With the help of some Provider Program scholars, I laid out the rolls of old (10 years +) carpeting to cover and kill the grass beneath - the 'no till/reuse/make-do way'! The carpet sat for about 4 weeks, getting rained on, and sunned on, collecting grass clippings, attracting various critters - smelling pretty gross, actually... 
Meanwhile, underneath the carpet, worms and bugs and microbes were doing wonderful things as the grass (starved of sunlight and rain) died. 

When we rolled back the carpet, I was delighted to see bare earth, bugs, and WORM CASTINGS (see tracks?!). 

I quickly mulched the patch with bark mulch from the maintenance crew to keep the fresh earth out of sunlight. The next step is to apply lime (the bark is acidic and so is the soil) then compost, then let it rest all winter for spring planting!