REDSTARTstudio

Last Friday (Dec. 30, 2008) we decided to stay a little later to enjoy the sunset and the views from Blake Garden. Just before the sun went down, at 5pm we watched as Australian Hollow filled with an amber light.

Blake Garden -- Australian Hollow -- Dec. 30, 2008, 5 p.m.

Here is a link to the BLAKE ESTATE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT pdf:

http://www.archive.org/details/blakeestateoral00riesrich

The oral history was conducted in 1986-1987 by the Regional Oral History Office. In addition to the interviews, the appendix has a selection of writings and articles that relate to the history of the estate and the garden.

I couldn’t resist including this photo that I shot on Xmas eve of the bridge which used to connect “La Casa Adelante” to “Quinta de Las Lilas”.

“La Casa Adelante” is of course Blake Garden. “Quinta de Las Lilas” was the home of Edwin Blake and is now a Carmelite Monestary.

Blake Garden -- Above the Redwood Grove -- 12/24/08

Some before and after images taken at Blake Garden. The photographs on the left are from February of 2008, and the photographs on the right were taken this morning. Note the huge dent in the blackberry area on the other side of the creek. I wish that I had taken an even earlier picture of the bridge area, as it was completely covered over with berries in the Fall of 2007, when the clearing began.

These photographs were taken yesterday, and today during the current rainfall. On Friday we discovered that the creek (where it is day-lighted in the garden at the top of the property near the gate) was filled with debris, and had been, over time, diverted around the debris. Volunteers and workstudy students had first cleared the area of thornless blackberries. Then the channel was cleared on Friday. It is currently raining and a least .25 inches of rain have fallen in the garden. Today we observed that the cleared channel is working, and it is filled.

These four images were taken last Friday of the corner of Blake Garden by Rincon Road near the entrance. This is the densest blackberry section in the garden. Note in the photographs the layers of dead stems packed beneath the live berries. In some places the layers are 4 feet high. I’ve been working with another volunteer, Natasha, in this area. Natasha has been walking on top of the dead layers and cutting what is above, while I follow with the brush cutter. Grueling work to say the least. As expected, nothing grows under the berries, and we have encountered many hollow areas and tunnels made by animals. We have also found some downed trees and a rock wall embankment under the berries.

Photos taken yesterday morning at Blake Garden, highlighting:

– Plants awaiting planting.
– Invasive plant removal.
– Aqueduct construction.
– Progress on the outdoor classroom.
– the new Bromeliad display.
– wreath making.
– art in the creative zone.

This video was shot at Blake Garden on November 2 during the first heavy rain of the season. It shows the impact of urban run-off on the daylighted part of the creek which runs through the Garden. The first shots are of water running down Rincon Road and into the culverts just outside the front gate. Next we go inside the garden to observe where and how the water comes in. There’s a shot of garden volunteer extrordinaire Natasha observing the water rushing in under the fence. She had just cleared out the blackberries around this area earlier in the week, and she is standing above a scour pool.

It’s a bit of a mystery (for now) about what happens to the water from here, as more berries still need to be cleared. Water also enters on to the property and shoots under the fence by the Head House.

From there it flows past the Tool shed and then under the access road. It then follows the southern edge of the garden property, spilling over 2 sandbag waterfalls, one of which is about 15 feet in height. The creek exits the garden through a “bear cage” on High Gate Road.

I’ve included Kristen Podalak’s sketch of the garden for reference:

BLAKE GARDEN -- Drawing by Kristen Podalak