July Bike Tour
Lu welcomes people to her place on Kincaid. One of the most beautiful and abundantly watered gardens in Eugene.
Whitey Lueck explains native plantings.
Lu continues the tour to Holiana's. A former Lu residence.
Decorative garden at Quentin and Lauren's place, another former Lu residence.
Same residence as above. This entire area in front of the house was a hard packed parking area for college kids' cars renting the small house. It was muddy and ugly. Both house and yard have been miraculously reborn.
Next door. Peter and Ann's place. This was a blackberry thicket. Now in its first year with garden and numerous fruit trees planted. Yet another example of taking a neglected and abused place and putting it on an eco friendly track. Site also includes a 2200 gallon rainwater catchment system and bees.
Bikes. There were many more in the back yard.
Same block in the other direction. Great garden created by Connie and Kenny
This garden only a year old. Very attractive, new fruit trees, more plans.
Another view. All of the above fotos are on the same block. We had made no use of bikes up to this point because there were so many places to visit on foot. This block is maybe the most eco dense residential block in Eugene. Anyone, please correct this assumption, I would be glad to retract that statement! Do we have other contenders? Still a long way to go but this block has a lot going on!
Mazzi's Hideaway Bakery. This entire area is built on reclaimed parking lot. Wooden trellis milled at the Mazzi Farm. Note industrial sized solar water heater. Site is also pickup for a CSA. Seasonal organic veggies for the restaurant grown at nearby Mazzi Farm. Wood for the forno da legno throwaways from a hardwood mill in Cottage Grove.
Rustic Italian style bread and pastries were provided to the tour. We milled around for quite a while.
Baker, Mazzi, describes the bakery and sitting area. Note bit of view of mural on the back wall. Art work all over as well. Location here is on East Amazon at Mazzi's Italian Restaurant.
Inside Hideaway Bakery. The oven is being fired up and is attracting a lot of attention.
Bikes in front of Whitey Lueck's. Front yard is almost all natives. People in foto are standing where there was once a driveway.
Through the natives towards the back yard. Signs on the property welcome people and explain features.
Back yard is a great example of modest space with much eco friendly design. Raised beds, cloche, chickens, out building, compost, clothesline and more.
Alley Repair. Whitey has engineered the conversion of a dirt [mud in the winter time] alley into a very nice pedestrian way where neighborhood kids can play. Lots of native plants. Cars can still access but are managed so they dont ruin the space.
Whitey tells good stories.
Moving along to Duma. The bike tour is party on wheels. Lots of new friends and inspiration.
Allen Hancock at Duma explains the fully planted front yard and how Duma is evolving as a residential/multiple ownership co-op. A great model for sharing assets and resources.
Duma's back yard. Mostly food producing. This was a hard packed gravel parking lot at one time. A wonderful example of reclamation. Of note, hopeful efforts to remove quack grass, not just control it. Ask Allen for details. Duma also has a beautiful indoor landscape with many shared amenities. A great example of the benefits of cooperative living. Outside again, there is a 1200 gallon rainwater harvesting system, chickens, new solar PV system and a role model food producing front yard.
If you know of exceptional properties that are downsizing, localizing, making much better use of on site assets, please let me know so they can be featured on future property tours. Thanks! please e mail me jan