Aquifer Briefing Scheduled. We just saw a draft of a press release be prepared for a briefing at the Norm Dicks Center on June 30th from 6:30-8 pm. The tentative title of the briefing is:
OUR UNDERLYING AQUIFERS
A Briefing of the Manette Peninsula Aquifer and the Illahee Watershed Aquifer Protection Plan by Dr. Joel Massmann
Rain Gardens. We think the briefing will talk about the importance of infiltrating our groundwater back into the aquifers by things like rain gardens. The county has been holding rain garden seminars this month at various nurseries and we hope to get a report from someone who is supposed to attend one on Saturday afternoon at the Clear Creek Nursery.
Illahee Preserve Rain Garden. We attended the Illahee Preserve Stewardship meeting on Tuesday where they discussed the rain garden at the center of the new parking lot. A summary of what they are planning on doing is noted below.
We missed our window of opportunity for getting the rain garden installed, which is turning out to be okay with our current dry spell. We are looking at using the fall for our planting time and want to have it be an education event for the community. We want to involve Parks and Public Works, along with Sea Grant as they are all involved in promoting water quality through items like rain gardens. We have talked generally with all them regarding water quality issues in Illahee and will be talking with them specifically regarding this educational opportunity.
Blue House Numbers. Many have noticed the blue house numbers that are appearing more frequently in the county. We had the following email sent in that provides more information:
I found a great service CK Fire District is offering to homeowners. They will furnish blue background with white numbers address signs. (Might have seen them along Illahee Rd.)
All you need to do is Call the Fire District (447-3561) There is no fee and all you need to do is pick them up at the CK Fire District office.
These are quite reflective and would help emergency vehicles find your home if necessary.
All you need to do is Call the Fire District (447-3561) There is no fee and all you need to do is pick them up at the CK Fire District office.
These are quite reflective and would help emergency vehicles find your home if necessary.
Deer and Slug Suggestions. Thank you for all who sent in slug suggestions. Here are some of the responses:
I apologize in advance if you have already received a plethora of gardening advice, but I have had luck against deer in the garden and received some advice regarding slugs.
For the deer, I have heard they really don't like the smell of human hair. We had an abundance of deer footprints in our garden beds, and that night I went out and sprinkled hair cuttings I had saved from my kid's at-home hair cuts all around the perimeters of the beds. If you need some hair, I can save some for you.:) No problems since.
For cutting worms and slugs, my mom has tried a mixture of crushed egg shells and fireplace ash. We've had problems with the green beans and lettuce being eaten, so we might try this one as well. No reports on the success of this method yet.
For the deer, I have heard they really don't like the smell of human hair. We had an abundance of deer footprints in our garden beds, and that night I went out and sprinkled hair cuttings I had saved from my kid's at-home hair cuts all around the perimeters of the beds. If you need some hair, I can save some for you.:) No problems since.
For cutting worms and slugs, my mom has tried a mixture of crushed egg shells and fireplace ash. We've had problems with the green beans and lettuce being eaten, so we might try this one as well. No reports on the success of this method yet.
Another way to get rid of varmints like raccoons and otters (I might have passed this back already, my apologies if a repeat) is to sprinkle urine around on a regular basis. This is a marking thing recognized by most mammals. Yeah I know it's gross, but it's also cheap and readily available. There are commercial repellents out there which are nothing more than lion urine. Has to be a carnivore and it doesn't take much. (Humans count as carnivores) for best results do twice a week. Don't laugh, Mowat Farley found it kept the wolves out of his campsite when he was doing his famous study over 30 years ago, in the Canadian tundra. Just walking a male dog around the property will do the trick too.
Slugs: best repellent I've found is fireplace ash, again spread very thin and loose in a perimeter around the area you wish to be left alone. They don't like ash on their soft bellies. Also cheap and easy to get. Do two or three times a week. Our squash is surviving this year due to my diligence in spreading ash!
Daytime Deer. A number of residents have noticed deer roaming their neighborhoods during the daylight hours. We had to stop this week for two deer on Illahee Road in the afternoon who didn't seem to want to leave the roadway.
Carpenter Ants in the House! We had someone ask if anyone had recommendations about what to do when carpenter ants show up in your house. We explained they probably need an exterminator and they asked if we could see if anyone has any recommendations. Let us know and we will pass the information on.
Helicopter To Aid in Car Removal? Inside the Illahee Preserve is an old rusted out late 50's Chevy. The car is along side a trail the Rotarian's have worked on and they have been trying to figure out how to get it out. We heard they are looking at a helicopter removal and are currently waiting for an okay from Kitsap County Park's personnel. We also heard the Kitsap Sun and a Seattle TV station are interested in covering the event, it it gets the okay from Parks.
Status of Timbers Edge Counter Proposal. We asked the status of the Timbers Edge Counter Proposal and received the following statement.
We have been asked to provide the status of community discussions regarding a possible counter proposal to the current Timbers Edge project. The Illahee Community met on May 18, 2009 to determine if community consensus could be reached on a proposal. After a varied and concerned exchange, it was decided was a special task group would take the discussions of the evening and work on a proposal to present at another community meeting. The goal is to come up with a proposal most everyone in the community can support, along with the board members of the ICC. The special task group has been corresponding via email and because of vacations is still working on a proposal.
Thank You!! Thank you to all who passed on information or asked for updated information.
Jim Aho
