Photo Essay: Free Yard Mulch
January 31st, 2012In the life of a xeriscaper, there are fewer questions sweeter than "Would you like some free mulch?"
Why the affection for ground up tree trunks, branches, and leaves? Because mulch holds moisture in the soil. It also builds the soil and controls weeds. In the arid Southwestern United States, we like such things. A lot.
Yesterday was free yard mulch day at my house. It came courtesy of Romeo Tree Service, which offers it at no charge. And that includes delivery. Romeo does this in order to avoid costly trips to the landfill. If you're in the tree business, those tipping fees can really add up.
Here's the Romeo crew, preparing to dump a truckload of fresh mesquite mulch on my driveway...
Here it comes!
Okay, so now I've got this big pile of free mulch in my driveway. In honor of this occasion, I got up bright and early to get some of it into the yard before work.
Since I don't have a wheelbarrow, I'm using a trio of five-gallon buckets to move the mulch. It's not difficult to push handfuls of mulch into the buckets, then haul them over to the piles I've created in the yard.
Matter of fact, it took only 40 minutes to reduce the driveway pile by a third. Only two more thirds to move, and then I've got some mulch raking to do.
Tip: Want some free mulch for your yard? Use the Romeo Tree Service request form.
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Bicycle Photography: UA Criterium 2012
January 23rd, 2012I'll admit to feeling sad while at a bicycling event. Why? Because we may have seen the last UA Criterium on Saturday.
The closed-course race around the University of Arizona never attracted huge numbers of spectators. But if you were into cycling, you just had to be there. No way could you miss it.
Several streets used by the UA Criterium course are going to become part of Tucson's Modern Streetcar route. And mixing racing bicyclists and streetcar tracks is never a good idea. Not to mention the race organizers. Several of them are about to graduate.
Such is the life of a collegiate bicycle race -- short, sweet, and fun while it lasted.
Here's a look at this year's event...
UA Criterium 2012 - Images by Martha Retallick
And here's a look back at my photos from races past:
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Photo Essay: Battling Buffelgrass
January 18th, 2012So, there you are, trying to do the right thing. You go to all the trouble of controlling the weeds on your property, then there it is: Buffelgrass.
According to the Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center website, "[R]apid spread of buffelgrass and conversion of fire-resistant desert to flammable grassland rivals urban growth and water as the region's most pressing environmental issue. Buffelgrass has introduced a new wildfire risk into an ecosystem that is not fire adapted. It grows in dense stands, crowds out native plants, and negatively impacts native wildlife species and their habitat."
Buffelgrass is an invasive species, and it's one that we need to control before it destroys the ecosystem on which we depend. This post shows what you can do if you find yourself face-to-face with buffelgrass.
First thing to do is identify it. Buffelgrass grows in bright green clumps, and it looks like it has bottlebrushes on the ends of its stems. Lots of seeds in those bottlebrushes.
Here's buffelgrass, invading my neighborhood...
Now that we've fingered the culprit, let's prevent it from spreading its noxious self around the neighborhood. Since the above plant is growing out of a gap between a public street and a curb, we can't dig it out with a caliche bar. Too much risk of damaging municipal property.
Instead, let's chop that buffelgrass down as far as we can, then spray the remnants with a glyphosate product like Roundup or a generic equivalent...
Prefer to use a more organic approach? Try BurnOut. Or, if that's too rich for your budget, white vinegar. You may need to apply several doses, but guess what? That's often the case with the glyphosates or BurnOut...
Once the remnants are brown and dry, you can use a hand weeder to dig them out. Then you can trash them, just like the chopped buffelgrass...
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Photo Essay: Tucson Concert Venues
January 16th, 2012Time for a look at Tucson concert venues, past and present.
First, a look back at one of the hottest dance clubs of a couple of decades ago. I'm talking about the Green Dolphin, which was located a few blocks south of the University of Arizona. This was one of the clubs that students raved about when I worked at the UA.
Not that UA employees would ever frequent a place like the Green Dolphin. The music was too loud for our bosses, the bands were ones that thirty-something worker-bees like me had never heard of, and, besides, all of us full-time employees had to get up early so we could arrive at our campus jobs by 8 a.m.
Hence, I have no Green Dolphin memories to share.
What I can share is what the place has turned into. The Green Dolphin has been closed for almost 20 years. These days, it just sits there, decaying in the Tucson sun...
Twenty years ago, Downtown Tucson was not the first place that would come to mind if you were planning a big night out. It was full of empty streets, empty storefronts, and a scary ambiance that didn't encourage people to linger.
Much redevelopment has happened in recent years. With redevelopment comes large community events like 2nd Saturdays Downtown. This one draws at least 10,000 people every month for strolling, eating, drinking, shopping, and admiring the vintage car show on Congress Street...
The Tucson music cognoscenti know that 2nd Saturdays concert acts are the ones to catch before they head off to the big shows at Club Congress, Plush, or the Rialto Theatre.
With that thought in mind, let's check out the Heather "Li'l Mama" Hardy Band on the 2nd Saturdays Scott Avenue Stage. Here's Heather Hardy on the electric violin with Mitzi Cowell on guitar...
On bass, it's Larry Lee Lerma...
Manning the drums, Ralph Gilmore...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Event Photography: Remembering January 8
January 9th, 2012A year ago yesterday, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were shot at the "Congress on Your Corner" that she was hosting in Tucson. Six people died.
The past few days have been filled with various tributes to the victims. And the big buzz around town was that Rep. Giffords would be attending the candlelight vigil on the University of Arizona campus.
Would she really be well enough to show up? Only way to find out was to head to the University of Arizona Mall and see for yourself. Around 3,500 people did.
Although this year's January 8 commemoration didn't attract the media encampment that last year's shootings did, the satellite trucks were back in town...
The University of Arizona's flagpole is located just west of where the candlelight vigil took place. As they were last year, the U.S. and Arizona flags were lowered to half staff...
People started arriving two hours before the 6:30 p.m. start. The seating in front of the media riser was reserved, but I didn't hear the usual snark about all the important and wealthy dignitaries getting to sit near the stage...
After all, that reserved area wasn't the sort of club that people craved membership in. You got to sit up there because you had some connection to the tragedy...
Due to safety concerns, real candles weren't provided. Instead, we were given glow sticks that were to be lit at a certain time...
Sun sets, night falls, and the ceremony is about to begin...
The question on everyone's minds was answered right away. Gabby was there with her husband, Mark Kelly, and she led the Pledge of Allegiance. She also participated in the on-stage candle lighting ceremony that honored the wounded and the deceased.
Then it was our turn...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Bicycle Photography: The Pedaling Arborist
December 9th, 2011Being the owner of a middle-aged house that I'm slowly fixing up, I've had the need for more than a few tradesmen and women. Many of them have arrived in huge pickup trucks.
Imagine my surprise when I heard about a local arborist who plies his trade by bicycle. Time to do something about that mesquite tree in the front yard. Thing's developed a much too cozy relationship with the house. Whenever the wind blows, the tree branches lovingly caress my roof. Sounds like a haunted house in here.
An e-mail to Aleck MacKinnon, The Pedaling Arborist, resulted in a on-site consultation and a very reasonable estimate. So, we scheduled a haircut date for the mesquite tree.
Aleck's company bicycle is a sturdy tandem that he and his wife have ridden from Tucson to Vancouver, British Columbia...
Here's Aleck, taming my unruly mesquite. This tree has huge thorns, which makes a tree trimming job all the more challenging. And I speak from personal experience when I say that wearing a hard hat is a very good idea. I've been poked in the head by this tree...
After the excess branches were removed, I had Aleck pile them in one of my water harvesting basins. This basin could use a bit more mulch, and the leaves from those branches will more than suffice.
The branch pile will serve as a winter refuge for birds and lizards. In the spring, I'll use those branches for other projects around the yard...
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Bicycle Photography: El Tour de Tucson 2011
November 22nd, 2011This past Saturday was one of those gray, windy days that offered more than a hint of rain. By Tucson standards, it has been a wet month -- almost an inch of rain so far -- so looking for more wasn't out of the question.
Fortunately, the rain held off until after the weekend. And that was a good thing, because more than 6,300 bicyclists were riding all or part of the way around the perimeter of Tucson. The occasion? The 28th annual El Tour de Tucson.
As I have for the past three years, I headed down to the finish to catch the action. Here's a photographic roundup...
El Tour de Tucson 2011 - Images by Martha Retallick
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Event Photography: Fall 2011 Bicycle Swap Meet
November 13th, 2011Well, it's mid-November in Tucson, and that means it's time for another bike swap meet. Yesterday, thousands of bicycle enthusiasts converged on 4th Avenue for a day of buying, selling, and trading bikes and accessories...
Does your bike need a crankset? Plenty to choose from at the swap...
Or maybe your taste runs more toward vintage bicycles...
Perhaps bicycle-themed jewelry is on your holiday shopping list...
Can't have new jewelry without a new bicycling outfit...
Although many people set up shop along 4th Avenue, there are plenty of bike sellers who prefer a more mobile approach...
A lot of people come to sell at the bike swap because they need to clear out the garage. Or they just plain need the money...
Of course, there are some items that just aren't for sale. Like this vintage Russian spaceman's jacket...
Another roving bike seller encountering a human and canine friend...
Looks like Elmer the Bassett Hound is getting a bit bored with the bicycle swap meet. Guy appears ready to go home...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Event Photography: All Souls Procession 2011
November 7th, 2011Yesterday was one of those cool, breezy days that offered a hint of the Tucson winter to come. And since it was the first Sunday of November, it was time for Tucson's annual All Souls Procession.
This year's edition featured a new route: From 4th Avenue and University Boulevard, go straight down Fourth to Congress Street, then head west to Mercado San Augustin. Couldn't be any easier than that.
Since All Souls is a high-energy commemoration of those who have passed, it brings forth a lot of creativity. Here's Max Morris with his rolling memorial to Tucson bicyclists who have died after being hit by cars...
Each of the 20 crosses shows the rider's name, crash location, and date of death...
Since All Souls is such a colorful event, it draws more than a few photographers. Here's a multi-skulled marcher getting the full paparazzi treatment...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Nature Photography: White Tank Mountains
November 1st, 2011My recent visit to the Phoenix area included a hike at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. My hiking host, Judy Vorfeld, selected the Waterfall Trail, a two-miler.
Being an Arizonan who's quite concerned about our state's long-term drought, I was curious to see how the native desert plants have been holding up. Sorry to say, the answer is not very well.
One of the more pernicious effects of drought is the stress that it inflicts on plants. This stress makes them more vulnerable to infestations like mistletoe. See the big, dark clumps in the middle branches of these two trees? That's mistletoe. Over time, mistletoe kills its host.
Back in "civilization," trees like these would probably be considered too far gone to be saved. They'd be cut down. With mistletoe, the best thing to do is to remove branches as soon as they show signs of infestation.
Then there are the various species of cactus. Although these staghorn cholla don't have that tumble-down, severely shriveled look, they're way too pale for plants that are just coming out of the summer monsoon season...
But, then again, we didn't have the best of monsoon seasons this year. It was more like a non-soon that was gone too soon.
You can't hike the Waterfall Trail without stopping at Petroglyph Plaza. Here the stress is man-made. Note the chipped off parts of this rock. That wasn't done by nature -- it was done by thieves...
Our hike was cut short by the heat, so back to Judy's car we went.
At the eastern edge of White Tank Mountain Regional Park is a LEED-certified public library and nature center. According to an Arizona Republic story written before the facility opened, "LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a nationally recognized rating of the environmental friendliness, or sustainability, of a building."
The sustainabilty extends to the parking lot. Nice to see that it isn't another sea of asphalt that aggravates the urban heat island effect...
If you're going to have a sustainable parking lot in the desert, what better plant to have than Arizona's state cactus, the saguaro? This transplanted specimen is being supported while it adapts to its new home...
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