A Byrd's eye view.

From neighbory Peggy Lynch:

See your Home in a whole new way or if you are really curious take a peek into your neighbors back yard…:) Aerial photographs of Byrd Park and the surrounding areas area available online at www.bing.com/maps. Simply enter your address and have your own Mary Poppins experience.

A 55 gallon drum can cut your water bill and water your garden.

A Byrd Park resident is selling rain barrels on Craigslist. This is one eco-trend that has really taken off. There are lots of rain barrels set up on houses in the neighborhood, some of which are pretty sophisticated looking.  I’d love to post a collection of pictures of local rain barrel set-ups.  If you have one and don’t mind taking a picture, please email them to me at guardjk@gmail.com. Otherwise, I’m just going to have to take pictures from the alley, which might creep you out, seeing a guy with a camera in your backyard.  In fact, I’m gonna take that option off the table. So, send your pictures. You know you’re proud.

UPDATE: I emailed but didn’t hear back from the Craigslist rain barrel seller, but I did meet Stu Harnberger, a Randolph resident who sells rain barrels and compost tumbers at the farmers’ market. Check out his blog for lots of great ideas and very competitively priced products.  Here’s a bit of extra info from Stu:

I have been making them now for 2 years and I am now on my 5th generation of rain barrel. I think I have worked out all of the kinks by talking with people who have purchased them from me. One important difference is how the barrel connects to your house. Mine have a downspout adapter that simply slides over your downspout, after you have trimmed it to the appropriate height. Also, I have a reinforced spigot at the base with a large washer to prevent the spigot from coming loose. I use a brass fitting for the overflow instead of the PVC pipe (which will wear in time under the sun), in order to easily connect to a garden hose. In addition to the plastic rain barrels, I also sell oak rain barrels for $150 (a lower price than anywhere else).

Just don't drag race on Lakeview with it.

“1974 GTO amazing restoration candidate! – $2500″

If you had this car, Molly Ringwald would totally get with you.

“1989 BMW 325i white convertible. 5-speed. 130,000 miles. I will consider trading it for a pick-up truck or $2,000″

If you want to live near the park, this Craigslist ad is for you.  Here’s a list of features:

• Three bedrooms
• one bath
• central heat and air
• hardwood floors
• new appliances
• updated kitchen
• new paint
• fenced in large backyard
• screened in side porch

A great idea from Rosewood Ave resident, David vanBlaricom:

Since the Hills and Heights community blog beat us to the punch, let’s just quote them and provide the same great link.

Phil Riggan of RichmondOnTheJames went on a tour of the Pumphouse, check out his great post & photos;

Inside the belly of an anachronism.

Dinosaurs may lurk in these Jurasic lots.

The flora is overgrown in these 3-4 undeveloped lots on Meadow.  Is it an eyesore, or a sanctuary?

Future community garden?

Across the street, a full city block of land looks much better cared for, however, it also seems unused. Can anyone offer insights about the current purpose or future plans for either of these two properties? The plot thickens after the jump…

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The neighborhood vegetable jungle.

You might recall the secret garden that was reported on briefly in a previous post. Well, it seems to be taking off. In fact, urban gardens are a big deal in Richmond these days. Richmond.com has a great article about the phenomenon. As for our fledgling community gardening effort, let’s see if we can find out how this garden looks so darned good, despite the heat and the drought, after the jump ( more pictures).

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Press release from Maymont:

8th annual Maymont X-Country Festival set for September 24-25 Registration now open for all festival events

RICHMOND, VA – The 8th annual Maymont X-Country Festival is set for September 24-25, 2010 at Maymont Park. Friday evening kicks off with the Elementary School 1-miler at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Open 5k at 6p.m. Saturday begins with the James River Loop 8 Miler at 7:00 a.m. Then, the weekend concludes with the Middle School 3k at 9 a.m.

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You can't touch this.

News concerning our planned voyage to uncover the mysteries of the island in the middle of Swan Lake. From Michael Paul Dodson, a recent Byrd Park Civic League president:

Please note that signs will be posted shortly as the Park’s Department does not want anyone on the island. It will not only disturb the few spots free of humans (except for the annual egg collection), it is probably not great for your health either. Lot of animal waste and nests of mother birds that might not take to kindly to your visit.

JR Pope, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Foundations made this announcement at the Park Advisory Board meeting in July.

Has somebody been making off with your veggies? This just in from a neighbor, Peggy:

My neighbors vegetable garden is currently supporting her and me. Alas my garden has been turned into a Farmers Market by Octomom. So named for the bountiful number of offspring she has each year. She and her band of little mischief makers harvest my veggies each day…sigh

Pics of the thieves after the jump.  Peggy will surely answer your questions if you post a comment. 

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Hanover County? Nope. Maymont, Richmond City.

When you head South of the Fan, past the Randolph neighborhood, on the other side of the Amelia Street School, and cross Harrison Street’s western conclusion, you wind up at the Maymont neighborhood. Bungalo-style houses are nestled under a canopy of trees stretching further than most Richmonders realize, nearly to the canal and the train tracks on the north bank of the river. It feels like our own little down-home country town where time seems to pass as slow as molasses. It’s a quaint urban anachronism and the alleys are no exception…

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The June crime report from the Richmond Police Department is posted below. For those who scrutinized last month’s report. We saw a 250% increase in robberies (from 2 to 7 in the 3rd precinct).  This month, there were another seven robberies, which is the same number seen in June 2009.  However, the other categories may be of greater interest.  Read on and contribute your thoughts:

Community Noteworthy Report

June 2010

Sector 313

Sector 313:

June 2010:

Violent Crime: 0% increase

06/2010 vs. 06/2009 – eight (8) crimes vs. eight (8) crimes.

Property Crime: 2% decrease

06/2010 vs. 06/2009 – sixty-five (65) crimes vs. sixty-six (66) crimes

Major Crime: 1% decrease

06/2010 vs. 06/2009 – seventy-three (73) crimes vs. seventy-four (74) crimes

ROBBERY – INDIVIDUAL

0% increase

06/2010 vs. 06/2009 – seven (7) robberies vs. seven (7) robberies

Trends/Patterns:

The locations and/or suspect descriptions involving the seven (7) robberies of individuals that occurred in May are listed below:

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Press release from City Council’s public information manager:

Marty Jewell 3rd Annual Metropolitan Junior Baseball League Invitational Baseball Tournament to be held this Saturday

To include Virginia-based teams from Richmond, Hampton and Norfolk

WHAT Named in tribute to The Honorable E. Martin Jewell, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District (who will throw the ceremonial first pitch during the Opening Ceremonies), the Marty Jewell 3rd Annual Metropolitan Junior Baseball League Invitational Baseball Tournament will be held this Saturday. The games are free to watch; open to the public; and, everyone is invited come out and enjoy the day. Vendors will be on hand with refreshments.

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Event announcement from Tricycle Gardens:

Greetings gardeners and garden fans. Our Edible Revolution Garden Tour, which highlights 13 urban, kitchen gardens is just over a week away on July 17th. Tickets are $20 per carload or group of four bicycles. The price includes a map, access to some of the most creative food-producing backyards from 1pm-5pm AND a cookout at our Jefferson Avenue garden from 5pm-8pm. What a deal! And what a way to celebrate the summer (and fresh tomatoes). Highlights include the joint Strawberry Street Vineyard/Belmont Butcher garden, executive director Lisa Taranto’s backyard and the community garden at Holton Elementary School.
Tickets can be purchased online here, at the 9th and Bainbridge Urban Farm, or by emailing will@tricyclegardens.org. Proceeds go toward helping expand Tricycle Gardens programs throughout the city.

If anyone would like to contribute pictures of their gardens, then we can assemble our own pictorial garden tour right here. Just email your pictures to guardjk@gmail.com. I’ll start it off with some examples shortly.

A school of increasing relevance

Now that Clark Springs Elementary is set to serve the families who were previously zoned for the unpopular Maymont school, it’s a good idea to start getting to know our new public school option a little better. With this mostly pictorial post, the obvious physical features of the Clark Springs facility will be highlighted to simulate a walk around the grounds during the school’s downtime.  Meanwhile, I’ll be trying to contact the school’s officials (whoever is available during the summer) for a future Q and A session on this site. Assuming that I find a willing Clark Springs representative, I’ll include any questions that you contribute in the comment section (within reason).  How does this sound?

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From Randolph and Byrd Park Craigslist posts, enough used musical instruments can be purchased to form a full band:

Bass guitar.

Electronic drums.

Acoustic/electric guitar.

But, be sure to mind the City’s new noise ordinance and dancing prohibition. There’s no AC in the city jail.

Lots of elbow room here.

A parking lot doesn’t give you much to look at, but when you’re walking down an alley, where bungalo houses butt right up next to each other, the sprawling space might come as a surprise. On the east side of this Blair St parking lot sits a brick building…

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Oh deer.

A resident of the 3000 block of Douglasdale Rd, just on the other side of Blanton Ave and the Vitacourse, witnessed this deer eating all the seed out of his bird feeder.  He snapped three pictures with his cell phone.  The other two, and some thoughts on the reason behind the deer’s migration into the Carillon neighborhood, after the jump. 

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