BMW car door: conquered

I’m reading this Lewis and Clark book, and it occurs to me last night that I’ve been on my own expedition. A one-man Corps of Discovery. My monthlong odyssey of the broken car door.

Here’s what happened: The door would lock sometimes, and sometimes it wouldn’t. Not a huge deal, but it nagged at me. “Gnawed” might be a better word. So in the spirit of Westward Expansion and exploration, I took the entire door apart and tried to figure out the problem and fix it myself. This was in early April.

Now, more than a month later, the project is complete. The door is fixed.

I now leave my notes and thoughts to any others who might embark on this same journey in the hopes that my setbacks and frustrations might be avoided.

Dear reader, before you take the door off your 1997 BMW 328ic E-36 3-series vehicle, please read ahead.
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Plants! Tomatoes, string beans, wildflowers, peas and Wall O Water.

So I started some seeds inside this year. I planted them in February and they’re doing pretty well!

Have you heard about these Wall O Water things? Lots of people use them here. They’re little plastic tents you fill with water and put them around your seedlings so you can put them outside sooner. Anyhow, I thought I’d try a few of them this year. Also I read that you can grow tomatoes in five-gallon buckets. Since they’re cheap and a cheery orange color, I thought I’d try them, too.

The buckets needed holes put in them for drainage.

Drilling holes in buckets for plants.
Drilling holes in buckets for plants.

I decided to put them out in the parking lot (junkyard) because last year when I put them on the deck, it became too shady as the trees got their leaves. Once I put them out in the parking lot, they did a lot better. Unfortunately it was too late in the season and I didn’t get any ripe tomatoes before it got cold again.

Five gallon buckets filled with dirt ready for tomato seedlings
Five-gallon buckets filled with dirt ready for tomato seedlings

It took us a few minutes to figure out how to assemble the Wall O Water because the directions were for using them in the ground, not in pots. We put the stakes in, then pulled the Wall O Water over them, tucked in the excess, then filled the channels with water.

Wall o water for tomatoes.
Wall O Water for tomatoes.

Then we planted the little seedlings inside. I did two per bucket. They’re cherry tomatoes so two per bucket should be fine.

Seedlings inside wall o water.
Seedlings inside Wall O Water.

They didn’t want to close on top like they’re supposed to, to form a sort of teepee. So we just tied them up with twine.

Wall o waters tied with twine to keep them closed.
Wall O Waters tied with twine to keep them closed.

This is what the one in the picture above looked like after just a week of being in the Wall O Water. The others are also doing pretty well. Not sure if these are doing better, worse, or the same as the ones in the house.

Tomato seedlings inside wall o water.
Tomato seedlings inside Wall O Water.

Here’s the inside setup: (more…)

Continue ReadingPlants! Tomatoes, string beans, wildflowers, peas and Wall O Water.