The Great Solarization Project of 2025 has begun! (SW Ohio)

This was the last thing I had to do yesterday after farmer-carrying 2 tons of river rock 2 drywall buckets at a time from my front yard to my backyard. For the love of god, drink tons of water, take breaks, and pay attention to the warnings on your medications. I’m a stubborn mid-30’s male in okay shape but I’ve never paid attention to medication warnings because I’ve never really been on a prescriptions for long. I recently got put on a water pill to help with my blood pressure and didn’t know that I should avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. I had three dizzy spells while laying this down that almost caused me to pass out. No more landscaping projects for me until this comes up in mid-July, and honestly I might do that at night, since there’s a lamppost right there that’ll keep the work area illuminated.

Also, my neighbor stopped and asked what I was doing and I was able to explain the process to her and her kids. They seemed cautiously interested so now I have even more pressure to make it look as good as possible in hopes of inspiring other neighbors to transform their hellstrip to something more utilitarian.

Also, also, before you bombard me with “ThAtS cItY pRoPeRtY” comments: I already talked to our planning department. They told me in plain language that they have no restrictions on land between the sidewalk and the road other than maintaining visibility. Every city/town is different. Talk to your relevant department before doing anything to your hellstrip.