It's July 24th and only about 2/5's of my garden turned out the way I wanted. I'm trying not to be discouraged. Gardening is always an experiment and I've taken tons of notes from this year to apply for next year. In fact, I've already planned out my 2014 garden. It's going to be better in so many ways. Meanwhile, here's a recent picture:
The PVC in the back is so I have something to drape bird netting over. It works great. The birds can't steal my blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or strawberries.
Worms however have completely destroyed all my kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuces. If you look carefully you can spot 4 worms here.
But I recently bought some organic certified Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) and have started spraying. Hopefully everything will come back this year but at least I'm armed for next year.
Here's some sunflowers. I'm growing 4 different types just for variety. Plus I want to see which seeds taste the best.
Here's a rain barrel I made this weekend. A guy that owns a car wash gives me free barrels and 5 gallon buckets. I only had to buy a 3 to 4 inch PVC adapter, the faucet at the bottom and a flexible downspout end piece (I already had window screen to keep bugs out and a hose clamp). 183 bricks later and I've got it high enough off the ground to put a bucket underneath. I won't be using the water on my edibles because the barrel once contained chemicals plus possible chemicals leaching from my roof shingles. Better safe than sorry.
Last night I brewed my first compost tea. I started it out in the garage but it was way too hot in there (90+ degrees) and my air pump would overheat and turn off after about 30 minutes.
So I moved the operation inside and set the air pump over a vent with cold air coming out. Problem solved. It ran all night long.
This is the compost tea. I put 1 cup of this inside a burlap bag, close the drawstring, then tie it off to the bucket handle.
I put one air stone in the burlap bag with it along with two more air stones randomly in the bucket to introduce the oxygen. It's important to use non chlorinated water. You can use rain water but I have a filter that removes the chlorine. Here's my filter.
Here's another good thing to add to your garden. I just sprinkle this on top of the soil.
I put 4 raised beds in my front yard. I planted sunflowers on both sides of each bed and pansy's all around. In the middles I planted watermelon, gourds, cantaloupe and pumpkins and intended to grow all of them vertically up trellis's but only the gourds are growing. Everything else grew to about 5 inches and stopped for some reason. I suspect because of too much rain. It rains hard and often here in middle Tennessee. You can see in this picture that the gourds (far left) are climbing high and the sunflowers are taller than me (they're skyscrapers and should get 12-15 feet tall).
Here's a closeup of the bed with gourds.
I'm going to hollow them out (saving the seeds of course for next years planting), paint them and make 'em into birdhouses.
a neat spider web in my backyard
My newest project is a worm compost bin. Vermicomposting is a great way to compost your food scraps. But the best part is the worm poop or "castings". They make a great garden fertilizer. Compared to ordinary soil, worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus and 11 times more potassium. They are rich in humic acids and improve the structure of the soil. You need to use eisenia foetida or Red Wiggler Worms to do the job. Common earth worms won't cut it. I chose the Flow Through style worm bin. I cut the top off a 55 gallon food grade plastic barrel.
Then drilled drain holes in the bottom so any liquids can leave the barrel. I'll also cover the holes with window screen so it'll be easier to harvest the castings . I'll then set the barrel on bricks (holes side up) so it will drain better than on flat ground.
Then with a circular saw I made a door. Above the door I've strung weed-eater string from front to back which will support the worm bedding, the worms and all the food scraps. The casting will fall down through the strings while everything else stays up top. The barrel is upside down in this picture if you're confused.
Then I installed some hinges for the door and a latch to lock it. Notice the ventilation holes. They go all the way around.
Here's a view looking down in it. I'll put the worm bedding (moistened shredded paper and cardboard) on a thin layer of newspaper that will be draped over the orange strings. The worms will eat the bedding as well as the food scraps.
I put my food scraps in a small Rubbermaid and keep it in the fridge (to avoid smells) until it gets full. Then I empty into the bin. Optimally you should cut everything into small pieces for faster decomposition but I'm lazy.
I received my 1,000 worms in the mail today. You just add them to the top of the bedding and they'll go down. After about 2 or 3 days, once they have a chance to get comfortable in their new home, I'll start adding food scraps. And a few months later, I should have loads of worm castings.
You can keep a bin inside your home for convenience (it doesn't stink if done properly) but I'm keeping mine outside in the shade, along my "compost alley".
I decided that the lid needed some weight so it can't blow off. I also installed a fancy handle. I added a brick for weight and used part of a plastic hanging pot for the handle.
Held in place with a few screws and some washers.
Stay tuned for my next project: Building a greenhouse to start growing microgreens. Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs harvested less than 14 days after germination. Researchers found microgreens like red cabbage, cilantro, and radish contain up to 40 times higher levels of vital nutrients than their mature counterparts.
You can also grow them indoors. I was going to buy indoor grow lights anyway for starting my 2014 garden plants from seed.
Microgreens could easily be confused with sprouts, but they're not the same thing. Sprouts are seeds germinated in water just long enough (usually 48 hours) to grow roots, a stem and pale, underdeveloped leaves. Microgreens, on the other hand, need soil and sunlight and at least 7-14 days to grow before you can harvest them.
The most common kinds of microgreens include amaranth, arugula, beets, basil, cabbage, celery, chard, chervil, cilantro, cress, fennel, kale, mustard, parsley and carrot greens, corn salad, various lettuces, turnip greens, broccoli, purple mustard, flax seed, and radish.
I'm excited to grow my own food during the winter. Plus it gives me something to do.
Here's a little compost humor for ya:
You Know You are a Compost Wacko When.......
...you stand at the edge of a field that belongs to some complete stranger (150 miles from your own home) staring at the cow pies just laying there, wondering how to go about getting a couple of them for your compost pile back home.
...you work on setting up new pallet bins at 11:30 at night.
...you give a look of horror to a non-composter when they tell you they don't compost this or that. As they look at you with horror when you tell them that you DO compost this or that.
...you water the grass to get some greens-not to make it look good.
...you drive 30 miles to rake some leaves to get browns.
...you let stuff get old in the fridge just so that you can compost.
...when poop is your best friend
...when the trunk of your car contains: tarp, gardening gloves, waterproof shoes and garbage bags in case you come across seaweed, horse manure or other "greens"
...you drive up and down alleys and lanes, looking for bags of grass and leaves
...you take the temperature of the compost more often than the temperature of a sick spouse or child
...you and your husband are seen and heard on the front lawn after it has been mowed discussing whether the clippings would be better used in the compost to heat things up or left as an amendment to the lawn.
...you go digging through the trash to retrieve compostables that your spouse threw away.
...you cannot go on a holiday because ...."Who will feed look after the worm bin....we'll have to take it with us!"
...you pack up your compost piles and move them to your new house.
...you ask your new neighbor to throw her grass clippings and fallen leaves over the fence into your yard.
...you tell the contractor building your house not to throw away the scrap wood, because the pieces will make excellent sides for compost bins and raised beds.
...you ask friends to save peels and other compostables, and then you send your kids over to pick them up.
...you go to the city recycle center and PICK UP yard waste instead of dumping it.
...your are excited cause the highlight of next weekend will be BUYING WORMS!!!!
...you start thinking you don't want to be friends with so-and-so anymore because they don't compost
...a side effect of juicing is a healthier you. After you do juice for the fine addition to the pile.
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