Friends in the Garden

Some summer time insects and first fruits

Greenhouse Project

I've been working on a greenhouse for several years. Most of it has been in this condition for the past two years. This was a result of over buying for fence repair and plans to make a greenhouse with leftover and salvaged material. In the background (to the right of the greenhouse) is the produce from planting spinach and snow peas this past February.

I stopped by a garage sale two years ago that had windows for FREE. I picked up four windows. I've been using them on 'lean-to' boxes until yesterday.

I began attaching the windows to the frame of the green house. I will likely have to finally purchase some material for the greenhouse to put on a roof and door. 

Yesterday, I was able to get the southeast and southwest facing windows in place. There are several things I'll need to work on to make it a functioning greenhouse.

More updates to come as the project continues. Thus far, I've used only leftover and salvaged material and hardware.

Spring Blooming

A few warm days have produced some blooming action in the garden. Here are some close ups.

Pallet Garden

I'm currently working on various versions of 'alternative' gardening. This project is made from old shipping pallets. There are old shipping pallets everywhere and most of them can be claimed completely free. This is a first attempt of a raised garden. I finished the frame work tonight. I'll begin working on the inner components later this week.

This is made from two different sized pallets. One large and one small (this is why it is rectangular).
I started by cutting the large pallet in half and taking the small pallet apart for the two smaller ends

I pre-drilled holes (because pallet wood is hard and tends to split easily) and then screw the pieces together for a 20 inch high raised garden. I then lined the inside lower half with plywood (this too was salvaged plywood). I will eventually make this raised garden into a self watering garden. Similar in theory to the 5 gallon bucket planter I made last month. Then, after all parts were screwed into place I covered the entire raised garden box with linseed oil.

***NOTE***
only use pallets marked with HT (Heat Treated). Never use a pallet for gardening marked with CT (Chemical Treated).

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Grow Bucket

I always want to have a tomato before it's time to plant them outside. This is a new experiment to get a tomato started sooner. I had recently read about gardeners who grow plants in 5 gallon buckets. So I made an attempt of it myself. (A Google search for "grow box" will show where I got the idea).

Here are photos of the grow bucket project with a few details. Feel free to ask any questions.

5 gallon bucket, made in the USA

I made two cuts in the lid.
first one was 3/4 inch from the end.
second one in the center.

I started with a clay pot. see next picture.

I abandoned the clay pot and decide to use a plastic pot.

plastic pot for wicking process. (see coming photos)

I drilled more holes for the wicking process.

This is the cut out of the lid to the 5 gallon bucket. The
plastic pot is now in the center. The next photo will show
that this is placed in the bottom of the bucket.

This is now in the bottom of the bucket. Eventually I filled
the pot and bucket with soil. leaving the bottom 6 inches empty
for water to sit in and wick up to through the soil to the plant. 

I cut a a piece of tubing and secured it to the side of the bucket
to fill with water.

the pot in the bottom sits on the bottom of the bucket. I also
cut holes in the lid cutout for more wicking.

full of soil.

plastic bag for weed control and heat.

I placed the lid ring on the bucket to hold the plastic
bag in place

I then trimmed the plastic bag and cut an X in the plastic bag
to place the tomato plant into the bucket.

finished and ready for water

I did realize that I needed to drill a small overflow hole at the soil
line between the soil and water. I needed to do this so I
don't over fill the bucket.

Here is the overflow hole.

I have the bucket on this roller to move the bucket in and
out of the garage during the frosty nights and warm sunny days.

One Week Later

February 18, 2013

February 23, 2013

2013 Winter Garden

Today (February 18, 2013) I planted snow peas and spinach on the south side of the house. This is a time lapse of the planting process.

2011 Farm Update

notice the 32 oz Sonic
Happy Hour Drink

It has been nearly a month since the last update. Temperatures have continued to be relatively cool, however the past week we have seen temperatures in the upper 80s and even a few 90s. This has helped spur on some growth.

I thought I would give some attention today to the PVC watering sticks I use for my tomatoes.

I bought four, eight foot long, 1 and 1/2 inch wide PVC pipes. I cut them in half and put an end cap on the one end of each four foot long pipe. Then I drilled a 1/16 inch hole at the base of each section. Each four foot section holds just under 2 liters of water. This allows a slower watering of the tomatoes and allows the water to seep into the ground around each tomato plant. I water each plant every other day. This also allows me to add liquid fertilizer to each plant as needed. I have eight watering sticks and 16 tomato plants with home made tomato cages. All costing approx $6.50.

Following are some pictures of the watering in process.

Progress on the other plants are coming along, slowly. Strangely, the weeds do well with hot, cool, wet, and dry weather.

Sweet Corn

New Mexico, Hatch Chili Pepper