Trellis for vertical growing melons

Finished the last box and got it planted.



Square Foot Gardening

I have decided to use the Square Foot Gardening techinque for my veggies. I will update the progress.

This weekend we built most of the boxes and got them filled and planted.

As you can see, Saturday morning my garage looked like a garden center storage unit.

The overall plan. The bottom is oriented north.

One box in place.

Two boxes.



My assistant figuring out a compression clamp.



Day 2: Boxes in place and the new assistant is smoothing the soilless mixture in the first (largest) box. This one held about 10 cu. Ft. of soil with about 2 cu. Ft. of sand as a base.

He's a natural!

Alex wanted to use the water hose. Andy is a great supervisor.

The boys did a great job. There's absolutely no way I could have got so much done without their help!

 Now for the finished product pictures...

Block By Block
Top row: Golden Bantam corn (4), Big Rainbow tomato seedling, head lettuce x2, cherry tomatoes x2
Bottom row: Black Aztec corn (4), head lettuce x3, carrots (16) x2
Corner box: Varied colors banana peppers x4

Panorama View

Front corner
Corner box: San Marzano tomato seedlings x2, yellow flower, bell Pepper
Long box: Beefsteak tomato, Watermelon radish(4), Basil(2) Chinese Red Meat radish(3), Chives(2) Basil(4), purple flower

Aerial view of back corner box.

Left to right: White onions(16), head lettuce, Red onions(16), head lettuce, Vidalia onions(5) white sweet onions(7) yellow sweet onions(4)

Left to right: Beefsteak tomato, Watermelon radish(4), Basil(2) Chinese Red Meat radish(3), Chives(2) Basil(4), purple flower

Random Venting

I came across this looking for a peat moss substitute. http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/04/ken-druse-dishes-the-dirt-about-peat-moss.html

Excerpt:
Just as you point out that, "Some wetlands scientists point out that a managed bog lacks the biodiversity of the original bog", so the forest where the sawdust originally comes from also lacks that "biodiversity" of the original forest. I also wonder about the coconut plantations where coir is harvested from. Are they bio-diverse? Coir comes from fibers found between the husk and the outer shell of a coconut. The coconut plantation certainly displaced the native flora and fauna of the area they are grown in.
Posted by: trey | April 30, 2009 at 07:08 AM

I wonder if this guy realizes that the native flora and fauna were displaced to create his house and yard, not to mention the corporate factories that produced the computer, electricity, and all other aspects of his existance. I get going green, but come on people.... If you're going to criticize one industry for clearing land to do buisness and clearing land to farm, Why the F**K cre you still sitting in your electric heated house, wearing your fleece pajamas, plastic bottomed house shoes, surfing the net on your computer, and driving your car to work?

Can't you move into the woods, build a lean-to, and walk barefoot everywhere? Oh, yeah, the lean-to will displace nature, as do your footsteps. People need to stop being so haughty about things that are wrong while, obviously, not caring about their own impact on nature and their carbon footptint.

Last seeds started inside

The yard

Figured I'd show just how small my yard is. What you see is what you get. At least I'm not cramped in an apartment with only a balcony. I have to have somewhere to enjoy the outdoors.

Other weekend projects

I even got my garage somewhat straightened up today. With all the planting, potting and construction the past couple weeks I could barely find the floor to walk.

Just thought I'd show the electric hook-up in the greenhouse. Standard outdoor double outlet stuck in the ground through the cardboard floor. I have the connection elevated to reduce risk of water getting in it and shorting out my system.

Earlier pics

I just realized I never uploaded the pics of the ghetto lights I had before I made it to OBI for the new hardware.

Add caption

It was a double floodlight fixture mounted to a 1x10 and wired to an old plug so I could plug it in. I only had one floodlight bulb, so the other socket held a normal 60w bulb.

Looks a little different now.