Date: 7/28
Ideas I want to jot down:
Rainbarrel: you can put food scraps in an old pillowcase to enrich the water with microorganisms
Growing Wheatgrass: super easy Red Hard Winter Wheat, second growth not as nutritionally valued as the first. Cats and dogs love it though
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Date: 6/9/9
- decided that the best way to grow tomatos and to utilize water is to build a swingset with either hooks or just rope to hang upside down buckets for the tomatoes and build a raised bed underneath with various veggies..this way the water will be used twice :)
- I think I will have to go to Home Depot for plans for the swingset.
- Brewed Kombucha (green tea passion/yerba mate) yesterday. I will need a bottle brush and funnel if I am going to keep going with this.
- Want to obtain some strong twine or rope to hang 5 gallon buckets upside down
- I would also like to connect a board to the post on the porch to hang plants (metal bracket etc.)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Date: 5/31/09
Making Fish Emulsion!
Fish emulsion is high in Nitrogen, if you add seaweed this raises the Potassium levels.
Nitrogen is the element you need so that the plants will grow and will make the plants leafy and green
Potassium is the element that helps develop and grow the fruit.
I found a link on how to do so here: Fish Guts! Basically you will want:
The first step in making fish emulsion is to set up a compost of fresh fish parts in a bucket that can be closed. (If you are squeamish about using fish parts you can substitute seaweed, which will also produce a nice fertilizer). Fill the bottom half of the bucket with leaves, sawdust, or straw. Adding molasses will speed up the decomposition process and will help to control the smell of dead fish.
It is important that you stir the mixture daily in order to speed up the decomposition process and to also improve the microbial growth in the fish emulsion. Continue this process of stirring the fish emulsion for a minimum of 1-2 weeks. If you would like to increase the sulfur content of your fish emulsion then you can add a couple tablespoons of Epsom salt to the mix.
After close to 2 weeks of this process your fish emulsion is ready to be added to your regular compost pile. You are also ready to make a fish emulsion tea.
When brewing your fish tea it is a good idea to add seaweed and let it brew for about one week making sure you stir it up every few days. You know the brew is ready when it has a yeasty type smell. It also might have a layer of foam on top of the tea.
Dilute the fish emulsion with a 1:5 ratio of water. The fish emulsion can then be used as a foliar feed or a soil drench. A soil drench of fish emulsion is most beneficial for a plants root system while foliar feeds improve the nutrients to plants leaves.
Making Fish Emulsion!
Fish emulsion is high in Nitrogen, if you add seaweed this raises the Potassium levels.
Nitrogen is the element you need so that the plants will grow and will make the plants leafy and green
Potassium is the element that helps develop and grow the fruit.
I found a link on how to do so here: Fish Guts! Basically you will want:
The first step in making fish emulsion is to set up a compost of fresh fish parts in a bucket that can be closed. (If you are squeamish about using fish parts you can substitute seaweed, which will also produce a nice fertilizer). Fill the bottom half of the bucket with leaves, sawdust, or straw. Adding molasses will speed up the decomposition process and will help to control the smell of dead fish.
It is important that you stir the mixture daily in order to speed up the decomposition process and to also improve the microbial growth in the fish emulsion. Continue this process of stirring the fish emulsion for a minimum of 1-2 weeks. If you would like to increase the sulfur content of your fish emulsion then you can add a couple tablespoons of Epsom salt to the mix.
After close to 2 weeks of this process your fish emulsion is ready to be added to your regular compost pile. You are also ready to make a fish emulsion tea.
When brewing your fish tea it is a good idea to add seaweed and let it brew for about one week making sure you stir it up every few days. You know the brew is ready when it has a yeasty type smell. It also might have a layer of foam on top of the tea.
Dilute the fish emulsion with a 1:5 ratio of water. The fish emulsion can then be used as a foliar feed or a soil drench. A soil drench of fish emulsion is most beneficial for a plants root system while foliar feeds improve the nutrients to plants leaves.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Date: 5/27/09
Today I chopped the big tomato plant back in the front yard and tethered it to bamboo. I don't know if this will make it start producing, but it can't hurt. I also pinched off all of the "suckers" I could find. We will dub this tomato plant "Big Daddy" from here on out, as it is my biggest tomato plant yet. I am brewing some "seaweed fertilizer" also. I put 6 sheets of Nori and a gallon of H20, so we shall see if that is good enough or not. I figure I will let it sit for 24hours and then water the plants with it. 6 sheets = 330mg of potassium.
It is becoming slightly frustrating, because I am gaining just enough knowledge to ask a dozen more questions. I am really just trying to learn what each element does on a molecular level to the plant, so that I can manipulate it accordingly.
Of course I will accept any info, but people seem like they are as uninformed as I am or not helpful.
Today I chopped the big tomato plant back in the front yard and tethered it to bamboo. I don't know if this will make it start producing, but it can't hurt. I also pinched off all of the "suckers" I could find. We will dub this tomato plant "Big Daddy" from here on out, as it is my biggest tomato plant yet. I am brewing some "seaweed fertilizer" also. I put 6 sheets of Nori and a gallon of H20, so we shall see if that is good enough or not. I figure I will let it sit for 24hours and then water the plants with it. 6 sheets = 330mg of potassium.
It is becoming slightly frustrating, because I am gaining just enough knowledge to ask a dozen more questions. I am really just trying to learn what each element does on a molecular level to the plant, so that I can manipulate it accordingly.
Of course I will accept any info, but people seem like they are as uninformed as I am or not helpful.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Date: 5/25/09
Planted and am working toward producing the following plants this summer:
Planted and am working toward producing the following plants this summer:
- Tomatoes (Heirloom Arkansas Traveler, Green Zebra, Mr. Stripy,
Yellow Boy, Cherry Tomatoes) - Garden Beans
- Yellowneck Squash
- Zucchini
- Okra
- Tomatillos
- White Eggplant
- Sweet Potato
- Kung Pao peppers
- Herbs (Lemongrass, Rosemary, Cilantro, Basil, Dill, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme)
Sunday, July 22, 2007
What we have covered so far
So, here's what we have so far:
I think the first thing we need to do is go to Lowe's and buy a measuring tape wheel, so we know what dimensions we are dealing with. This way we can draw up a mock garden to play with on paper.
Tilling:
I think the first thing we need to do is go to Lowe's and buy a measuring tape wheel, so we know what dimensions we are dealing with. This way we can draw up a mock garden to play with on paper.
Tilling:
- Check the size of the tiller from Lance
- Go to Lowe's and rent one if this isn't appropriate.
- Buy boards for composting
- Buy container to keep weekly compost in from house.
- Do a lil' research on composting to figure out how we can max the potential for this.
- Buy rakes, hoes, shovels
- Think about setting up that electric fence
- Figure out where that water is going to come from and if we need some hoses
- Buy string and wooden steaks
- make sure the seeds are far enough apart
- Irrigation made from PVC (pulley system later to raise the hoses up for watering)
- Buy an ipod stereo for music to keep us going in the heat :)
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