If you haven’t read the first part of this project, please do so before proceeding with this part. Referring to the picture on the left, the next step is to drill 3 water overflow holes around the container. (more…)
For those not familiar with the earthbox concept of a “grow box,” the original can be found at this link. You might want to familiarize yourself with the concepts and operation before proceeding. In a nutshell, the advantages to the earthbox (in order of priority) are: (more…)
This simple method of capturing seeds will work well with many flowering plants (especially those which produce a flowering “stalk”). In this picture, I am holding the mature stalks from just one broccoli plant. After the plant flowers, I just wait until the seed pods are nice and full, and a few of them have started to fall off - and then I know that they are ready to harvest. (more…)
I have previously discussed the many benefits of compost tea and have also provided information sources in my links section. You can use regular compost or vermicompost, but the latter will generally be richer in micro-organisms. Pictured on the left, I am using a very simple system which cost me a total of about $20. (more…)
I previously discussed the cheap method I was utilizing for the purpose of staking indeterminate tomatoes. In case you haven’t followed, the first part of this process is here. Well, my tomatoes have gotten huge and some are already 4′ tall since I planted them from seed in the first part of the year. (more…)
Well the heirloom tomatoes that I planted from seed 2 -1/2 months ago are already in need of staking. Because one of my main goals for this blog site is to promote the practice of low space, intensive, and “frugal” home growing, I am always looking for new ways to accomplish these ends. Therefore, I decided to try a different idea for staking my indeterminate tomatoes. (more…)
With the bottom section about 90% full, I stopped adding food for about one week (as previously discussed). Pictured here, I have now attached the top section and have begun adding food to it so that the worms will now start migrating upward to this section. By digging into the bottom section a bit, I assured the the worm population was pretty maxed out and that most of the food was eaten. (more…)
I happen to live where there are plenty of squirrels, opossums, and raccoons, such that trying to grow fruit or nut trees becomes quite a challenge! For example, I tried to grow persimmons but before they could even begin to ripen the raccoons climbed the young trees and literally many of the limbs in search for food. (more…)
Having previously built the base of the wooden worm bin, as can now be seen in the pictures (click to enlarge), I have constructed the top section. I purchased a roll of 2′ wide 1/4″ hardware cloth for less than $6, cut to length with tin snips, and stapled firmly to the bottom of the new top. Referring to the pics, I also attached little legs to further reinforce the square and provide stabilization for the top section, and also added a block into each internal corner. (more…)
I mentioned earlier, when I built the DIY stackable hot composter that I had an idea (using the same fence cut-offs) to make an efficient worm composter. Well, the first step in this plan will be to build the bottom section. As you can see, I have just basically taken the same idea of butt joining the fence cut-offs together to make the box (refer to the above link for details). (more…)
