Backyard Farming the Natural Way » DIY Gardening Plans

Make this soil sifter-screener for raised beds

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:51:40 +0000

After plowing up my new 1200 sq feet garden site, I discovered many buried ‘treasures’ that will need to be removed from the soil during my Spring cleanup. I decided to go with raised beds, and so I made this soil screener-sifter to remove all the trash, roots, sticks, and rocks etc. It is a time consuming process, but once it is done, it is DONE! SOoo…, I have filmed a video on the process of making and using this handy sifter.

As you can see, this setup will allow you to slide the screener along the length of a raised bed and thoroughly filter out all the debris which would normally interfere with the plant roots. It can also be used on a wheelbarrow for other soil sifting needs, and it also works great for screening compost. If you wish to have a finer consistency, you can opt for a 1/4″ grid size. I used a 1/2″ to expedite the process.

Build a cheap, portable hoop house – greenhouse

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:14:20 +0000

There are many plans and videos out there for building a hoop house or green house. However, I was looking for something rather portable for mainly getting an early start on the growing season. I will add that it also needed to be simple, fast, and inexpensive to make. In the following video, I detail a system which I made for under ten dollars!

A thicker gauge plastic will provide more solar heating and insulation, but I am currently measuring about 85 deg during the day when the outside temperature is 60 deg F. However, the extra insulation factor may be warranted when the nights dip down below freezing (a common event lately!). Another idea is to drill a hole through the end of the plastic and run the string through it so that you can then extend the ends all the way down as one piece plastic flap.

How to plan your edible garden from scratch

admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:24:05 +0000

Perhaps the hardest part with doing anything new is the mental work of planning and decision. I know this is certainly true with the initial stages in laying out for vegetable and herb growing. Therefore, let me see if I can simplify some of the hardest parts of this for you – other details can be handled later. So here are some questions which will easily help you sort it out and get started..

Take inventory of suitable spots on your property to grow your edibles. Consider the amount of sunlight, the orientation of the sun, the quality of the soil, the trees nearby (root intrusion), the proximity to pets and animals which could be detrimental etc. When you are done, decide how many square feet you have to work with (of course, containers can be considered as part of your equation)
Find out which things do best in your climate and soil (unless you are going to amend it etc).
Consider what you would like to plant and the quantity; What do you and your family enjoy eating the most? Which things are most expensive at the store (sometimes, I will opt to grow things which are not as readily available, and/or not of good quality). How large is your family? Do you wish to grow for friends and/or have extra to barter? Would you like to grow extra to sell at market etc?
Now come up with a list of everything that you wish to grow and the approximate quantities of each plant. Do some research as to the spacing for each of these (square foot gardening in raised beds can greatly simplify this for most edibles).

Now that you have this list of things (and quantities) that you wish to plant, you need to decide whether you are going to have a row garden, raised bed garden, container garden, ‘or’ a hybrid of the above. You are now at a point where you can truly plan the layout of your garden.

One of the easiest ways to visualize and design your planting area is with grid paper, and then mark off one foot grids. However, there are now gardening design programs which can greatly simplify the process, and they can be fun and educational to use – Some of these are even free! In the top picture, I have a screen shot from one which I am using this year to plan my new 1200 sq ft plot. This particular program is fairly easy to use, and is available online at the Gardener’s Supply Company Garden Planner. They also have a neat planting guide for each plant which will help in your planning.

Anyhow, that is it for now, and just remember the hardest part of any venture is to simply take the first step. If you answer the questions above, you will have taken the first step to plan your edible’s garden. There is more to come on other steps along the way, as I will be video documenting the layout and progression of my own new plot – but at least we have ‘scratched the surface’ for now

Simple soil PH test

admin — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 13:41:25 +0000

For those who want to do a simple and cheap soil ph test, you can do the following and get a reasonable idea whether your soil is too acid or alkaline.

Have on hand 4 jars or short glasses, vinegar, baking soda, and a tablespoon.
Collect a few different soil samples from the area in question and mix these together. Place about two tablespoons each of the samples in two of the containers, and moisten slightly.
Mix a tablespoon of baking soda with two tablespoons of distilled (or ph neutral) water. Pour this into one of the soil sample containers, and if it fizzes, the soil ph is low.
Place a couple of tablespoons of vinegar into a container and then pour it into the other soil sample container. If it fizzes, the soil is probably alkaline – ph too high.

This will not be as accurate as a soil test, but it will serve to give you a quick snapshot of the ph of your soil. Have fun!

New DIY aeration tool for your compost pile!

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:44:35 +0000

In this video, I demonstrate agitating and mixing compost with this tool, and show how simple it is to make. I used to use a long fireplace poker, but this works so much better and saves my back from all that turning with a pitchfork

Worm Compost Tea: New aeration technique

admin — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 13:27:56 +0000

In this video, I demonstrate a new aeration technique for making compost tea which does not involve suspending a filter bag of compost into the aeration container. This may be fine for using a very small amount of compost, but for larger amounts, I feel that there will be a dead zone (anaerobic) inside the suspended compost. It is best to allow maximum contact between the air and compost particles by letting it mix freely into the water. Anyhow, I have had good success with this simple air baffle, and demonstrate it in this two part video. I also discuss some of the recent research on compost tea that seems to counter some of its claims. My only regret is that I could not find my more powerful air pump for this experiment

Using pressure treated wood in the garden?

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:01:18 +0000

This is something that I have wondered about and until now have strictly avoided using pressure treated lumber in any gardening or related DIY projects. However, it seems that in certain applications (like raised planter beds), that if precautions are taken, there may not be much impact of the more dangerous chemical ‘arsenic.’ There appear to be certain preparations one could take to avoid the problem of leaching into the soil. Anyhow, I encourage you to read the following article and decide for yourself.

Does pressure treated wood belong in the garden?

Easy Roll Worm Bin Composter demonstration

admin — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:34:42 +0000

Here is a further demonstration and discussion of the new easy roll worm bin composting system. I started developing and testing this over three years ago and have been very happy with the performance. I will be posting a links to the plans download here soon, but I am currently making a video complement to make the plans even easier to build.

Another version of an earth box (grow box)

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:23:52 +0000

I though I would post another DIY version of an earth grow box that I came across. It is very similar to mine, and because I could not get around to completing it due to moving, I thought I would post an alternate version.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE8OrdUZQKk

Build a 5 gallon self watering earthbox (Part II)

admin — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:35:06 +0000

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. As can be seen, these are drilled just shy of the inside container height, and the holes go through both the outside and inside sections. While one hole would do for the purposes of draining the water, I figured that the other holes might help with getting maximum airflow into the bottom (very important for the roots!).

I have now pulled the bottom section out and drilled a hole for the watering tube. You can also see the water overflow holes that I just drilled. Because I drilled the filtration holes a little big, I am using fiberglass screen to assure that the soil mix dosen’t infiltrate down into the water reservoir. I also drilled many more holes since the last part because one purpose of this divider is to allow maximum airflow to the roots!

If you are on a budget, you can eliminate this fiberglass screen step by simple drilling lots of smaller holes. However, if have the screen and/or are making more than one grow planter, then I feel that it’s a better idea to add the screen (you can drill lots of bigger holes and let the screen do “the screening”). I am simply marking around the screen and will then take some scissors and cut it out on the outside of the line so that I have a little spare etc.

In this picture, I have: 1) Pushed the screen down and taken a razor blade to make relief cuts so I could lower both the wick container (soup can) and water fill pipe. 2) Cut a piece of pipe for the water filling and lowered it into the hole. 3) Taken the bucket top and cut out the middle with a bandsaw (you can use a jig saw or coping saw for the same purpose. Be sure to use some other type of pipe or hose rather than PVC for the water fill pipe because PVC can emit toxins when sufficiently heated.

In the third and final part, we will fill the container with potting mix, fertilize, add the plant and plastic mulch. I decided to break this project up to make it more digestable and also to write it as I had time to personally complete the steps etc. Be back soon!