GardenHacker: not your typical seedy site...

Lasagna vs Square Foot Garden Update 07/2008

GardenHacker Podcast (hopefully), number 01 for June 27, 2008

Ok, we're going to attempt to attach a file here as a video podcast. If it works, we'll be adding more as the summer progresses. If it doesn't, we'll change providors and try it again!
 Pictured here is the completed low raised bed with the killer cardboard mulch. We're pitting this with a mixture of "square foot gardening mix" against a tall raised bed filled with "lasagna garden mix". Our first podcast will be about how to make this low raised bed garden.

After fussing around with all the geeky things I can on one cup of GoNomad coffee, I put it up on YouTube. Sometimes you can't fight the better solutions.
Should be able to see it at: or go to YouTube.com and look for GardenHacker

Let the Games Begin!

Hard to believe it's almost the end of April! Started the snow peas outside earlier last week, they're starting to poke through the soil. Keeping them under row covers and keeping the mulch hay nearby in case of frosts. Using PlanGarden up 'til May at least. I like it, as it's handy for jotting down notes, but I'm not thrilled with the interface as of yet. We'll see if I go for a full three years, give it a good run for just one year, or go back to my excel spreadsheet.

Started two beds that will be facing off this season: one "Lasagna Garden" plot of 3.5ftx3.5ft (1.1 meters by 1.1 meters, give or take), and a comparable "square foot garden" bed. The "Lasagana Garden" will have approximately 18" (46 cm) of materials layered according to the book, substituting hay and compost for those layers, and the "square foot garden" is set up with the square foot garden mix of 1/3 peat (couldn't get coir nearby), 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite.

I was curious as to what it would cost to build a square foot bed "from scratch" by buying the materials from the store. If you were living in an apartment or a condo that forbade digging in your strip of the lawn, you'd need to make a patio garden, and probably buy the materials. Glad I decided to just do a small plot instead of a row:

1. 2 cu ft (.06 cu m) of compost: $12.90
2. 2 cu ft of sphagnum peat: $ 9.95
3. 2 cu ft of vermiculite: $19.95 - ouch.

So - to fill a 3.5ft x 3.5ft raised bed with "square foot garden mix" it cost $42.80 plus applicable tax. To put that in perspective of my whole garden, that would be &183.43 per row, or $1467.43 plus tax for the whole garden (eight rows, 360 sq ft, 33.4 sq m). Of course - if you were going to buy all of that, you'd buy in bulk, so it would cost less. I'd gotten a quote from someone down the street for "seasoned" horse manure (has sat outside, hasn't been fully composted) of $50 for 48 cu. ft, so two loads would cover the compost needs, etc.

Each raised bed will have two tomato plants (Rutger's Hybrid), Two peppers (1 sweet, 1 hot, don't know which ones yet), Cilantro, and onions for a "salsa garden". The garlic I'll get elsewhere. The yields will be counted and hopefully by then I'll have found a better way to show the information for the two.

Not so Hydroponic Indoor Container Garden - Step-by-Step

 
The top needs to be cut so that the flat part just inside the rim remains. I had bought a special plastic cutter that works great for plexiglass and straight cuts, but the top has curves, supports under the top and all sorts of other "challenges". I ended up cracking the plastic on my first attempt in a number of places. This time I used a scroll saw, cutting into the edge and going all the way around carefully at a medium speed. Works a lot better that way. Placing the interior part on a piece of scrap plywood I gently drilled out a number of holes to let the water through.
 
Next, I put some pieces of packing foam from a computer on the bottom to support the lid. The foam is about 1" thick. Ideally there'd be a minimum amount of foam so there'd be more water in the reservoir but this shows up better in the pictures. Having a small piece in the center is also good for support.
 
Next, you'll need a wick - I used an old towel. Terrycloth works well, synthetics normally don't. Wrap the cloth as shown so that at least one side (preferably two or more) reach the bottom of the reservoir Wrapping the foam inside the towel as well ensures that the wick stays at the bottom of the container.
    
Once wrapped, you can invert the whole thing so the foam is again on the bottom and place it into the container. I added some hay and a very light coating of lime as the first layer.
   
Next, add potting soil mix almost up to the top. You'll want to leave room for future "top dressing", or if you wish to cover the plants with a layer of plastic to keep the moisture in, depending on what you're planting. If you're planting greens as I have here, you don't need to leave that much room on the top. If you're planting bib lettuce, or other types of plants, it'd be a good idea to leave about 1-1/2" of space. The rim of the lid can be used to hold down a covering of plastic wrap for sensitive seeds.
   
I've found that when the resevoir is dry, the very top of the soil dries out, and it's time to add a couple of quarts of water. A great addition to this would be a resevoir level indicator, which I may incorporate into the next one if I can find one of the other lids.

o/`o/`Clean up, Clean up, everybody do your share o/`o/`

Time to clean up the garden, so how do you do this with no time? There are several ways to speed it up and also to avoid some of the rows altogether.

1) Cut it down, plant out a green manure.
Green manures aren't (just) from organic livestock, they're actually plants you will either till under, or let jack frost do your dirty work. The benefits are numerous, allowing you to grow something instead of hauling in manure (and other perhaps unwanted plants) so it's lighter. It crowds out weeds, so you don't have to use any herbicides or be plucking out weeds in your warm coat, therefore saving time and chiropractor bills. It adds beneficial nutrients to the soil, so you don't have to go and buy fertilizer, saving you money in the short and long run. And finally, it'll hold your soil, so you don't have to worry about erosion and replacing soils, saving you money, your back, and allowing the benificial insects to continue to thrive.

2) Sweep it under the (row) covers
Many plants can overwinter, though not the true summer crops like tomatoes, cukes and watermelon. Lettuces, other greens and root crops can do well in a sheltered area. In zone 5 where I reside, I'm able to grow or "let rest" lettuces and root crops, especially carrots through most if not all of the season. A double row cover does the best, the inner being a "floating row cover" material (Johnnyseeds.com), then a plastic over the top. This time, I'm reinforcing the upper row cover as the last two seasons the snow has caved them in. Into the winter, I can harvest a lot of greens, then when the real cold weather hits, I lament as I'm raking the snow off the roof. Along about february when we get a "warm snap", I'm able to go in and pull carrots who's starches have turned to sugars, making them a welcome treat. This year, I harvested most of the carrots, but there are a few bits of "garden candy" left and heartily covered.

3) Cover it with a "killing mulch".
Killing mulches do just that - they kill anything that wants to emerge. A quick way to do this is to use newspapers (4 layers) or corrugated cardboard, then piling manure and/or hay on top, then just letting it sit. This saves time next year, holds your soil, adds nutrients to the soil, and saves you a lot of time.

Great tomato sauce that takes less than an hour:
Found this while I was looking around and noticing some of my tomatoes that I didn't freeze were getting a little too soft. One of the nicest things about this is you don't have to peel the tomatoes! I leave the seeds in too, as they taste just as good, and there's a lot of flavor in the "jelly" around them. Tomato Sauce Hack 

Lasagna in your Garden? Grow Ahead!

Lasagna Gardening has been around awhile. In fact it's been around a lot longer than it's been called Lasagna Gardening: it's also called a layered bed, or layered composting. The woman who brought this back in vogue back in the late nineties, Patricia Lanza, has diversified slightly too. She's also got books for lasagna container gardening (the one I'm picking up) and for herbs as well. If you want to get some overview of the technique, you can visit Lasagna Gardening 101, and an article by Ellen Brown called "An Introduction to Lasagna Gardening". To see a Lasagna garden in a grand scale over the course of several years, in Canadian weather no less, visit Wit's End B&B's Lasagna Project. They did a wonderful job using the technique and photographing it.

There are some challenges, though (it's not Microwave Gardening, after all). some plants really need good solid dirt to propagate properly. Transplants appear to work quite well, and small seeds are the most difficult.

Our good friend and wagging companion of over eleven years was layed to rest this past Friday. We're all missing her deeply. She was a great dog, a real love to her whole family and anyone that walked in the door. Those who were 2-1/2 ft. tall or smaller will remember her constantly wagging tail - it was like a furry tree limb that would usually end up knocking them over (that tail was THICK!). We'll always remember her smile, her good temperment, and her ability to look so guilty when she'd eaten anything off the kid's table in the family room (it was nose level - how could she resist?).

2007-10-06 Weekend Update

  (left)The 29" JTR has outproduced everything else, even though it started later than the 19" version. Setting two up the same size next year in the two different locations may yield interesting results for our zone 5 climate. (right) The Black Prince Tomatoes are ripening smaller, but still tasty!

   (left) The "Rogue" squash that's still growing out of my compost bin #1 (the one I'd used throughout the garden this year while filling #2). It's growing along the top of the fence, dangling it's fruits almost of reach. There were the few along the bottom hiding under the huge leaves that I found as I was emptying more compost as well. (right) Seven squash picked, and several more are maturing. The fool thing is still flowering as well. Okay, so this plant is a keeper.

Tally as of October 6, 2007:
19" JTR 15.53 lbs., Δ = 0.56
29" JTR 38.81 lbs., Δ = 4.19
Garden 19.64 lbs., Δ = 3.19
Containers 6.29 lbs., Δ = 0.59
Total = 80.27 lbs

Weekend Update for 9/29/07

It's the end of September. I'm still gathering tomatoes from the garden, the JTR's and the containers. the "rogue" squash may find their way into my garden next year as well - one plant will be fine, thank you! they just keep producing: the one in the JTR, and the one in the compost heap. Of course, there may be another reason: both of these are in piles of - okay, one's manure/lime/wood chips, and the other is a good pile of compost, including all of the aforementioned materials, and more. The deep black soil is what I'm working toward for the rest of the beds, but haven't achieved as of yet.

A moveable compost pile would work eventually, though a 3' x 3' square per year would most likely be used up within three years and I'd have to start over again. "Amending" the soil on a grander scale is more of a solution, though a bit on the brute force side for eight 3' x 20' beds, even though I need to run the tiller at least once more before the winter (for the tiller's sake). I'm going toward the raised bed idea for a couple of reasons: we're on a small mountain in zone 5, creating a shorter season than those just five miles away from us (it will be raining in Williamsburg, and snowing in Goshen again this winter), and after seeing the effect of the Japanese Tomato Rings, I think I may be onto something. Stay tuned for new experiments next spring.

Next year's garden is well in the planning stage, the sides are up on several of the beds, my quadruped friends will soon be giving me an odd look as I haul away more "partially processed" materials.The killing mulch is beginning to be layed down (newspaper/cardboard + mulch hay + compost) on the beds that got overrun with weeds. Plans are for the carrots and beets to be covered with row covers and plastic to overwinter for sweet carrots ala "Elliott Coleman"(unless I eat them first).

Tally for 29-Sep., 2007:
19" JTR 14.97 lbs., Δ = 1.63
29" JTR 34.63 lbs., Δ = 6.69
Garden 16.45 lbs., Δ = 3.50
Containers 5.7 lbs, Δ = 1.32
Total = 71.74lbs

Weekend Update for 2007-09-22

Skipped a week, as we're dealing with an ailing dog, an impending root-canal, and oh, did I mention my sciatica? ;) Anyway, as the harvest season is drawing down, and the changes aren't that drastic, except that I've found a few more "nosy tomatoes".
The pumpkins and the watermelon are ready to harvest as well. The watermelons are the size of - hmmm... cannon balls? Twice the size of a softball but not quite as big as a soccer ball. As it was warm on Sunday, the one I cut into was a welcome treat.
The tomato bounty continues, as does the squash, though as mentioned a lot slower here in Zone 5.
Date: 22-Sep
Δ 19" JTR = 1.03, 13.29 lbs total
Δ 29" JTR = 11.70, 29.00 lbs total
Δ Grdn = 2.64, 14.26 lbs total
Δ Cont. = 0.97, 4.38 lbs total

Total to date: 61.24 lbs

Hydroponics are starting to seem attractive again, and a couple of links are piqueing (peeking? Peking?) my curiosity. The famed Square Foot Gardening author has taken an interest in them too: link Also in Ithica, where the snow comes in hard and heavy, fresh salads aren't always coming in from Fresno: link - plus a related link: FingerLakesFresh

Time to go, more next week or when I can take a lunch break!

2007-09-08 Weekend Update

A little better picture of the tomato with the proboscis There's another one that's ripening with a slightly different profile that will be making it's appearance in a couple of weeks if all goes well, and it doesn't get eaten before the photo shoot.

The "Black Prince" have started ripening a beautiful copper color, some with green shoulders, some without. From what I've been reading, they don't have any shelf life, going "from ripe to tripe" in a matter of a few days. Hoping to taste them on their better days.

The Bag-o-Potatoes have made a comeback after the bugs had their way with them, will be interesting to see if they produce potatoes. Two of the bags had tomatoes starting to grow in them, which I've moved to different pots for an extended season (I hope), just don't know what tomatoes they'll be. 

Weekend Update for 2007-09-02

Just a nice picture of some of the tomatoes we've harvested so far. The rest have been either eaten or frozen for making sauce this winter, thanks to a great time/moneysaving recipe from Mother Earth News. The recipe is, basically: wash core the tomatoes you're going to make into a sauce, toss them in the freezer and forget about them 'til the winter, when you'd like to have something to make to warm the kitchen. At that point you drop the frozen tomatoes into some boiling water for a couple of minutes, peel the skin off, put the peeled tomatoes into a pan and heat to boiling. Strain in a collander to remove the pulp from the juice, freeze again or continue to make a sauce. Another recipe in Mother from Dec/Jan 2007 gives a nice recipe for a garden marinara sauce.

So far they're all delicious, though the beefsteak from the garden seemed somewhat bland by comparison. Could have been a fluke.

   One of the Black Prince tomatoes, I think - which has a pointy nose. There are a couple of these that have shown up. They keep getting bigger, but no change in color yet. I should start seeing the beefsteak ripening soon on the Japanese Tomato Rings, then these won't be far behind. Hoping they ripen before the frost!

 My girls next to the 19" Japanese Tomato Ring. The "rogue" squash continue to produce, and the tomatoes continue to ripen, so all will remain for now. The girls enjoy picking the tomatoes, but they tend to leave the squash alone, since there are little "prickers" on them. Sensitive hands at this age.

   Left: Around my fenced in garden, I have very long and flexible grass growing - possibly fescue, but I don't know. As I'm not one who is too particular about edging, this grass gets long enough to use as tomato ties. They go into the compost when the season's done, and when it's time to tie again, the grass is usually long enough. This is a convenient hack that's worked for me for several years. Right: The 29" JTR is thick with tomatoes - so much so that I can't see the "muffins" unless I'm looking down inside to water it.

 Left: The Upside Down Tomato planter continues to bear and ripen little fruits. I'm looking into hanging basket alternatives that would do the same thing and have a water resevoir, too. Right: a better example of how Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato plants will grow to their root size.

Tally as of Sept. 2, 2007:
19" JTR: 8.56lbs, Δ 1.81
29" JTR:6.91lbs, Δ 2.35
Garden: 4.28lbs, Δ 2.44
Container:1.62, Δ 0.34*

*Last calculation was skewed by an EBKOC (Error Before Keyboard Of Computer) - hadn't divided the total ounces by 16 for the calculation of the containers. DOH!

Weekend Update 2007-08-26

 They're finally starting to ripen, upside-down and all! Looking delicious, and watered regularly. There area about 36 ripening fruits, total. Much less than even the smallest Matt's Wild Cherry plants.

   On the left, there's one Matt's Wild Cherry in a Folger's container, which has about 56 fruits total. The 3 gallon container has approximately 225, and more flowers blooming. My intentions as of this date is to have two containerized Matt's Wild Cherry plants next year, in 5 to 10 gallon containers, and also thinking of using them as Japanese Tomato Ring toppers.

  The 19" Japanese Tomato Ring continues to be the leader in production, with it's rogue squash topping it off. The seeds have either come from last years cast-offs with their "promiscuos habits" as Emma says from the Alternative Kitchen Garden Podcast, or they rode in with some of my "imported manure". Either way, they're not causing any harm at the moment to the tomatoes. If they do, they'll be dispatched as the one in the asparagus patch was.

The tally so far is:
19" JTR = 6.75 lbs
29" JTR = 4.56 lbs
Containers = 1.28 lbs
Garden = 1.84 lbs
Total = 15.36 lbs of tomatoes, so far from the whole garden.

Ok, so it's not as amazing as my "Ernest" expression might lead you to believe, but it's still pretty good, and the tomatoes have been delicious.

I'm beginning to plan and get seeds together for next year, as well as my fall garden and my indoor experiments so I can wile away the winter with some green after the Christmas tree has been put out for the blueberries.

Post Vacation Update

 It almost died, because I hadn't given instructions as to how to water it, but it's back and continues to produce little green tomatoes! Vacation was good for me, the rest of the garden fared well too, despite some major wind storms.

 The Japanese Tomato Rings are outproducing everything else - the container tomatoes, the upside down tomatoes and the regular garden tomatoes. the roma's are turning red every other day, and the others are following close behind.

 The pumpkin is starting to produce inside the JTR as well, and I intend to keep it down to one fruit. The ripening tomatoes have green shoulders, making me think that these are actually the "Black Prince" tomatoes. Next year, I'll devote one ring to each variety, so I won't have this issue again.

Weekend Update for @007-07-28: Sacrificial Spuds Slimed by Slugs

Despite repeated dunkings, the slugs kept coming and eating my "potatoes in a bag" experiment. With an almost daily rainstorm, most of my concoctions got washed off (though the horseradish spray did work wonders on the beetles). The wet weather is also paradise for the slimy little so-and-so's. Next year, if I grow potatoes: "Sluggo" may be a part of my applications.

 The slugs can't seem to shimmy down the rope holding the inverted tomato plants, though - they're growing like crazy. Wonder how upside-down potato plants would faire... Nahhhh. Thoughts of an extremely raised bed garden, held up with copper pipes does come to mind, though.

 The Japanese Tomato Ring is going great. All have set fruit, and should be ripening soon, as my container variety have started. The Roma tomatoes got so full, they fell over (see picture below) and had to be re-tied to the cage. The tomatoes in containers seem not to be fairing as well, despite constant watering . Will need to move them into the back and see if that helps them. Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes keep growing and fruiting, but none so far are ripening. Figuring they'll all ripen at the same time (all varieties) and we'll have to make a lot of sauce, even though we got early, mid and late varieties.
Thinking that maybe I can set this variety inside the ring and let them cascade over the sides, though they may not be tall enough.

 They pale by comparison to what's going on outside, and actually are doing worse than anything inside planted in soil (ok, mother nature's got a leg up on my dabblings). For my next trick, I'll be planting into some home-made container planters that work similar to the ones sold for $39.95 and see how they do.

Approaching the "Wet Dog" Days of August...

 The fruits are starting to form, and it's holding up well. It didn't take long for the roots to reach the top of the additional soil, I see them every other day when I water it (doesn't take as much water, stays cooler and still gets plenty of indirect sunlight). Next year may try strawberry plants, too.

 They're over the top, now! The tomato plants are above the cage, all have set fruit, too. No blossom end rot as experienced on one of the containered tomato plants, and they're alot bushier and - er... fruitier? Hmmm.

 Well, at least they're not infested. The bug mix I'd made last was from horseradish, vegetable oil, dish soap and water worked quite well. It did attract another pest, though - a bear thought it was pretty tasty and pulled a fence post down that was holding a gallon of the next mix (I let it "solarize" - at least I used to). They pawed through the potatoes too, but their making a comeback.

Not before and after pictures, the second generation hydoponics are still doing better ("soil-less" mix of peat pots in the translucent cups). Once I finally make my last sandwich with these, I'll try another batch with the same plants as on the left.

Weekend Update 2007-07-15: Hanging Out in a Cool Place

The OTHER problem with upside down tomato gardens is that the container overheats (constant watering is the first problem). It's doing well now that it's on the north side of the house. It gets ample light, though not direct sunlight. It stays cooler, doesn't need as much watering. Fruits are starting to form, now just wondering which of the cherry colors it is (got a variety pack).

Japanese Tomato Rings have overtaken the containerized tomatoes in size, we'll see if they overtake them in the number of tomatoes that ripen.

  Inside one of the JTR's I've started some pumpkins that were growing in the compost pile. So far, no competition. The only problem I can think of is the pumpkins shading out the tomatoes, but some careful training will (hopefully) avoid that problem.

  Every morning, I would go out and "tickle" the flowers with my pinky, figuring I was helping them pollinate. Seemed to be working, as the fruits were forming. As it turns out, I was getting help from my yellow and black clad friends later in the day.

   I've fallen behind on the potato bags. I've found that they tend to fall over, so I'd recommend putting them into some type of container or having some kind of support arrangement.

 Placing paper towels between the two styrofoam panels has allowed most of the things to grow. Was hoping to minimize the amount of material by using the rope as wick channels, but the tolerances for this "hydro-hack" are too loose. Wrapping the paper towels differently so that there was a bit of a "tail" would work a bit better, as long as the layers weren't moved around too much.

Resources Online, Offline, by Electric Light, and Candlelight

I ran across two excellent resources that are related, though distinctly different. The first is the online edition of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" from Yankee Publishing at almanac.com, and "The Farmer's Almanac" from Almanac Publishing Company at farmersalmanac.com.

  The " Old Farmer's Almanac" is the one I remember from years gone by, with it's yellow cover and old-timey illustrations. Chock full of information, this website keeps it's printed material's simplicity, while taking advantage of the web's abilities to serve pertinent information for any given day or period.

  "The Farmers Almanac" is a newer, glossier version, the website has videos, full color pictures, and more. Also full of information, this site has more eye-candy and multimedia resources available, though slightly complicated to navigate through for the first time user.

I like both sites, and plan to get the "off-grid" versions that you can read by candle-light.

Weekend Update for 2007-07-06

 We're starting to see blossoms on the plant, right at the top of the vine. If these fruit, it'll pull the vine down about two feet, which would be interesting to see if I could do a stop-motion movie. Since it was drying out so fast, I added another coffee can to the top of the first one by cutting the bottom off, then filling it with more potting soil. "Gorilla tape" is my new jack-knife when it comes to general repairs and kludges - that stuff is strong! After the weekend the plant is still looking good.

 A slightly better picture of the Japanese Tomato Ring showing the tomatoes. Five out of the eight plants are flowering currently. They appear to be catching up to my containerized plants that started setting fruit two weeks ago, so we'll see if these "pull ahead" over the course of the summer. The pumpkin starts in the top of the smaller JTR are still growing, though they seem somewhat slow.

 The Hydroponic lettuce has been harvested three times so far, and still sends up more leaves. Four plants have yielded three sandwich toppings within one week. The brocolli has not fared so well, figuring the seeds rotted in the peat pots.

 Decided to cut some of the runners off the strawberry plants and give them a go in the hydroponics. They're actually not immersed in the solution here, but floating on a blank styro so they wouldn't get waterlogged. After the weekend, it looks as if I'd cut them off the mother plant too soon. The runners that are now starting in the garden will be staying on 'til they root, then I'll just move them to their new plot. If I have any "extra", I may try another hydroponic experiment to see how they fare.

 Difficult to see, but there are three new starts in the first three circles. The paper towels that are wrapped up in the holes each hold at least one seed, and the bottoms touch a wick on a second piece of styrofoam - at least the first three do. The others have dried out, so I'll have to revise my methods.

No LED experiments for now, maybe in the fall.

Weekend Update - Fruits of my Labo(u)rs and a Wet Deviation

No signs of flowers yet, but the upsidedown tomato plant's still growing. The main drawbacks of this experiment so far are: 1) Needs Frequent Watering and 2) Can Get Overheated. Was a bit wilty on a very hot day, a couple of days ago. Once it was moved to a shadier spot and given a good drink, it was fine. Upside Down Tomato Planters are still a space saver if you have just a patio, and slugs just look up and scratch their antennae.

Ok, it's hard to see in this picture. The "Window Box Roma" is beginning to bear fruit around my Japanese Tomato Ring, and I may have mis-tagged the "Black Prince" in the background, as it's fruit is looking a lot like it's neighbor. Time will tell, so stay tuned. I took my moisture meter and tested the soil around the plants, and though the garden was on about a "3" (on a scale from 1-10), the soil around the JTR was metered out consistantly at 8. I water the JTR's with a five gallon bucket, slowly pouring one bucket into the center of the ring every day or so.

After spraying with a garlic mixture (2 Tbs Dishwashing Detergent, 2 Tbs cooking oil, 1 crushed clove garlic, 1 quart water, set in the sun for a day), the beetles were "legs up". Odd little things, they have a clear shell with brown blotches - wish I'd taken pictures of it - it was on my microscope plate last night, "dead as a doornail" - really. Must have been a big wind, or a bug eating ghostie in our addition, 'cause it's nowhere to be found today. Haven't seen any more of them - but if I do, I'll be sure to take a picure before it disappears.
The Potato Bags have been filled twice since the last picture, with compost, then with straw.

I'm continuing to experiment with hydroponics as well. Here's a piece of styrofoam with 1/3" wedges cut out lengthwise, and "wicks" (cotton rope with polyester core) stretched and held down inside them. Each one is about 1-1/2" apart. This will be the first part of my "hydro-wickie sandwich", that will lay in the growing medium.

Here's the top view. Used a kitchen knife to cut 45 degree wedges out of the 1" styro, and added a 1/2" cut along the edge to hold the ends of the wicks in place.

Sitting on top will be another piece of styro, the rings drawn on the top are 3" diameter, the lines coincide with the wicks below. Holes will be drilled or cut out in the center of these rings for putting a "soil-less medium" (anything from rockwool to peatmoss to paper towels, the last being the most handy), and the plants. Any non-root crop that can be grown in a 3" diameter area should suffice (ie: lettuce, brocolli, etc., not carrots, radish). Found I had mixed results with the cup arrangement - they'd frequently get too wet.

Weekend update for 2007-06-16: Feel the Burn, and Straw Bale Gardening link

 Added more hay around the potatoes, finding something's nibbling on the leaves, so I've drenched them with a mixture of 1 gallon of water, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 1 tsp dish soap and 2 tsp scotch bonnet (hot pepper), let it set for a day in the sun then strained. Hope that does the trick. They're all looking well, including the ones in the ground.

 They just keep growing - though oddly slower than the ones in containers. The containered tomato plants are getting some of the fertilizer from the plastic coffee "can" that's in the containers, where I put some timed release fertilizer (about 2 tablespoons worth), so when the water pours through, it feeds the plant. The holes are about 1/2" above the bottom of the can, so water always sits in there. Been watering every 2-3 days. Fruit is also starting to set on the containered plants, while these are now starting to flower, and the ones in the garden are looking sickly.

 The LED tomatoes are out in the garden, though I learned first hand why you don't put them straight out: the sunny weather we had burned the leaves.

 The white wilted look means that I did these plants a dis-service by putting them straight out. Most if not all of the others had a time in the back yard with indirect sun before being planted, and are doing quite nicely. Nothing like first-hand experience to make a point.

Straw Bale Gardening is something I ran across while looking for some more companion plants. Sounds interesting enough that I may try it on an area that I eventually wish to make a raised bed: "...Straw bale gardening is an interesting option for those who have either limited soil, limited space or have difficulty bending over. I’ve used straw bale gardening and found it productive although I note that commercial grower recommendations tend to use fertilizer more than I currently enjoy doing. More on that below. ..." Link