GardenHacker: not your typical seedy site...

GardenHacker Podcast 02: Hair Hair Everywhere

The King Harry Potatoes are avoiding most of the ravages of outdoor living, with the exception of the occasional bug and slug, and they're taking over my row. My scheme of companion planting has been thwarted by their vigorous growth. Meanwhile, in the rest of the garden, there's more hair - in the shape of a Pac-Man shaped mat named "SmartGrow" Grow mats. These are made from human hair imported from China, where dying is reserved to wearable items. They report up to a 35% increase in growth. I'm a little skeptical but I decided to buy a couple of sets and pit them against my "Aunt Millie's Really Loud Wool Sweater that I will NEVER wear again": yes, I cut up an old wool sweater in the same shape and size, and used them around several plants to see if a $5 sweater from the Salvation Army would give the same or similar results. 100% wool, they're made of almost the same material, just a different animal. You can see the Podcast at: youtube.com - search for Gardenhacker.

Nary a Nibble... King Harry's Reign to Date

The King Harry potatoes are growing without a problem so far. One little bug like last years that looks like a bird dropping that's nibbled a few holes, but the potato plants are growing beyond expectation.


I'd planted them about two feet apart in a staggered pattern, but I find that they could actually use more room. Currently piling on the mulch that I harvest from the garden to make the harvest easier in the fall. Will be interplanting bush beans (a good companion plant) where space is available.

Cold Weather Hack

Been posting mostly to my gardenhacker.ning.com site, but I haven't abandoned this one. There's a good little article that has a nice hack for those of us who recycle more than they buy gadgets. No slight against wall-o-waters, many friends swear by them. This one could take place of them in case one of yours breaks or you need something extra: "...Ed just sets a bottomless bucket over each plant and, when the weather is cold, snaps the bucket's lid in place. If unseasonable cold threatens, he adds insulation -- crumpled newspapers stuffed in the empty spaces..." full article here.

Weekend Update for the New Year

I'm going to be revamping this site at some point to make it more user friendly, and probably move the blog into it's own space, which will mean moving to a new provider Free has it's price, and I'm tired of jumping through hoops to get thing on the site in a timely fashion. That being said...

Comfrey has been noted for being a great resource for the garden. Getting comfrey if you don't have a neighbor who already has it, can be a little daunting. I first got some seeds, hoping to start a whole row right off the bat. After four weeks inside, nothing showed up. I then went to eBay, bid on a couple and straight out bought a couple using the buy-it-now option. I got outbid on the first set, the second set came in fine, and the vendor echoed my findings - comfrey seed is not viable. But it must be viable somehow - nature doesn't go to all the trouble to make seeds just to have them become fodder. So, currently I've got an email into the seed vendor, and am taking my own initiative and freezing a set to mimic the environment they'd normally be in. Stay tuned for the progress. in Growing and Using Comfrey - the Spice of Garden Compost, The-Organic-Gardener states "You can make a concentrated liquid containing all of the big 3 nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, in substantial amounts. A high potash feed, it has an *N : P : K of about 8 : 2.6 : 20.5 %." - They go on to state that you have to dilute your final product at a 1:15 (one part comfrey liquid to 15 parts water) or a 1:20 ratio before you use it.

According to and article in gomestics.com from my favortie podcaster Emma Cooper , "Comfrey leaves are high in potash, a valuable plant food that is ideal for potatoes and fruiting plants like tomatoes and peppers. It is easy to make comfrey into a liquid feed that is easily applied to vegetables and rapidly absorbed by plants." Emma goes on to mention the less odiferous way to make liquid comfrey fertilizer is to use a container with a lid and let it decompose over several weeks. The resulting brown liquid needs to be diluted a 1:10 ratio

In The Weekend Gardener's article The Many Uses of Comfrey Leaves, they state that you can "Use the leaves themselves as fertilizer: Just chop up the leaves and place around the garden. You can also trench dig. Dig a trench as deep and long as you require, then half fill the trench with chopped up comfrey leaves, replace the soil, then sow your seeds on top. As the leaves decompose they will feed your plants the nutrients they require. "

They can also be used as a ..."Mulch. Freshly cut comfrey leaves make good mulch because they're high in nitrogen, so they don't pull nitrogen from the soil while decomposing, as high-carbon mulches like straw and leaves do." In the article Comfrey Power, organicgardening.com sums up the uses quite nicely.

Other articles include http://www.north-west-dahlias.co.uk/comfrey.htm

Baa from DavesGarden.com states "The plant can also be chopped up and added to the compost heap, its quite high in potash. Liquid comfrey fertilizer is best when it is made from S. xuplandicum but S. officinale can also be used in the same way." I've only found officinale myself, and wonder what the differences are.

I'd brought a tomato plant inside in October, and it's done it's best to stay alive with the minimal fluorescent light and the slightly cooler temps in the back room. It actually produced from flower six ripe tomatoes, though quite small. There are more on the vine, but the plant is definitely suffering from other maladies - it looks like a geek tomato plant: complexion is blotchy and pale, not much growth anywhere, empty cans of cola strewn about - oops - last one's my fault. Next fall if all/most goes well with spring cleaning, I'll hang the outdoor tomato plants upside down in the garage instead and grow cherry tomatoes inside.

The not-so-hydroponic salad greens are s-l-o-w to grow. That was true outside as well, so I've started another batch in another bin, hoping that they'll be faster. I'd run out of Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, so I've planted mache, spinach and "ButterCrunch" lettuce. 10 days later, they're showing signs of life.

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!

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

Weekend Update for 2007-06-11

Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato plants are almost touching the tubes, so they've got to find an alternative "tank" - possibly a small one sunk into the garden will work. Hoping the sun will make them grow even larger, too. The broccoli is not doing well, have found that the media (peat pot) is too wet for germination.

The second hydroponics tank is a slight change from the first one, as we're using translucent cups just barely below the water. They're currently sitting above the water on another piece of styro, because the brocolli in the first tank is not sprouting. Seems it's too wet, as these are sprouting.

 The tomatoes are all liking the Japanese Tomato Ring, despite some cold nights and less than ideal weather. They're all still ugly, though they are compacting some now. Still would cover them over inside with a large black plastic bag, or a large leaf bag so the - er - contents aren't visible. I'm "grooming" the one's pictured by minimizing t8he leaf branches and suckers, while the other one I'm just removing the suckers. The tomato plants in the garden are looking sickly compared to these.

The Potato Bag experiment is going well, the first ones are growing and just about the right height (6-8") to add some hay or compost to cover them up some more. The 2nd and 3rd bags are starting to show, as are the ones just planted in the ground.

This is the second attempt at my upside-down tomato plant using a plastic coffee can. If I can keep the kids from touching it, or move it out of reach before they do, I may have a crop of cherry tomatoes "cascading down from the planter". Further searches have turned up that upside-down may have smaller yields, but it is a space saver. Should also work well indoors if I can find a sunny or well-lit place for them.