We garden in the Sacramento Valley In Northern California. | ||
A container gardenThis is one of three compost bins made with 1/2" welded wire. This one is nearly ready. It heated to about 150 degrees and has been turned three times. Behind it is another that I am still filling. The white pvc pipe was put in for extra ventilation. I don't know that this is really needed but it gives me a place to put a thermometer in to see how the pile is heating. |
 | |
 |
Last years soilThe cage on the left is filled with last years potting soil. I added some soybean meal to boost nitrogen. I am thinking of adding some bonemeal and greensand before I use it again. | |
 Alfalfa Pellets. We don't have much for grass clippings. I used Alfalfa pellets for the green in my compost. In 2011 I am going to try soybean meal instead. I have read that it has even higher nitrigen content than the alfalfa pellets. |  Nearly finished compost. Probably one more turning. | |
| ||
   Most are half barrels. Kale and Collards (Sept 23) Chinese Cabbage (Sept 23) A few were cut at 1/3 and 2/3 barrel. After I had cut some of the barrels in half with a circular saw my wife suggested a wavy cut. I did this with my scroll saw and cut a wavy pattern. If you look at the Kale_Collards picture It is in the background. I know this is not the prettiest paint job but I was trying to use up old paint. Some are multi-colored and some red streaked to simulate wooden barrels. (You know, the plants don't care and this is some old paint won't be going to the landfill.) | ||
 This canna has doubled in size since potting it in the same compost(about 2 weeks ago) |
Our number one seed supplier for open-pollinated seeds is Victory Seeds Wonderful people to deal with, and nearly 100 percent germination. |
 My gardening helper with Collards (growing in same compost) |
| Please use water wisely USDA water conservation Xeriscape Landscaping Water wisely El Cahon water saving Eartheasy |  My wife holding radishes pulled at 63 days. These are globe and Icicle.(grown in the same compost.) They were delicious and not the least woody. So far we.ve eaten Chard, lettuce, kale, chinese cabbage and radishes. All grown in the same compost that was started in July. (Nov 3,2009 overnight low temp of 42. everything doing fine) | |
 November 7th We've eaten the radishes, chard, kale and spinnach. Everything looks great! |  Young Artichokes, we grew a crop of radishes along with them while the artichokes were small. | |
Spring 2010 UpdateI call the fall garden a partial success. Carrots, radishes, kale, spinnach, chard, lettuce did well. I need to harvest the last of spinnach as hot weather is coming. The little Artichokes from last fall are not so little now.  | ||
April and May 2010 garden. We have artichokes, blueberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, cilantro and lettuce in the half barrels now. I also made two 3ft by 8ft raised beds. They have onions, garlic, carrots and lettuce doing well now. For what it is worth I have learned a few things in the process. One was that I can make compost much better in a larger pile. I made two cages 3ft high and 3ft in diameter out of 1/2 inch wire hardware cloth. They are filled with about half leaves and the other half green weed trimmings.(I put a little alfalfa layer every 3 or 4 inches) They are heating nicely two weeks later. Another thing I learned was that just putting the alfalfa pellets in the compost didn't work as well as I had hoped. When I turned the pile many of the pellets were still whole pellets. Now I put some pellets in a bucket and add water a day or so before I want to use them. Then I add this alfalfa mush to the compost. They seem to get incorporated faster this way. July 2010 update. I said earlier that I really don't know what I am doing. I think Gardening is a humbling experience. The compost I used was not truly finished. It seems that as it broke down it robbed my plants of nitrogen. Tomatoes and peppers growing in it got off to a slow start. Fertilizing with Alfalfa tea has helped. Oct 2011 update. Sorry but this year wasn't a great on for my gardening experience. We had a small fire and the rebuilding and insurance issues kept me so busy we didn't do much gardening this year. The Artichokes did very well as did some heirloom tomatoes and peppers. We are still making more and more compost. I have learned that trying to rush compost is a dumb thing. Give it plenty of time! This year I used alfalfa meal to boost the "N" because we still don't get nearly as much grass clippings as we get leaves. It gets mixed in with the leaves better than pellets do. I think soybean meal was the best thing I've tried. (although I dislike feeding compost with something that could feed hungry people.) | ||
| Page last updated Oct 8,2011 | ||