We garden in the Sacramento Valley In Northern California. | ||
A fall container gardenThis year we decided to try a fall garden in containers.Large containers are a little expensive for my tastes. I was given some plastic barrels so I cut them into 2 half barrels and painted them. (the bright blue was an eyesore) Then, what to use for soil. Buying that much potting soil from a retailer was again too expensive for this el-cheapo. After a little research I decided to make compost with last years oak leaves and using Alfalfa pellets for the "green". I used 4-6 cups of pellets per container. |
 Lettuce growing in the finished compost. | |
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Making the compostI made my compost right in the half barrels that I wanted to grow in. I started with a 3 inch layer of last years oak leaves. (I did screen them a little to get the larger twigs out.) Then I sprinkled about a cup of Alfalfa pellets on that, another layer of leaves, more pellets, and so on. I learned that it was better to water a little on each layer as I went rather than wait till it's full to water. I watered it a little and waited about 6 weeks, viola! It's compost. Mine did not get quite hot enough to kill all weed seeds. I am guessing it got to about 150 degrees f. | |
 Leaves |  Alfalfa Pellets |  Nearly finished compost |
I tested the finished compost with a cheap "soil test kit". The results really pleased me. The oak leaves had been setting for about a year and I hoped that the rain would have leached the acidity out of them. I say oak leaves because that is mostly what is was. I raked under my oaks and there was some wild grass and a little dirt in it I suppose. | ||
   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) |
 My home made compost tumbler. I cut a hole in one end, added a plywood door with a latch, then I just put a metal band around a barrel with 1/2" bolts on each side. I'll let you know how it works. Oct 25 update: our first rain reminded me that I needed a drainage hole. (OK, now I have drilled some drain holes)It is getting harder to tumble at half full. I don't know if this idea is good or not. I am thinking it needs better ventilation. | 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.  | Compost tumbler updateThis did not work out like I had hoped. Winter rains and a lack of ventilation stopped compost action. I cut some slots (for ventilation) in the tumbler with a circular saw. Seems to be working better now. | Compost UpdateAlthough I made compost directly in the half barrels, I think it would have been better in something with better ventilation. This 1/2inch wire cage works nicely  |
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. >p>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. I also wonder if the compost allows the water to flow through to quickly. I put 2, 2gph drippers in each half barrel running for 90 minutes daily. Plants still seemed to be stressed. Now I have 4, 2gph drippers in each barrel and it seems better. It gets into the low one hundreds here in the summer and these sit in full sun. | ||
| Page last updated July 20, 2010 | ||