I found this great illustration of an herb spiral from two perspectives. As the description states, they are best placed close enough to an exit outside that you can easily get to them without having to dress and lace up your shoes.
Archive for November, 2011|Monthly archive page
Use Your Recycling For Something Else…
In Gardens on November 29, 2011 at 2:37 pm
An herb spiral in progress, made with bottles!
Extra points for me!
In M4 Attempts on November 29, 2011 at 2:22 pmFor this mission, I organized a garden party at my home and invited everyone I know who either gardens or has been telling me that they’ve wanted to learn to. I gave them a tour of my backyard, and demonstrated my watering system, and then we grilled and relaxed for a few hours. After everyone had finished eating, I gathered everyone to help me plant three peach trees along the back side of my property. Here are the photos.
Mission 1 – Bringing Water to My Garden
In M2 Attempts on November 29, 2011 at 4:12 amAfter researching I found that quite a few people use more complex means of designing ways to capture and direct the flow of water. I decided to attempt the simplest way I could to catch and supply water to my garden. I started by equipping myself with two barrels to catch rainwater, strategically placed beneath one of the gutters of my home, where rainwater was directed towards the barrels. I used wire to keep large pieces of debris out of the rain barrels.
My two rain barrels
Rain slides directly off of my roof and into my garden.
My rain barrels allow me to save water than would have otherwise gone into drainage on the street, and I can use it for the garden as often as I’m willing to haul water in buckets around the yard. This isn’t the easiest means of getting water to your garden, but if you don’t mind some extra manual work, it does fine. I only have to haul water to one side of my garden, because I chose to plant right next to my home, where rainwater could slide right off of my roof and into the garden below. Having the garden located so closely to my house also enables me to do a little less work in tending it (maybe this makes up for the buckets of water I’ve been carrying), and as often as it rains, it isn’t frequent that I have to water the entire garden myself.
An Easier Way to Grow Potatoes
In Tips on November 29, 2011 at 4:00 amPlant your potatoes in empty raised beds. I love to grow my own potatoes, but I always hate the prospect of the work of digging them up. Think ahead to avoid laborious digging when harvesting potatoes and plant them in raised beds. Using raised beds also lessens the likelihood of pests like rodents getting into your potatoes. Plant your potatoes in 2-3 inches of compost and cover with old straw. As the plants develop, begin adding alfalfa instead of straw to the raised beds. Expect less work when harvesting, and add any left over material from the beds to your compost pile.
Raised beds like these are perfect.
Mission 1 – Soil Building
In Missions on November 28, 2011 at 3:51 amHealthy soil makes for healthy plants. For this mission, you will create nutrient rich soil. Research, and experiment with any means of doing so. You will choose the gardener whose method has proved the most successful.
Apple Tree Guild
In Tips on November 17, 2011 at 5:11 pmHave you got an apple tree in your back yard, or a small grove? Even wonder how to support the growth of healthy apples without the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers? Try an Apple Guild.
Apple Tree Guild with Comfrey Ring
A plant guild is a community of mutually beneficial plants. Benefits include efficient sharing of space above and below ground, attracting pollenator insects, providing beauty, increasing soil fertility, humus or nitrogen (ie fertilizer), adding structural support (as corn stalks do for pole beans), or deterring common pests.
The Apple tree pictured here has a circle of comfrey growing around it instead of grass.