My Little Bucket Garden - Winter Time

Just what do you think I could do with my little bucket garden in the winter months? 

 

I think - not much.

Plus it isn't much fun to hang out in the frozen garden.

National Preparedness Month part 3

     Again from the site TheSurvivalistBlog.net, I found just a portion of an article, done by  Judy S, that I thought would be a good reality check on what could become our future.  Here's what she wrote -

Cooking on the grill or camp stove is fun! Yeah, for a few days. Maybe even a couple of weeks. But every day? For months, maybe years? Not so much. Aha, you say, WE have a wood stove and we have actually cooked meals on it. It was great! But how long will it be before filling that wood box, cleaning out those ashes and starting that fire becomes a chore? How long before merely providing a family with a couple of hot meals each day becomes a full-time job in a kitchen that is sweltering in the summer and has ice on the water bucket in the winter? Hmm, that takes some of the romance out of it.

That lovely garden out back is quite nice. When your stockpiled canned goods are gone can you feed your family from that produce until the next harvest? Really? What if there’s a drought or a hail storm or a big wind that rips it all out of the ground? What if the deer eat it all up? How many hours will you have to devote to do the work that will be necessary just to keep food on your table? Gardening won’t be a relaxing hobby. It will be a matter of thriving or starving. Do you have the skills and the stamina?

But I can hunt and fish, you say. Do you bring home the “bacon” every time you go into the woods or to your favorite fishin’ hole to drown a worm? Do you know when not to hunt? When it’s breeding season? When the youngsters are dependent on their mothers for survival – gotta have that next generation growing big and strong for your future larder. Do you know how to preserve those fish or that venison when pressure canning and freezing are no longer options?

     I personally don't believe in living in a paranoid state, but do believe in being prepared for the short term disaster.  I can handle that frame of mind.   The thoughts that Judy S. shares here are very much within my range of considering.  What do you think?

Extended Weekend Home Care

      I left town for 5 days this week and I, live most of you, do things to prepare for  a quick little break like this.  I had some one who would put a little water on the garden if it didn't rain.  I had the cats (ferrell type for me) checked on and fed.  And I had a kid who hung out just to keep the home company.  So what did I forget?  Well - I never thought that I need someone on 'worm watch'.  Yep - I messed up here.

     It is not too difficult to explain.  I left town and the worms moved in.  Problem is, I could only find one lonely little worm and I can't imagine that there are not more.  Believe me when I say that this critter was not causing havoc on my garden before I left.

     Take a look here.

My before pic.

 And now for the current conditions -

not only did the stems and leaves get eaten, but the entire pepper, right up to the top.

All this damage by this one little worm.



I will save you the gross-ness and will not share any kind of image of what this guy looked like moments later.

    

Many of you will recognize this guy as a Tomato Hornworm or Tobacco Hornworm.  They seem to enjoy a variety of climates and a greater variety of plants, as my garden proves.  But do you know what this worm looks like when it is done with the worm body?  
Here you go 

 

I have been excited about the fun, large moths that have been landing on the screens at night.  I will no longer have the same feelings about this. 

     So look for this ugly worm on the underside of your garden leaves and I hope you catch them before your garden is a total loss. 

 

When Does The Garden Become A Fruitless Cause?

     Fruitless is exactly what my little bucket garden is right now.  Here in the high deserts of Arizona we are suffering from record breaking heat.  The garden is suffering as much as the wild life.

     Most of this season I have been able to water every other day.  I fill the bucket to the top with water and then fill my watering tubes.  Last month we had some pretty hot days and I did the watering routine every day.  Plants were grateful and maintained some blooms and produced a bit of fruit.  Of course a bit of monsoon didn't hurt.  On the days that we got a good gully washer the plants perked up, put on smiles and I did my happy dance.

     BUT - this week of high temps has me seeing that even once a day watering isn't enough.  Chilies are drooping, the struggling tomatoes are bloom less and dull and the squash is just pitiful. Darn this heat.

                                           So, at what point is it not worth it?  I say to myself, "Self, if you can just keep these plants alive now, you will have a great fall garden."  I may be lying to myself.  In a month, the nurseries will have beautiful, healthy plants ready for the fall season.  And the price of a 3 gallon tomato plant, which is almost ready to set, is probably cheaper than the water I am putting on the current crop.

     Oh, what to do? 

Fencing Out Those Little Critters

     I love the feeling of going out to my little bucket garden and picking a little something to add to the dinner salad.  What I don't want to do is reach into one of the plants and come out with a little surprise.  That would be a lousy addition to dinner.

      There are numerous types of snakes in my area.  One of the most popular, tho not endeared, is the Western Diamond-back Rattlesnake.  These snakes give birth to live little snakes that venture out on their own at about two weeks old, when they shed their first skin and they can open their eyes.
These deadly little guys are about the size of a standard pencil.  And - they are attracted to moist ground as they search for liquid relief from the hot Arizona sun.  Just like the adults.  Guess that, combined with some comforting shade, is why they enjoy gardens.

       I could list a ton of insect and bugs that we share the area with but there are only a couple that I really want to protect my garden from, that would love to be invited in.  My biggest issue is with these big centipedes that, like the snakes, are looking for a warm rock and some cool shade during the daytime. They are great at hiding and their young learn that early on.  They are also pretty good at climbing into the middle of plants.  So - again - I don't want to reach into one of my tomato plants and come out with a thousand legs crawling up my arm.

      You can start out with the basic 40" plastic fence.  I dig a slight trench between the fence post before hooking up the fencing.  Nothing to this point is all that different.  The 40" will keep out the skunks, unless they decide to dig under, the rabbits, and most of the chunky and lazy squirrels.  That's not enough for me.  I want the sneaky little critters discouraged too.   So I add a layer of net.  That would be the basic net you get from the fabric store that so many creative brides-to-be purchase to decorate their event.  It is cheap and easy to find so why not add gardening to the list of its uses.

     I went to my local Hancock Fabric Store and found that the basic white net which is usually $1.29 per yard was on sale for 30% off.  Cha-ching!  And it is 72" wide!   I can surround my entire garden for less than $20 and a little kite string. By the way, you don't have to go with white like I did, there are a ton of colors you can choose from to match you yard or patio decor.

     I attach the net to the fence with the string about every  10-12 inches and scattered up and down, from top to bottom.  Just enough to hold it in place.  I leave a little extra at the bottom.  When you look at the picture you may say to yourself - "Why wouldn't she trim off all that extra across the top? It looks so tacky."   Well, the reason the the tacky being acceptable is that many of the little critters that decide to take on the climbing feat to access the garden run into this extra fold of fabric that they just can't maneuver around or get totally stuck in.   Now you know that this extra isn't so tacky after all.  Right? So, make sure you don't cut it off or tie it down; you want it to be there as a barrier.

     At the bottom of the fence, where there is a small amount of net left, I just pile up a bit of dirt to hold that all in place.  Since I am watering in buckets and watering tubes, this dirt is not likely to be washed away.

     It's guaranteed that during the season you will have a little mending to do.  Some animal will decide to scratch at your barrier to gain access and make a tear or two.  You can patch this with some thread or you may want to glue (with water resistant fabric glue) a stronger piece of fabric around the lower edge for longevity.  You will know what you need when the time comes.

 Now that is my tip on how to build a security system for your garden.

Making a Sturdy Sunsreen

     If you are anything like me, you don't want to spend your hard earned money or your precious time making sun protection for your    garden or your bucket garden, that will not have a long life span.

     Here's a few tips that I can share on how I did mine.  And so far,  it's working out pretty darn well.

     First and obvious, plan and measure your area and figure how you can most utilize the screen you purchase.  If you do like I did, you may be cutting in various shapes and a bit of planning is the only way you will not waste screen.

     When you purchase your screen be aware of the different levels of protection.  How much sun do you want to block?  How intense will the sun be on your plants?  If you have plants that need little to no sun protection and also plants that just can't handle the full sun, you may need to purchase two different levels of screen protection.  I went to Home Depot for mine and found that they had a couple different types; I got the lighter one since my season is mild and I will have shade part of the day.  One roll was plenty but I think I may go back next month and start checking to see if they ever have a clearance on them.  This stuff is so versatile that I bet they don't, even when the holiday decor starts coming in, but I can always hope.

     Don't want to be mending your sunscreen every time there is a gusty wind?  Then do the corners right to start with.  It's a bit time consuming but in the long run it will save you time and money.  Here is what I did.  I am sure you can customize it to you needs.

     I purchased a bit of sturdy and inexpensive fabric, water resistant fabric glue, and grommets (in a little kit if you don't already have one). 

     I cut random, far from perfect, squares of the fabric, enough to put one on each side of the screen and on every corner of the screen. Then use your fabric glue to attach the fabric.  I used clothes pins to hold these in place since the slippery finish of the sunscreen if bound and determined to have your fabric sliding off as soon as you turn your back.

     After allowing the glue to dry for 12 - 24 hours, depending on the heat and humidity, you are ready to get those grommets in place.  I used a razor knife to cut a very small  X  slit in the middle of each piece of fabric so the grommet would go in easier.  I just had no luck using the hole cutter that comes with the grommet kit.  So  X  marked the spot for me.  From there, just follow the instructions on applying the grommets.

    Wow !  now you have a sturdy corner that is ready to endure the entire summer or even longer.

     I used c-clips and small rope to attach to eye bolts that are screwed into the fence post.  I can unhook the clips when I am working in the garden or if I want a little extra sun on a couple of particular plants.

     That's how I did it.  Let me know what method you use for your sunscreen.

Multi-tasking Your Sunscreen

     My little bucket garden was saved from hail damage by the sunscreen.  I have designed the screen layout to be multi - purpose.

 
        Living in the high deserts of Arizona, we only have about a month of really hot and dry weather before the monsoons hit.  A temporary sunscreen may be all that is necessary for sun protection.  But with the monsoons comes the hail.  As excited as I get when I see those little chunks of ice, the plants do not share my enthusiasm.  Thus, all season sunscreen that doubles as a hail protector.

     I have arranged the random cuts of sunscreen in a way that the plants will still get direct sun but not in the heat of the day.  Plenty of sun will shine around in the early day and the later afternoon.
But most of the hail will be slowed down considerable.

My Little Bucket Garden - Part 3

     Am I obsessed with water conservation in my garden?  Maybe.  With a limited income and living in an area with extremely high water cost, it is a must.  Although I believe I would do the same thing if my situation was different.

     So here is another little thing I'm doing.  This is the first for me.  Not the first time I have grown strawberries but the first time in such a container.  I am very pleased with it so far.  I will continue to inform you all on it progress.

     Simple idea here - came to me when I was at the 99 Cents Only Store and saw these little three part planters.   I stood in the store and tried stacking them in different heights and liked the way it looked.  Originally I thought I would plant flowers in it.  The came the thoughts of strawberries.

     I don't need to explain much.  It is that simple.  I stacked 4 trays that had been filled with a little soil in each.  I do add soil to all the layers from the beginning so that there is a bit of weight; the unit will not be top heavy. I planted a small plant in each of the top sections.  For me, I placed the stack on a few clay pots to give it some added height.  I do think that I will move this into my garden soon.

     Now - you may have noticed that there is a little bottle sticking up from the center of the stack.  What do you think that is for?  Bingo - mini watering tube.  Now that I am a little obsessed with, but it works.

     The sections just don't hold much water.  That is the only draw back from using this type of container for strawberries; maybe be better suited for a rock garden type plant like portulaca moss rose or aptenia.  I drilled a small hole in each section of each planter for good drainage.  Added my plants to the top section only.  I am hoping that when they send out their long trailing stems called stolons, those will attach themselves to the soil of the lower sections, thus producing new plants.  After established and the stolons are cut, the process will start all over again for the lower levels.  Then I got my mini tube ready.

     Yep - here I go again with the watering tube concept. The mini tube can be any small bottle with a tight fitting lid.  Cut a small hole in the end of the bottle, just big enough to add water.  Drill a tiny hole in the lid.  Dig away a small area in the center of the planter (to the bottom of the planter's center) and insert the bottle, lid end first.  Now you can fill the bottle and watch it 'not' empty too fast.  My little planter, after I have watered the plant, takes anywhere from 6 to 20 hours to empty.  With such a small amount of soil, I would be watering every day if not for the added water.  It's a perfect way to prolong that moist soil for the berries, and with out flooding or washing the soil away.  When the plants start to trail, I will then add a bottle to one section of each level. Again - I will follow up on how that works out.

     What do ya think?  This could work anything you have planted.  The larger the pot and plant and larger the bottle. House and flowering plants.  Yard planters, especially if you are going to be gone for a few days during the hot summer days.

     If strawberries aren't your thing, open up your head to the other possibilities.  Try this idea to add some color to your porch with flowering plants.  Or - you could even use this in your garden area for those all important 'benificial' plants.

Think about it.

     Hummm -  you could always buy some of those expensive and very breakable water bulbs.

  

My Little Bucket Garden - Part 2 - Watering Tubes

          Back in the late 70's,  when co-ops were owned by hippies,  hydroponic and organic were thought to be a fad, and 'growing your own' didn't mean veggies, I had this great garden.  I am not sure why I had such good luck but the conditions were great, the area was perfect and with a little work, we had an abundance of veggies for my family and friends.  My kids were young and were thrilled every time they got to harvest their own.  Truth be known, I felt the same excitement as the kids.

     One of the 'things' that I did and got made fun of for, I am doing again.  Only now, from what I have heard, this concept is being used by many others.  So goes another invention that I should have pursued.  Anyway - I call it my Watering Tubes.  If you think it sounds simple, you are correct.  It will be easiest if I tell you why I use them and then show you how I make them.  

     In the past, I was not doing bucket gardening; I had never heard of it and maybe it wasn't popular.  I did have a few pots on my porches with herbs, strawberries, ornamental peppers and occasionally cherry tomatoes.  I didn't consider this 'bucket gardening', I considered it my expansion.  Anyway - in my regular garden I dug holes, with a post hole digger, about 18 inches deep.   I stuck a 3 foot piece of ridged PVC pipe in the ground and filled in the hole.  I placed these pipes about 3 feet apart.  I then glued a 2 quart plastic soda bottle. with the bottom cut out, onto the top.  The tubes were short enough that it didn't look too odd and blended in with all the plants.  The purpose was to get the water to the deep roots of the plants without having to soak all the ground and waste so much water.  Made since to me and still does.

     I have since expanded on the concept and combined the tubes with the buckets.  And added the task of being a support piece for the plants also.

     Here's how I do this.  Let's start with the assembly of the tube which, obviously need to be done prior to digging the hole and filling it in.  I went to Home Depot and bought 10 foot lengths of a sturdy PVC pipe; they cut it down to 5 foot lengths for me so it was easier to handle.  Make sure you either measure the outer diameter of your bottle or take one with you so as to get a pipe that is the correct size. The full length is fairly reasonable - less that $10 per piece; and you are getting two pieces from each. 

     Next - Take a 2 liter soda bottle and using a razor knife or the equivalent, cut the bottom off.  I cut at an angle so the surface is a bit larger.  This will come in handy and I will explain shortly.  Next, take some water resistant glue (I use a fabric glue that holds up really well, is easy to work with and again, very reasonably priced) and apply a bead of glue to the top edge and just a little towards the inside of your PVC pipe.  I found it easiest to work with the pipe laying on a table at this point.  You will want to screw the bottle in place to ensure that it stays in place.  The glue is more for a sealant then an adhesive. Place your bottle against the glue bead and, while holding it in place, drill a small hole through the pipe and the bottle; stopping when you hit  the center; no need to go all the way through, and screw the pieces together.

  You are pretty close to done.

     If you go back a few post, you will find my story titled "My Little Bucket Garden - Part 1".  In this post you will see how I prepared the buckets and got them into the ground.  I even mention the watering tubes here.  We'll pick up from that point and I will explain.

     Once you have your bucket in the ground and have added just a few inches of earth/potting soil mix for stabilization of the bucket, it will be time to add your watering tube. I place my tube at a little bit of a slant. If you combine the slant of the bottle cut and the slant of the pipe itself, you may be able to position the piece to catch maximum rain water during the rainy season.  Be careful that you do not slant the tube too much or it will not stay in place when the weight of the water is applied.


       It is now time to finish adding your soil and plants.

   Here is how your finished product should look.

     Now is a good time to look at the over all possibilities and full use of the tube.  I water my new plants through the tubes and from the surface for the first couple of weeks.  This gives their roots a chance to grow down to the water level supplied by the tube.  When I start watering strictly through the tube, I watch the plants to make sure that each one is ready for this type of watering.  Some make take another week.  Since we are having some what of a heat wave and I have had a lot of wind, I have been watering every other day.  When the wind isn't quite so bad I have been able to go three days.  And when the monsoon season starts, the watering will drop again.  What has worked for me is to fill the tubes and bottle to the top.  Wait about 10 minutes and then fill or top off again.  That is it.  You are done watering.  Think about it - you are applying about three gallons of water to each plant.  And at a level that it is useful.  Combine that with the fact that the bucket is now holding the water close to the plant roots, it is plenty.

     Water Tube Trouble Shooting -  sounds silly doesn't it?  But there are a few problems that you could have that can be easily fixed.  I just want to save you the frustration of thinking that you did something wrong and giving up.

First - if the water leaks out from around the rim, and it very often does, just add a thick bead to  the outer edge and let it dry for at least 24 hours.  As a back note - you should let the glue dry at least 24 hours before your first filling of the water.
Second - sometimes the water just flows right through and bubbles up to the surface, around the plant.  There is two things to do to fix this problem.  First - twist the pipe gently while pushing down to see if it can be embedded into the harder surface a little better.  If this doesn't work then try this.  Take about a cup of plain surface dirt and pour it into your tube.  The second fill up of water should take at lease 15 minutes to empty from the bottle.  If it is going too much faster than that, you may need to do a little adjusting with the dirt.

      An added bonus - If you place your tube in the proper place, you can use it as a support piece for your plant.

    And just one more thing - if you are a person who adds sunscreen to your plants on those scorching afternoons, these tubes are sturdy enough to support the sunscreen even for the taller plants. 

     My garden may look a little like a child's art project gone awry but it is guaranteed to be convenient, functional and cost effective when it come to the water bill. 

My Little Bucket Garden - Part 1

Bucket gardening seems to be more of a craze than I realized until I started researching the subject, quite a few years ago.  I found photos of large groups of buckets scattered in a yard.  I found pics of these beautiful porch pots full of veggies.  I tried to grow tomatoes on my porch in a great big pot but had no luck.  Either the soil was too dry or not draining well enough or the bugs started eating the leaves.  After two years and about 10 plants, I gave up. 

   
Last year I saw the garden that my brother was growing.  It is definitely bucket gardening but done in a different way than I had tried.  His buckets were sunk into the ground with the bottoms cut out for drainage.  I asked just what the purpose was and he told me that it was easier to maintain the weeds and grass that would grow around it.  And it also supplied more of a directional watering system.  WOW – makes a lot of sense.  His garden was beautiful. 

     This year it is my turn.  The water in my area is very expensive.  Has something to do with the number of pumping stations that it has to go through just to get to this rural area.  (one of these days I will be checking into that one)  I figured where the best sunlight and shade would be and got started digging holes.  I had no idea how easy it would be to do this, by digging a little and filling the hole with water and then digging a little more, and repeating the water thing.  It wasn’t difficult, but it took a long time for me, especially since I am so darn out of shape.  Thanks to this garden idea, I realize that more now than before. 

     After a week of digging and clearing I went to Home Depot to pick up a dozen 5 gallon buckets, 3 bags of potting soil, a small bag of organic plant food, 6 ten foot pieces of PVC pipe (you’ll understand later) and a few plants.  By purchasing a few plants I kept myself motivated to move forward on the project.  And I did just that.

     This could turn into a post way too long for now so I am going to work on it in segments.  Getting the holds dug and the buckets into the ground is a huge first step so we can start there.  Here are the steps that I sort of started with.

First  - found the area that I knew would get adequate sunshine for my plants.  Tomatoes need to get about 6 hours of sunshine each day.    In this hot desert, like where I live, you have to make they get that but also realize that they are going to need sunshade for the middle of the day when the sun is beating down.  I live in the high desert so our planting season doesn’t really start until about the first of May, when the ground starts warming up.  The first week I was concerned that the garage that I was using for wind block on the south side ( that is the direction that we get our heavy and damaging winds during monsoon ) of the garden was shading the plants too much.  Within two weeks things were just fine.  

Second – I started digging the holes, allowing enough space for the plants to get sunshine to the bottom of the plant without being drown out by too much foliage.   I measured the height of the buckets and dug the holes just deep enough to leave 2 inches of bucket above the ground, and just a little bigger around.

Third – it’s bucket cutting time.  I had watched my brother do this and thought that it wouldn’t be too difficult.  The first one was a real pain in my butt.  Using a hack saw, I attempted to cut just above the bottom edge.  I gotta tell you that I just am not all that talented with the hack saw.  And my brother made it look real simple.  I the next couple got a bit easier but I was still not happy with the time it was taking.  So – I decided to put on my thinking cap and find an easier way.  After all, I still have 9 of these buckets to go.  The rest got easier as I changed things up a bit.  I did start the cut with the hack saw but then switched to the gig saw.  Did my cuts look as neat as my brothers?  Not even.  But it all works and the imperfections will be buried in the ground.  Please don’t ever tell my bro.

Forth – in a 5 gallon container I mixed potting soil and ground dirt, about half and half.  I may have made a mistake at this time.  I may have been better to add a little steer manure to the mix and I didn’t.  We’ll see how it goes.  Save out the plant food for now.

Fifth - put the buckets in the ground and begin to fill with your soil mixture.  Now, there is one thing that I do at this point that I will tell you about in the next post.  So please read that first if you are considering following my example; which I highly recommend if you wish to conserve water.  The amount of soil you use depends on the size of pot that your plant is in.  Guess that goes without saying.  I had 4 inch pots and also 3 gallon pots.  You will be about to judge this as you go.  An important thing to remember here is that you will want to add your plant food to the top 4 inches of soil.  Avoid having it too close the base of the plant where it could possibly burn the foliage.   Fill the pot to about 2 inches from the top; this allows for a small well for water to gather in without overflowing.  Pack the soil firm but not overly packed.  The soil will settle and you may have to add a little later.  

Sixth – fill in, with ground dirt, the area around the bucket.  You may have to do this a little bit at a time as you are filling the inside, to keep the bucket from shifting too much.  Leave a little trench around the outer edge of the bucket.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, if you overflow your bucket with water, you will keep it close and the plant may still get some benefit.  Second, you may want to plant some marigolds close to your vegetable plants.  They have many benefits, which will be in a later post.  This small trench is a perfect place for this planting.  Once they are established a bit, the little bit of splashing that will happen from the watering will be plenty to maintain them.  Again, we don’t want to waste water in our garden.

Now you have plants in the ground.  In future post I will tell you about some of the ways that I keep the water bill down, how I fenced off my garden, how to easily shade your plants and what little flowers will benefit you and your garden the most.  

Check back soon for more on how the garden is growing.