Chickie's Patio Gardening

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2007-12-13T21:42:00.000-06:00

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Worms are Here!

2005-03-24T23:24:00.000-06:00

Yay! The worms are all here and relaxing in their state of the art worm bin. They came today and I was so happy! Finally, I can get started with them. My cilantro is sprouting little serrated leaves, which means it's getting ready to be mature, which is great news...and the rain didn't kill my impatiens at all! They're even more colorful than ever.
Still having trouble with photos though...I hope to have some worm and seedling photos this weekend.

No Worms Yet

2005-03-17T23:14:00.000-06:00

Whew! It's been a while since I updated, I know, but nothing much has been going on in the garden. There's only so many times you can write "my catnip and cilantro are insane" before people start snoring.
Still no worms, unfortunately, and it's been darn cold around here for the last couple of days so I haven't done much more than just pop out, water the babies and make sure they're still alive. Still having crazy Picasa issues, so no new photos.
Tomorrow - worms and 2x4s! I got gift cards for Loew's Hardware!

Wrong Boards - Agh!

2005-03-12T22:13:00.000-06:00

Well, I went out to finish putting together the garden box today and found out that the last 2x4 is smaller than the others. I'm trying to figure out a way to get them to work together though.
Catnip is looking good! The wheat grass and cilantro are still shooting up at an astronomical rate, but still aren't ready to eat. I'm looking forward to planting some other veggies.
Worms will be here Wednesday or Thursday! I'm excited.

New Boards

2005-03-10T22:45:00.000-06:00

Bought my last 2x4 today, but didn't get it home until after dark so I couldn't work on the bed. Very sad. I still can't figure out if I want to line the bottom of it with anything, though. Dad says it doesn't matter, because it will drain anyhow, but husband says I should so when we move it will make cleanup easier. Hmmm. Completely torn here.
Hopefully, my worms will come tomorrow! I can't wait to see their squirmy little faces. Does that make me sound too geeky?
My catnip finally sprouted! I brought it in so the rain wouldn't kill it again, and it looks so cute now!

Look, they're budding!

Worms in Transit!

2005-03-09T22:00:00.000-06:00

I ordered my worms today! I'm so excited, and they should be here by the weekend. I was just joking about naming all 1200 of them. Seriously.
Cilantro sprouts are still growing, and the oat grass is coming along at an absurd rate. Nothing much else is going on, except that I wasn't able to get another 2x4 yet. This is the fun part of gardening, waiting for things to grow...

Lumber at Last

2005-03-08T20:34:00.000-06:00

Finally got my lumber today! I went to the hardware store and got 3 2x4's, which I had them cut in half and brought home to nail into the garden box. It's really cute, but kind of short, so I think I'm going to get another 2x4 and make it a little taller. I'll post photos of it when it's done.
My cilantro is growing at an insane rate. I'm going to have to figure out what I can make with it, otherwise I'm going to be giving bunches of cilantro as gifts this year. My impatiens are bursting with color, too. It's really starting to look nice out there.
Last but not least, my worm bedding is ready to go! I think I'm going to order my worms tomorrow and get them ready for installation. The bin is moist and rich, I have some partially decomposed organic waste for them to munch on when they get here, and it's starting to warm up outside. The hardest part will be naming all of them.

Decidedly Good Weather

2005-03-07T18:38:00.000-06:00

Finally some sun! It was sandwiched between two long bouts of rain, but it was sunny most of the day nonetheless. My plants are loving this a lot more than I am, that's for sure. The cilantro sprouts are growing like weeds!

One Side of the Planter Box.

Here they are in all their glory! You may notice that the photo quality has suddenly gotten a lot better. This is due to the fact that I got a new digital camera today! Now we don't have to squint at Polaroids and wonder if that's really a sprout or just a rock. Yay!

Here you can see just how tall they are.

My oat grass is sprouting so well under the counter that I'm thinking of trying another batch of tomato plants, only this time I'm going to put them under the counter where it's warm and humid until they get fairly strong. Now all I need are some seeds. Thank goodness, they're pretty cheap.
It looks like it's going to rain pretty hard. I think I'd better bring in my catnip.

Lots of Green

2005-03-06T22:49:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, the little sprouts were not tomato plants. Now that they've opened up a little more I can tell that they're more cilantro shoots. That's okay, since I like cilantro a lot more than I like tomatoes. There are little baby sprouts everywhere now! I can't wait until it stops raining so I can get pictures of them. This time they'll actually show up, I think.
More rain here, which I'm still using as a rinse bucket, despite objections to the contrary. There have been concerns raised that the acidity of the rain here will have an adverse effect on my plants. I maintain that this is the same rain that is falling on my plants constantly and they seem to be doing fine, so until I see holes burned in my leaves I think I'll keep conserving water this way.
The oat grass under my cabinet is sprouting nicely, so I planted the rest of the seeds in a container outside to see if they sprout as well. I'm so proud of my little sprouts! It's proof that absolutely ANYONE can grow a garden if they're willing to make the effort.

Possible Tomato Survival

2005-03-05T22:23:00.000-06:00

It is altogether possible that my tomato seeds survived after all. On one side of the planter are my lovely little green cilantro shoots which seem to be doing quite well, and on the other are these odd little yellowish shoots that look kind of different. That was the side I originally planted the tomato seeds, so it stands to reason that those are they, but I'm not getting my hopes up. They may just be sickly looking cilantro sprouts. My impatiens' leaves continue to look ragged, but new flower buds are popping out so I'm not too concerned. I wonder if Peter's Plant Food is organic. My stepdad used to swear by the stuff.
The next time I get paid for my freelancing, I'm going to buy my worms! I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to pay over the net and have them delivered to my home or if I'm going to have an adventure and drive out there. Probably the former, since otherwise I have to wait for Paypal to transfer the money to my account, blah, blah.
I'm hoping I'll feel up to going to Home Depot tomorrow and looking at some lumber, but if it involves a handsaw I may not be able to do it until my ribs are healed.

Sprouts!

2005-03-04T23:39:00.000-06:00

How exciting! I went out to check on the garden today and I have sprouts coming up in the cilantro box! I tried to take a photo of them, but they're awfully tiny so the picture didn't come out very well. However, here it is for your approval.

There are tiny green sprouts in the center of the circles, I promise.

Knowing how I am, I'm going to probably be obsessing over these little sprouts until they mature into the strapping young plants I know they'll become. They're so cute, though. I wish I had a better camera. To take my mind off the cilantro, I planted some more catnip since I'm almost certain that the rain washed away my first batch. Hopefully I'll have better luck with these since I heard they make a delicious tea.

Other good news! The worm bin is ready to go, at last. After some moist and rainy weather, the bedding is no worse for the wear and is actually nice and fluffy after I turn it over. I have to give the credit to the new drainage system for this, since even though I left it uncovered part of the time it still did not flood. Here's what a worm bin should look like.

Worm bedding is supposed to be rich and semi-moist.

Many vermicomposting sources suggest that the soil be kept at about 80% moisture content, which isn't bone dry, but isn't soaking either. A simple way to test the moisture content is to take a handful and squeeze it. If water dribbles out, there's too much water in the soil/bedding. Worms need the moisture to keep their "gills" wet, but too much can suffocate them so it's best to err on the side of caution by adding water gradually while setting up your bedding, not all at once (like I did the first time). Oh well, trial and error.

Praying For Sun

2005-03-03T12:46:00.000-06:00

I keep hoping the sun will come out a little more. It's fairly warm and humid today, but no rain to speak of. I need to check my worm bin and my seedlings. If the worm bin held up well last night, I think we should be ready to install some worms soon.

Things are looking up.

Still Wet, Still Cold

2005-03-02T19:42:00.000-06:00

Rain, again. I'm seriously starting to think that the weather is against me. March in Texas is not supposed to be rainy! It's supposed to be warm and sunny, perfect for gardening. In fact, it rained so much I couldn't even check on my garden properly.
The only good thing I found was that despite the fact that I forgot to cover the worm bin, the new drainage system works like a charm! Only minimal soaking and not any flooding at all. It's still raining, but I covered the worm bin this time with the 3-hole lid. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Rinse Bucket

2005-03-01T23:11:00.000-06:00

I have a plastic bucket that's filled with rainwater on my porch. I was planning to throw it out, but changed my mind. Why waste city water when I have my own fresh water for gardening right here? I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner, actually.
Replanted some of my cilantro seeds today as planned. I only replanted the ones with strong root systems, and thinning them out is going to really help I think. My poor impatiens look terrible, but that's just because the rain beat them up. There are new blossoms coming out!
Thankfully, my new worm bin looks great. I was using the cultivator and thinking to myself, "now this is how compost SHOULD look." I'm going to be way too happy when my worms get here.

Repotting and Drainage

2005-02-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

The new drainage system worked! It rained again last night and I went to check on the new worm bin to see how it held up. Only about 1/4 inch of water was in the bottom. I was so happy that I started lining it right away. This time I only used newspaper and humus to make the layers, adding just enough water to each layer to soak through into the newspaper. We'll see how it looks tomorrow, but I think this is the perfect combination!
I also repotted my impatiens and gave them a little "root massage," along with the mostly-dead rose bush and the cactus. The impatiens' roots were still all clumped together and soggy, so I squeezed the water out and carefully detangled the root system before putting them in the earth. I repotted the cactus just in time, it looks like, since the roots were starting to come up around the base of it! I think it's happy now.
My cilantro seeds are doing really well, rootwise, but I think they're going to need to be replanted as well. I was checking on them and there are a bunch all tangled together from the storm. I'm glad I saved those plastic trays after all!
The catnip wasn't quite as lucky. I repotted it, but I'm not sure it's going to sprout. I think some of the seeds washed away in the rain. We shall see.

Alternative Drilling Techniques

2005-02-27T21:01:00.000-06:00

Today's lesson: You don't need a drill to make quality holes in a plastic bin.
Still unable to afford a good power drill (and unwilling to buy a cruddy one), I chose to take the road less traveled and buy an ice pick. It worked surprisingly well once I found a position that wasn't too painful and gave up trying to use the hammer. I made a row of holes in the new worm bin along the front and back at the bottom, then some triangle-shaped series at the top, then alternated the pattern on the sides for even drainage.

Red arrows indicate holes, if you look closely.

With that out of the way, I shifted my other plants into the sun and checked their potting. My cactus, which has come back from the brink of death, now needs repotting and my catnip seeds are basically sitting in mud. I'm not sure if I should try to dig out the seeds and repot them in looser soil or just see what happens.
My new impatiens are a little worse for the wear after all that rain, and I bought some potting mix today to keep their roots a little drier. The fate of the first worm bin, now THRICE flooded? I'm waiting for it to dry out a little, then I'll mix it with more humus and soil in the raised bed rather than wasting it.
So now I'm off to shred more worm bedding, since the first batch is basically ruined. Bonus buy of the day: a mini food processor for $5 to chop up garbage for the worms. I'll leave off with a picture of my impatiens, just because they're pretty.

Purple and coral impatiens in the drawer.

Finally, the sun!

2005-02-27T12:43:00.000-06:00

It's still kind of chilly outside, but the sun is shining at last. The bad news is that the worm bin has flooded once again. I'm wondering if it's time to just empty it out and try again. Humus and topsoil aren't that expensive, and I have an extra bag of each lying around. The rain is just turning it into mud and there's no time for it to drain or dry out. I'm not looking forward to dragging that bin out to the compost heap, though. Maybe I'll just get a new bin and trade lids, then I can use the topsoil in the raised bed.
That really seems like the best idea so far. Still need a power drill and some PVC pipe. I was considering using Mary's power drill, but I really need one of my own. Besides, knowing me, I'll forget to take it back and start an international incident. I have to go to the store anyway to get a lightbulb for the fish tank.

Gloomy day.

2005-02-26T07:40:00.000-06:00

More rain, although this time it's kind of a gentle drip instead of a downpour. A gentle drip that's lasted all day, unfortunately. I don't know how good it will be for my veggies, but my flowers are going to eat this up!
Shooting for next week to get the raised bed built, but I might have found a source of free lumber and stones! I'm going to go to the gravel pit behind our house and ask them if I can raid their trash heap. There's some chicken wire in there that I could really put to good use.

Roots and Shoots

2005-02-25T17:45:00.000-06:00

More damage control on the worm bin today, I'm afraid. It still looks like 14 gallons of mud, so I buried another couple of shredded newspapers in there in an attempt to soak up some of the water. The first layer did a pretty good job, so I pushed the second down as far as I could. What I need is a cordless drill so I can get the darn thing to drain.
Replanted the catnip in a container with better drainage, so hopefully it won't have drowned already. Good news, though! I was turning the humus in the planter with the tomato and cilantro seeds and discovered a teeny-tiny shoot poking out of one of the cilantro seeds that had gravitated to the surface! There were more of these little ones, so I covered them a little better and left them alone. Looks like Lefty and I'll have spicy goodness soon!
While on a walk today I found a real treasure in someone else's garbage. Here's a pretty good photo of it on the grass.

Empty drawer...so full of potential!

The rest of the chest of drawers wasn't salvageable, but this drawer was in perfect condition and the wood isn't treated. I'm not entirely sure I trust it enough to grow food, but it'll look great with some flowers in it. To that end, I planted some impatiens today too.
One great surprise today was that the little tree or bush that's growing between the cracks of the sidewalk is budding. I was planning to just cut it back, but now that it's covered with all these little green buds, I think I'll just tie it back and see what comes of it. I can always trim it later if necessary.

More Rain

2005-02-24T17:49:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a real deluge last night, there was no real work to be done in the garden today other than damage control. Despite the fact that I covered the worm bin, it was filled nearly to the top with water that seeped through the holes. This really illustrates the importance of setting up your bin a week or so ahead of time -- if my worms had been in the bin, they all would have drowned. I'm going to have to figure out another system.
My catnip was flooded too, and as rain in Texas sometimes comes with a cold front, I moved all the smaller plants into the house. So now my patio garden is temporarily known as my "dining room table garden." If my cats won't leave them alone, it's going to be the "laundry room garden." I'm going to have to keep an eye on the Weather Channel website if I'm going to buy lumber.
Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow.

Raised Bed Sketch

2005-02-23T22:08:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's raining again! I had to cover my worm bin to avoid another flood, and even so I'm going to have to sit it out in the sunlight tomorrow. I need to figure out some sort of rainwater diversion system, maybe to divert the water into the garden eventually, when it's finished.
It's doubtful that I'll make it to the hardware store tomorrow, but I'll jot down a couple of things so I can check the price.

cordless drill
untreated lumber
screws
plastic sheeting or tarp
PVC pipe and fittings
large suction cups

The suction cups aren't for the garden, they're for a shower perch for my bird. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to buy them. Here's a rough sketch of what the garden bed should look like from the measurements I took earlier. It's not to scale, but the proportions are about right.

I promise it's not a coffin.

My biggest concern now is the rain. I absolutely cannot use treated lumber because it releases arsenic into your garden, but I'm concerned about water damage. I wonder if plain carnuba wax would be an appropriate sealant, healthwise.

Taking Measurements

2005-02-23T18:15:00.000-06:00

Last night it rained - blech. As a result my worm bin is mostly mud today and I neglected to buy a cultivator or spade. Who knew so much water could go through those little holes?
As a result, most of the garden time today was spent turning over mud and humus and discovering that the newspaper at the bottom was still dry as a bone. Great.
A drive over to the Bait Barn in Bryan revealed that Decker Worm Sales in Magnolia is the closest worm dealer at only 50 miles away. More good news.
I added some more humus to the bin and went to pick up my gardening tools. While I was there a packet of catnip seeds caught my eye. My cats adore the stuff, even my antisocial one, so I thought it would be a nice treat for them.
Came home to meet the UPS guy, who was delivering my organic bird food from Harrison's. Usually, mail order is more trouble than it's worth but I got lucky today -- instead of styrofoam peanuts, the food was packed in the neat biodegradable ones that are slowly starting to replace them! Of course, I went straight to the worm bin.

Before

So here they are in the worm bin. They're made of starch, so they degrade at an incredible rate and are perfect for the compost heap or worm bin. There weren't enough in the box to make an actual layer, but this was pretty good.

After

About 30 seconds after being hosed down, the peanuts are nothing more than a soupy mess that is ready to mix into the rest of the worm bedding. Once the worms are actually installed, I'll partially degrade them before I put them in so as not to drown the worms.
Finally, I took some quick measurements for the garden bed before it got dark. I'm going to sketch out a quick plan and make a list of what I need to buy, which I'll probably post here later. Slowly but surely, this thing is coming together.

What is vermicomposting?

2005-02-22T20:16:00.000-06:00

Put simply, vermicomposting is the process of composting garbage by using worms as the middleman. In traditional composting, natural beneficial bacteria do all the work, "heating" the pile to speed decomposition. Unfortunately for the apartment or duplex dweller, most compost heaps require a substantial amount of space. It is also helpful for the bottom of the pile to be on the bare earth or grass so bugs, other bacteria and insects can come up into the pile.
My patio is one solid slab of concrete, the same kind most apartments have, with the only access to grass behind a wooden fence. For this kind of environment, vermicomposting is a perfect solution. It's fairly easy and inexpensive to set up and maintain, requires very little space and has little to no aroma.
So what does it involve? In the most basic of terms, an aerated container, some worms (redworms work best) and some worm bedding. Worms love all kinds of garbage and will eat voraciously as long as you provide them with plenty to eat and a nice, dark, moist home. What do you get in return? Worm castings!
Worm castings are one of nature's premium fertilizers. Rich in nutrients, low in odor and mild enough not to burn the roots of tender garden plants, worm castings are ideal for both the patio gardener and the traditional farmer. From the worm's digestive system to tasty veggies in just two steps...yum!
More info on vermicomposting can be found here. => The Worm Woman

Worm Bin Setup 101

2005-02-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

After a quick supply run to get the necessary items (like the tape measure I forgot to buy yesterday), I'm ready to set up my worm bin!
Supplies:

Shredded newspaper (1 weekday edition)
Organic humus
Organic topsoil
18 gallon plastic tub (unfortunately couldn't find a recycled one)
Utility Knife

I carefully cut three holes in the top of the tub in a sort of v-shape to serve as aeration ports. This is where I'm going to put the aeration system once I get the pipe and drill. Then I put about 2 inches of humus on the bottom, layering it evenly with shredded newspaper and topsoil until it reached the lip of the container. I saturated the whole mix with water from the hose until it looked pretty muddy, then added a final layer of humus.

Later tonight, I'll check on it. Once the paper absorbs the water and the whole mess dries out a little, I'll fluff it up with a garden spade and make another dirt and paper lasagne on top. This should make a nice, rich loam for the worms by the time they arrive.

Worm bin Stage 1 - See the holes in the lid?

Worm Supplier - Magnolia, TX

2005-02-21T22:29:00.000-06:00

Redworms, the preferred kind for vermicomposting, are only $21.95/pound at Decker Worm Sales and Rabbit Farm (http://www.deckerwormsales.com)in Magnolia, Texas.
Not only does their pound estimate about 1200 worms (where others average 1000), they offer free shipping and worms are guaranteed not to be DOA. Something to think about if you're patio gardening in Texas.

Step One - Cleaning The Patio

2005-02-21T19:15:00.000-06:00

Getting any garden started is big work, especially if you're nearing the planting season. So, in order to get myself motivated, I went to pick up a few things at the store. I'm working on a very limited budget, so rest assured I am using the very least expensive route wherever possible. Here's my list of starter purchases...

Gardening gloves
Small planter box (recycled plastic)
2 Bags Organic Humus
Spray nozzle
Seed packets (tomato, cilantro, carrot, squash, lettuce, green onion)

As far as seed buying, I tried to pick things that I would definitely eat. Years ago, my stepfather grew a bumper crop of tomatillos, only to find out that no one in our family liked tomatillos. I feel very sympathetic toward my mom's Secret Santa recipient that year.
First things first, I had to clean the patio. We moved into this apartment about 6 months or so ago and piled all the cardboard boxes on the back of the patio, then promptly forgot about them. Rain happens, especially near the coast, and by the time I got to them today I needed garden gloves in a serious way. I would much rather have recycled them, but I didn't have a place to dry them out and the BCS recycling program won't take wet cardboard.
After I had taken half of the boxes away, I let the other half dry while I filled the little planter with humus. Tomato seedlings need to be prepared in a small container beforehand, and it's humid enough right now for them to germinate outside, along with some tasty cilantro.
The humus itself had a wonderful, earthy smell to it and Lefty (my parrot, who was sitting on my shoulder) was making little happy sounds. I spread the tomato seeds on top of the humus and covered them with 1/4" of soil, then watered them until the soil was just moist. The cilantro (which grows like a weed in certain soils) was just scattered around the edges.
Under the rest of the cardboard boxes I was excited to find two plump worms who were eager to volunteer for the newly opened position of "aerating my planter box." They were just as happy to get into some damp soil, and I let them get accustomed to one another while I nailed an old board to one of the fence supports to serve as a makeshift shelf.

This is what I have to work with so far. Boring!

With the patio cleaned and the planter on the shelf, there was nothing else to do today but shred myself some worm bedding. Old newspapers are excellent worm bedding, and I saved the dry ones along with some humus and dryer lint. Tomorrow I'll get a tub and maybe some worms to go along with it.

Why Patio Gardening?

2005-02-21T16:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my blog dedicated to the art of patio gardening. I've lived in apartments and small spaces most of my married life and always envied people who were able to go out and work in the garden. Since I recently became unemployed, I decided to put my spare time to good use and figure out a way to create my own garden on our patio!
Please keep in mind when you're reading this blog that I have never done this before and am making up most of this as I go. Feel free to post your own tips, tell me what I'm doing wrong and learn from my mistakes! The more of us who do even a little to sustain our natural resources, the better off the earth will be.
Contrary to some people's beliefs, we aren't going to speed up the "Second Coming" by destroying and exploiting our natural resources, so lend a hand and grow a plant! As they say, God helps those who help themselves!