Worm Compost Tower Creates And Delivers Compost Naturally

From a post on Treehugger.com

After spending $200+ on my tumbler compost bin, seeing this MacGyver in-garden worm composter brings on a little Jubbling envy. It’s a basic idea and seems like it should work. The video explains it – put your compost solution directly in your garden, in this case a bottom perforated PVC pipe, and create and distribute your compost at the same time. Cut out the middleman, which is you, and put the worms in charge of spreading the compost

How Much Space Do You Need For a Vegetable Garden?

From Vegetable Gardener

Millie- This is what mine looks like now, except I am using the fence to trellis tomatoes and cucumbers on.

This vegetable garden is in a Brooklyn backyard.

Photo by canarsiebk under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.

Not much. Truthfully, it depends on the types of veggies you want to grow and how many. But you’ll want to know what you have to work with before you choose your vegetable seeds or seedlings. For example, if your kids really want to grow giant pumpkins, a good-sized part of the yard or a large raised bed could easily be devoted to pumpkins. But, one thing is for sure, you absolutely do not need what is referred to to as "land" to plant a vegetable garden. Not even close.

There are ways around to successfully grow sprawling veggies like pumpkins and other squash. One way would be to "train" the vines by physically aiming them in a direction and pruning them to keep only several vines. If you prune, remember that you’ll harvest less fruit than if the plant was left to its own devices. Another way to save space with vining veggies is to grow them vertically.

There are some veggies take to containers with ease. Carrots, peppers, and lettuce come to mind. Tomatoes usually do well in containers, although if you let them dry out to the point where the soil pulls away from the sides of the container, they may never forgive you which can affect their performance by producing less fruit.
In fact, if you think of containers as basically small raised beds, it’s hard to think of anything that wouldn’t grow in them. One thing that’s different about containers versus raised beds is that the container will dry out faster because it has sides above ground that absorb the heat.

When choosing a container, take into consideration the mature size of the vegetable plant. Hanging baskets along the eaves of the sunny side of your house can work, too. Creative containers such as the Topsy Turvy hanging tomato planter is also a good option.

If you know you’re going to need more space, have you considered working it into yourlandscaping? What about your lawn? Many people have front and back lawns that aren’t used at all. They’re watered, mowed, and they add some green to the yard. But have you ever thought about if you’re using them? So, step outside and take a look at your lawn. Are you willing to give some of it up?

If you’re absolutely certain that you either have nowhere to plant or you honestly do need more space, consider a community garden. Many cities shave a community gardens where you can lease a plot for the year (and beyond). The nice thing about gardening in a large space among other gardeners is camaraderie, the guidance, and chance to share your vegetables with other gardeners.

Will Urban Gardens Wilt Post-Recession?

City gardening is often heralded as a modern solution adopted by crafty urban developers and foodies. But urban gardening during times of economic and political turmoil is as deep-rooted in the American tradition as apple pie. Take the Panic of 1893: The U.S. was caught in a serious economic recession (sound familiar?), unemployed factory workers filled the streets, scant social assistance programs existed, and cities were in full-blown panic mode. Enter “Potato Patch Farms,” an urban gardening initiative that also began in Detroit. Mayor Hazen Pingree’s program connected unemployed families with unused city land and provided them with farming materials and education. More than 1,700 families took advantage of Pingree’s program, and the idea spread to 18 other cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle—some of the leaders of today’s urban farming boom.

To read the whole article-  Good Magazine

How To Build a Sub-Irrigated Grow Bucket from ONE Bucket

Materials needed;

One 5 gallon bucket with lid– these are available from your hardware store, but they are pricey at about 5 to 7 dollars apiece. I have friends who are in the construction industry so was able to get some from them. When I exhausted that supply I went to Deli’s in my neighborhood and got the buckets they get pickles in.  I washed them with soap and sat them in the sun for a few days to get the pickle smell out.

A few large zip ties
Small saw or sharp knife to cut the lid down.
Drill
1 1/2 foot length of PVC pipe, 2 inch size.
3 plastic 16 ounce Solo cups or other containers to prop up the lid.
1 16 oz. Solo cup to use as a means of osmosis to get moisture to your soil.
window screen- fine mesh
small bag of organic potting soil
small bag of organic compost
small bag of Perlite
an old, or new, pair of cheap pantyhose

1)   First we will be working with the lid. start with cutting it down just a little, remove half of the lip on it.  It should fit down in the bucket about half way.  Take off a bit at a time, you can always take more off!.  In the pic below they have used a bucket bottom, we are going to trim the lid to do this.

2)  Here is a picture of what you are shooting for;  See how you will have one hole in the middle slightly smaller than the rim of one Solo cup?  Then you need one more hole to fit the piece of PVC pipe in.  Make sure you trim the bottom of the PVC at an angle or the water will not flow out effectively.

This picture has many cups under it, I use only three, and PVC instead of the Plastic tube shown.

3)  Get the lid just right and then let’s work on the bucket.  Check where the bucket lid comes to and drill a small hole at that point on the side of the bucket.  This is where the water will drain when you water the plant.

4)  In a separate bucket or container mix the soil, compost and Perlite in equal amounts and mound it up some.

4)  Now place the 3 Solo cups upside down in the 5 gallon bucket.  Take the panty hose and cut each leg off about 14 inches up.  Place one leg in the Solo cup and fill it with the soil mixture.  Dampen the soil, set aside.  Place the lid to the bucket on the upside down cups, slide the PVC pipe in the hole you’ve drilled for it, diagonal side down.  Use zip ties to hold the pipe straight up after drilling two small hone near the top of the bucket. Put the cup with soil in the large hole in the middle.

5)   Place the screen over the whole thing in the bucket and make it come up the side a few inches.  Place the rest of your soil in the bucket so that it comes up to about 2 inches below the rim.  Now water the soil slowly and with a sprinkler head on your water bucket. or hose.  This is the only time you will water from the soil. Normally you water into the tube until it flows out the side hole.

Cucumbers in Grow Bucket growing up a chain.