Dresser planter

We inherited a dresser turned counter a while back when some family members decided they no longer wanted it. To be honest, the thing was too ugly for us to use so it sat in the garage until today when I decided to turn it into a planter.

As you can see, I cut out most of the top and plan to fill the top drawers with soil and compost. Once set up, we will have herbs in the top and strawberries growing out of the bottom two drawers. Just as with the SFG boxes, I have drilled drainage holes in the bottoms of the drawers to help prevent rain drowning the plants.

To keep from filling the bottom drawers with soil, I will nail some wood, probably from what I took off the top, as new backs to them. It will look pretty cool, and it will at least serve a purpose now rather then to take up space in the garage. I had considered putting it on freecycle but I think this is probably a better use considering the condition it was in anyway.

When it is set up I will post new pics so everyone can admire my handiwork.

By the way, I have written a bit more of a description on making the planter here.

Photos taken with Canon Powershot A570is

Planting the boxes

Well I finally planted the first stage of my two boxes today. I was putting it off so I could set up a self watering system but was unable to get the things I needed to make it work soon enough. I will keep collecting what I need and set it up for next year. We have also been having some odd days of hail rain and snow that had me worried about it being too cold.

So far I have planted corn, carrots and tomatoes as you can see mapped in the pictures. In about two weeks I will plant peas in with the corn as well as some zucchini or possibly even pumpkins. That is a lot of stuff, but I am confident they will grow. I will just have to be sure to put in some more compost and miracle grow which, according to the label is organic too.

I am direct sowing everything which as far as I can tell is sure to doom the entire garden anyway. The way I figure it, farmers don't plant thousands of corn plants and start them above their fridge, so why should I? This is my lazy square foot garden and I am supposed to let nature do the work with minimal input from me, not the other way around. That's what I keep telling myself anyway, and if Mr. Fukuoka can just toss his seeds out every year, why can't I?

So keep your fingers crossed with me and let's hope for the best.

Photos taken with Canon Powershot A570is

Some thoughts on watering

I know, I know, how difficult can watering a garden be?

The thing is I currently have three criteria I am trying to meet while setting this up. First, because this is my lazy square foot garden I want a system that requires very little work on my part once it is set up. Second, I want to be as conservative in my water usage as I can. Third, it needs to be cheap.

One of the most conservative methods I have run across uses pottery vases called Ollas which are buried, filled with water and slowly feed the plants as water seeps through the pores of the vase. Combine that with rainwater harvesting and you have a good lazy way to water while conserving water at the same time.

Unfortunately, the Ollas are too large to work in a square foot garden. That and I am not set up for rainwater harvesting. The expense of setting up for both is beyond my budget at this time.

Another method that somewhat meets the lazy criteria is similar to hydroponics. As long as you keep the water reservoir full the roots of the plant suck up as much as they need. As the water level lowers the roots grow keeping in contact with the water.

Here is a video showing how you can build a self watering system for individual plants. Similar to hydroponics except instead of the roots growing to meet the water they use twine to suck the water up to the plant from below. This is also a great way to recycle old water and soda bottles.

I am working out the details to combine these methods to allow me to provide just enough water for the plants to thrive but to do so even if I'm out of town on a camping trip this summer.

I will post the details when we return from our trip in mid April. I still need to look at supplies and what I have laying around to see exactly how I will set this up. As I put it together I will take pictures to document my progress.

Until then check out the video and the link to the Ollas.

Photography by Patrick Bürgler

My Lazy Square Foot Garden

My lazy square foot garden is where I will keep track of my experiences both good and bad as I set about proving even an average guy like me can grow edible food with little or no experience and even less space. This is one of many steps I am taking along my journey of going green.

My first experience with gardening was last summer where I grew a small variety of vegetables and showed my children that produce really doesn't come from the supermarket shelf.

Along with chronicling my crazy adventure, I hope to show there are more benefits than simply growing my own vegetables. For example, my children get to enjoy picking the produce eaten with our meals as well as watch the critters that are lured into our yard. In addition, I hope to lower our summertime air conditioning bill by shading our living room windows as well as our back deck preventing heat from radiating into our living room.

Because we have a small backyard I chose to use the square foot gardening method. As you will see I did not use Mel's Mix. Instead, I used a variety of soil and compost mixes that were bought in discount stores at low prices because the bags were torn. The garden boxes are on legs on my back deck so they do not take up yard space leaving that for my children and the rest of the deck for us.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos on the site are taken by me or my family. We're not professionals and calling us amateurs is giving us a bit more credit than we deserve. Chances are, if the picture turned out well it is because of the camera. If you like them, the camera that took them can be found here.


Photos taken with Canon Powershot A570is