...the garden is my current obsession and I am so excited about how it is starting to take form. I am also concious that once term starts again weekends seem to disappear too fast. The garden will probably go into state of 'growing & maintenance' rather than 'designing & building'.
Last weekend we tackled what is undoubtedly the biggest single job within the wider project. The 'Vegetables - Square Foot Garden - Raised Planter'.
If you are wondering what the hell is Square Foot Gardening, this was new to me only a couple of weeks ago. Google it and/or look here:
http://www.squarefootgardening.org
After many hours of research on the internet (again) I worked out what I wanted, but, I couldn't find anyone in Australia who stocks this sort of thing and to get something from overseas will take 2-3 months (and goes against the spirit of the project). After discussing (whinging) with Matt we decided to attempt a DIY. Matt and I are both a little crafty, but I was a bit dubious about tackling such a big project ourselves. Below is the outcome, and I am pretty darn proud of it (so far).
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| The base - plywood on rails |
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The ends of the box
and yes... Matt has a red fauxhawk for those who haven't seen it :) |
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The sides of the box
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Supervisor - his new favourite spot, the worm farm ?!?!
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| Box onto the base... my turn with the drill |
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| Almost finished, sort of. |
We couldn't get trestles in the size we wanted and while we knew these ones would be big we thought they might do. Nope. I can barely reach the back and the whole thing looks and feels not secure. We have since drawn more plans and will be back to Bunnings over the weekend for the parts to make legs. I may be on holidays but Matt is not and I would prefer his help with this.
Meanwhile...
I mentioned before that I have decided to keep the worm farm, here's the long version why. The worm farm was very neglected for a range of reasons including spiders and dark evenings, instead, we have started using a Bokashi bin and I love it! With the Bokashi it stays indoors, for us, next to the main & recycling bins. It doesn't stink!!! and it can take a lot things the worm farm can't (onions, citrus and meat). Once full, the recommendation is to bury the contents into your garden (um...) or into a hot compost, not worms - they don't like it. So... I tried to find a composter small enough for our balcony with no luck. There were a few available, but only overseas and most people complained that they didn't really work. I did find a couple of blogs/people who had tried putting their Bokashi contents into a worm farm with success, so I thought lets give it a go. The bucket was full a couple of weeks ago so had already sat fermenting. I restocked the worm farm (when I looked there was one lonely worm left alive) last Monday and on Friday put in a couple of large scoops from the Bokashi bin. I added some 'worm conditioner', a handful of potting mix scattered over the top and a worm blanket to reduce the acidity and improve the conditions for the worms. This morning (Wednesday) I checked the worm farm and they seem to love it (too!). All the worms are alive and squirming around in the Bokashi contents, not their original bedding. My verdict (so far)... you CAN put Bokashi bin contents into a worm farm. Now, I just need to chat with work as I no longer have a spare worm farm to donate :)
Meanwhile...
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