The frames themselves are fairly simple. Just regular lumber screwed together. DO NOT USE TREATED LUMBER – the chemicals will leach into the soil and contaminate the plants. The wood is sitting on TOP of the ground, so it should hold up for a long time. The fencing posts ARE treated (we couldn’t find non treated ones), but they are 0n the OUTSIDE of the framing (and aren’t sunk into the ground) so leaching shouldn’t be a problem.

Filed under: container gardening, Our Garden, Square Foot Gardening, Vegetable, Water conservation | 1 Comment »

While reading an excellent website called the Yardstead, I learned about the Dervaes family – a truly remarkable story.
This is the urban garden on steroids. On a lot almost exactly the same size as ours (1/5 of an acre overall, with about 1/10 of an acre available for planting), they manage to produce 6000 pounds of produce per year. SIX THOUSAND POUNDS. They use 6 kilowatts of energy per day. The can, dry, freeze and ferment. They have livestock! AND BEES (wild bees, no less). They conserve water like crazy.

Filed under: Soil Amendment, Urban Gardening, Water conservation | No Comments »

Eight barrels, all hooked together, attached to the downspout of the gutter which runs from the roof of the back deck. A drip hose running out into the garden. That was the plan. Sounds simple enough.

Filed under: Our Garden, Water conservation | 5 Comments »

So between wanting to be environmentally conscious, trying to save a little money and wanting to insure that we would actually HAVE water for the garden if there were rationing,

Filed under: Our Garden, Water conservation | 2 Comments »

Us city folk are so used to turning on a faucet and having water pressure, that it sometimes surprises us that first time we turn the faucet on our first rain barrel and don’t have the equivalent of a garden hose. The only pressure that a rain barrel hose has is from the weight of the water in the barrel.

Filed under: Our Garden, Water conservation | 6 Comments »