Garden Journal: 1 Feb 2009

Finished Self-Watering
Container

Checked the new worm bin and found worms, although I didn't take a full inventory. But it means it took no more than two weeks for some worms to migrate from the old bin to the new bin.

Today I made a self-watering container (http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf), for this sad lemon tree we have that has tended to get neglected and barely clings to life even though it has produced a number of very nice lemons.

Inner bucket

The container is made from two 5-gallon buckets, with the lower bucket acting as the water reservoir and the upper bucket holding the soil. The upper bucket has a small cup that extends down into the lower bucket to act as a wick. The lower bucket has a drain hole that ensures that the water level is always below the level of the soil.

I painted the buckets with spray paint specifically labeled as "bonds to plastic".

I also cut the rebar for the potato tower down to about 4' high to make it easier to weave the bamboo. I did discover that at least green split strips can be bent by hand into hoops and will hold their shape once bent. This suggests the easiest thing may be to form hoops and then add them to the posts, rather than trying to literally weave the bamboo strips. Starting to understand the appeal of the tire approach from a level of effort standpoint.

The cedar pollen levels have fallen way down, so much more pleasant to be outside working on the garden.