15 Reasons to Grow Your Own Food

It's probably not possible to grow everything you eat. Even if you grow an organic garden in your backyard, grow your own chickens, rabbits, and goats, it might prove difficult to swear off processed foods completely.  This article from Rodale.com provides some pretty good reasons why it's important to understand the food we are eating: The 15 Grossest Things You Are Eating.

Growing your own food doesn't need to be expensive.
This above ground bed was purchased for $30 from Home Depot.
It's hard to see because we just planted it, but this 4' x 4' bed
contains 3 rows of onions, a row of carrots, a row of radishes,
3 collard greens, and 2 blackberry bushes. Eventually the bushes will
take over, but in the meantime I'm taking advantage of every
square inch of growing space.

Basement Gardening Project - Day 6

This afternoon I added nutrient to my first water resevoir in preparation for planting the first kale seedlings tomorrow morning.  I hope the nutrient will penetrate the hydroton a little overnight and help my seedlings survive the crucial first 24 hours after transplanting.

I am using Botanicare's Pure Blend Pro Grow Vegetative Formula 3-2-4 for my basement hydro gardening project.

So far the hardest part of the project has been getting my seedlings to "harden off".  I've previously tried to germinate seeds indoors a couple of times with poor results.  This third time has been no different. 

I've ended up with long seedling plants that are tall, but lacking in girth.  I can only guess that when seedlings are sprouted outdoors the wind and weather helps toughen up the plants a little. Indoors I haven't been able to get the same results. I've always assumed it was the lighting conditions, but in this attempt the seeds were germinated on my kitchen table and lighting is definitely not an issue.

Basement Hydroponics Project - Day 5

I have fully assembled my basement hydroponics deep water culture system.  Tomorrow I plan to add some collard and kale seedlings that have been growing in my dining room for a couple of weeks.

As I'm looking at this photo of my set-up I am realizing that I could have gotten away with shorter lengths of air line. The lights are going to be lowered to within a few inches of the net pots, but harvesting, accessing the inside of the container to check nutrient levels, or maintenance on the air bubblers would have required disconnecting the air lines to raise the lights. I was careful to cut each air line the exact same length so each tub receives the same air level. In this case, I think it's a typical "six of one and half a dozen of another" scenario.

Here's a closer view of the net pots, air lines and storage tubs.  I struggled with the decision not to reconfigure the air lines. To avoid the hassle of turning everything around so the air lines would be in the rear of the table and out of the way, which also requires me to move the air pump mount, I decided to wait a couple of weeks to make the changes in conjunction with doing the first water/nutrient change.

Each eight gallons of water in the 10 gallon plastic storage tub has 1 large air stone located in the center of the tub.  Hopefully this will help ensure the aeration is consistent throughout the majority of the root zone.

I need to do some additional work on the way this air pump is mounted. The pump has rubber feet to reduce vibration, but since it's mounted under the floor near my upstairs living room area the vibration causes a little more noise that I predicted.  I think that will be easily remedied with a minor modification to the mounting method by installing two more hooks so that all four rubber feet are out of contact with the wooden floor joice.

One pump provides air for all four tubs.  Here's a close-up of the "bubbling".

This is my first time using hydroton as a growing medium. I wasn't sure it would wick water very well and was prepared to hand water my seedlings for a week or so, but this picture was taken a couple of hours after adding water to the tubs and the hydroton actually wicks very well.

Seed Order

Tonight I placed a seed order with Johnny's Selected Seeds for my basement hydroponic project. I would have purchased seeds for the project locally, if I could have found any. Growing indoors outside of the traditional outdoor growing season does make it a little more difficult to find seed.


Here's a screen capture from the order screen:

Product ID:	Product	Quantity	Price
242G.10	Ripbor (F1) (OG)-Mini Vegetables > Kale & Collards > Green Kale	1	$6.50
428G.11	Waldmann's Dark Green (OG)-Packet Vegetables > Lettuce > Leaf > Greenleaf	1	$3.95
2571G.11	Corvair (F1) (OG)-Packet Vegetables > Spinach > Smooth-Leaf	1	$2.95
2116.11	Flash (F1)-Packet Vegetables > Kale & Collards > Collards	1	$2.95

I buy organic seeds whenever possible and as a result I end up paying a little more for seed than I would buying it at the local big box store. I like to use high quality untreated seed as much as practical. Johnny's sells treated seed too, but you can request untreated seed in your order. They also have a nice selection of heirloom seeds, which I'll be using in my outside garden next spring.

Aquaponics System Update

Today I received the pond pump for the Do-It-Myself Aquaponics System that I am building.  Many people would call it a Do-It-Yourself System, but since I'm actually doing it myself I have changed up the name a little.  And, in the interest of full disclosure I should also add that I am receiving lots and lots of advice and guidance from my new Internet friends at the AquaponicsCommunity.com and Aquaponic Lynx LLC. 

I decided to got with Quiet One 4000 Pond Pump manufactured by Lifeguard Aquatics.  The pump is capable of 991 GPH and has the following features as posted on the Lifeguard Aquatics website:

• ECO-SAV to generate more power with less electricity consumption
• Internal recirculation prevents overheating and ejects obstructing debris
• Corrosion resistant ceramic bearings
• Cooling chambers to provide air-cooling during use

The 4000 has enough power to run an indexing valve if I decide to expland my system with more grow beds later, but it's still in the affordable category for my very non-commercial backyard gardening application.  And perhaps best of all, Aquaponic Lynx (known through the world as TCLynx on aquaponics discussion forums) has been using a similar pump for quite a while and has validated that the 4000 is capable of working well in conjunction with an indexing valve.  She likes them so much in fact that she decided to represent the company and sell the pumps on her aquaponics website.  I felt more comfortable buying a brand and model that someone else has actually used. That's one of the advantages of dealing with someone you at least know a little about versus taking your chances with a random online product purchase.

I also got some gravel guards to protect the stand pipes for the system.  I've ordered some Uniseals as well, but those haven't arrived yet.

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Grab a Hat

Today I want to discuss an often overlooked, but vitally important gardening tool - a wide brimmed hat.

My Barmah Hat

My hat of choice is an Australian style Barmah hat like the one in the picture above.  A baseball cap is better than no hat at all, but a wide brimmed hat offers much better protection from the sun.

I started losing my hair in college and it's so short these days that I decided to shave it all off completely. I use 55 SPF sunscreen, but before I spend more than a few minutes outside in the sun I grab my hat for added protection.

Even if you still have your hair, any exposed skin can sunburn pretty quickly during gardening season.  Ears, neck, face, lips, and even eyelids are at risk to too much sun exposure.  An occasional sunburn might not concern you, but it does build up over time. Repeated sun exposure and sun burn over a number of years begins to add up and can damage your skin causing wrinkles, age spots, or worse. 

Do yourself a favor....grab a hat the next time you head out to the garden.

Growing Cucumbers in a Container

We're growing cucumbers in an Earthbox container.  We have four plants that are getting closer and closer to blooming.  They've really grown a lot in the last two weeks as the weather has warmed up to the mid-70's consistently.


I've never used mulch covers before, but they work very well. They prevent
weeds and over watering in addition to holding in moisture that wicks upwards
 from the water resevoir.





The instructions recommend planting the cucumbers
toward the rear of the container.  This allows the vines
to spread forward over the front of the container. 

These pictures demonstrate the importance of placing your growing container on a level surface.  The peppers in the left hand side of the box are not growing as fast as those in the right side of the box.  When we planted the cucumber seeds the right hand side was lower than the left side, so the two right plants got more moisture and grew faster.  After a couple of weeks I figured this out and leveled the container a little better. Now the smaller plant is making up for lost time.

I don't we'll get enough cucumbers to make pickles, but we'll how it goes. I might need to add another box or two next season if the cucumbers turn out well.

How to Harvest Worm Castings

Many gardeners use compost piles to dispose of yard clippings, leaves, and other types of yard refuse. Traditionally, this has been done via "hot composting" methods by combining "greens" and "browns" to create decomposition. Other gardeners use red wigglers to help with the process. It's a little faster process by getting the worms to do some of the dirty work.

I don't have a hot compost pile yet, but I've been composting my kitchen scraps, newspapers, cardboard, coffee grounds, and smaller amounts of leaves with worms for the past two years with nice results. We use the resulting worm castings as a soil amendment in our garden, potted plants, and flower beds.

Here's a video with a cheap and easy tip for reducing the time it takes to harvest the worm castings and separate the red wigglers.

Vegetable Quiz

Can you identify all the vegetables in this picture?

 The picture quality isn't great because it was taken with a cell phone, but this week's share of the CSA harvest was impressive. 

Upside Down Tomato Planters

I've spent the last couple of weeks exploring ideas to maximize food production with a minimum of space.  Upside down hanging planters seem like a good idea, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of their effectiveness.  I'm looking forward to trying them out though.  I'll get my chance pretty soon, because I broke down and ordered the "tree version" of the most popular commercial brand name upside down tomato planter.

I'm sure I could have made one from a two gallon or five gallon plastic bucket, but $49.99 for the commercial version looked pretty good in the A.M. Leonard Gardener's Edge catalog.  The tree is a free standing metal hanger product that allows the hanger and plants to be suspended independently.  This eliminates the need to anchor the hanger onto anything.

After reading some of the mixed reviews at Amazon.com, I developed a slight case of buyer's remorse but I'll be able to test this impulse purchase out pretty soon.  Who knows, maybe it really does work as advertised?  I really hope so. Here's the version I purchased:  Hanging Tomato Tree  I plan to try egg plant instead of tomatoes though.

Amazon.com does have one review from someone who re-used the product for four growing seasons before needing a replacement.  I hope it works that well for me. 

Gardener's Supply Company has a similar product.  The bag portion of the container seems a little more durable than the plastic bag design in the competitor's version.

Hybrid or Non-Hybrid, GMO or Heirloom?

We started our vegetable gardening last season with seed supplies purchased at Lowes and Home Depot without regard to whether they were genetically modified, treated with chemicals, or a hybrid variety.  This year we did purchase a few transplants from Lowes to use in my deep water culture hydroponic experiment, but most of the actual seeds we planted were certified organic varieties.  Next year I plan to focus on heirloom seeds and organic heirlooms if I can find them.

If you're like me, some of these terms might be new to you.  I'm not an expert, but I can use the Google search engine tools quite well.  Here are a few items I found that you might find interesting:


Hybrid:  Most seeds available for sale today are hybrid varieties that are resistant to disease and drought tolerant.

According to GardeningKnowHow.com, "Hybrid seeds are produced by companies through careful pollination of two specific varieties. Normally, this highly selective plant breeding is done to bring together two traits in each of the chosen varieties so that the resulting seed has both of the traits."

If you live in an area prone to drought, heat, pests, etc. hybrid seeds might offer an advantage over non-hybrid varieties.  Typically, hybrid seed varieties do not lend themselves to seed saving programs. 

Non-Hybrid:  There are definitely advantages and dis-advantages to non-hybrid seeds.

According to Non-Hybrid-Seeds.com, "Seed varieties are being bred for many, many reasons. Typically for disease and pest resistance, look, transportability and other commercial criteria. Nutritional content is simply not one of the primary or typical criteria of the 'hybridization' movement."

Many people feel that non-hybrid seeds provide more nutrition and are lower cost.  With non-hybrid seeds, saving seeds from season to season is possible. 

GMO:  GMO is an acronym which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms.  

According to a GMO discovery guide published via CSA.com, "GMO's [are] most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content."

I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you like or dislike the idea of your vegetables being resistant to herbicides.  While it may unavoidable for most corporate growers, backyard vegetable gardens can and do flourish without the use of herbicides and insecticides.

Heirloom:  Many people feel that heirloom vegetables are unbeatable for taste and freshness. 

According to HeirloomSeeds.com, "Heirlooms are always open-pollinated varieties.  This means that if the seeds produced from the plant are properly saved, they will produce the same variety year after year.   This cannot be done with hybrids, which are a cross between two separate varieties, as the seed produced from those plants will either be sterile, or start to revert back to the parent plants." 

Heirloom seeds might be a little more difficult to grow for inexperienced gardeners, but with some research, understanding, and minimal gardening experience those challenges can be overcome. 

I've Got Worms!

I've been vermicomposting (composting with help from red wigglers) for 2 years.  Vermicastings are not only a valuble soil amendment for your lawn, flower beds, and shrubs, but they are also helpful in the garden. Now that the main gardening season is winding down here in Florida, I am gearing up to prepare an additional above ground bed and to improve the soil my existing beds.

I started with 1 lb of eisenia foetida red worms and they've multiplied into more than 7 lbs of worms.  Actually, I'd probably have a whole lot more at this point, but I've sold about 8 -9 lbs to friends, family, and others interested in composting with worms. 

Worm castings really won't work effectively as the primary bedding material for gardening, but in my experience they will help improve growth and vitality when mixed in with other materials.  There's tons of university research available online that will help explain the science behind the vermicast, so I won't attempt to go into the details.  I'll leave that to the experts with Ph d in their titles who have actually done scientific studies.  My research is purely based on my own personal seat-of-the-pants use of the castings for the past two years. 

Here's a picture of African Violet plant that we purchased from Lowe's for a dollar. It was an $8 plant marked down because it was basically dead. Worm castings have revitalized the plant into its' present condition.

Earthbox Garden Kit

Using an Earthbox Garden Kit can be a great way to start growing your own garden. 

In some areas, it's not practical to plant seeds in the ground.  Not all soil is fertile. Some soil is contaminated. Some is too sandy. Some has too much clay.  The Earthbox provides an alternative.

Product description from Amazon.com:

The patented EarthBox was developed by commercial farmers and proven in the lab and on the farm. This maintenance-free, award-winning, high-tech growing system controls soil conditions, eliminates guesswork and more than doubles the yield of a conventional garden with less fertilizer, less water and virtually no effort!

We've recently purchased an Earthbox for our own use.  We plan to include it as a part of our own comprehensive backyard food growing strategy. Read more about the Earthbox and it's inventor, Blake Whisenant.

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