Mother's Garden.

[Oldman]

I just looked them up.....I'm wondering how in the world Olds made 8 foot ones.  But, he's always had a knack for ingenuity!

The plants in the black container are Pineapples.

As for the soil I make my own. It is "soiless" soil. and all fertilizers are completely organic that I mix myself. This type of container it is a closed system. It has a water reservoir and as such if you use chemical fertilizers by the 3rd year the salt content is so high it will kill your plants.

My soiless mixture now is a living Mico Society. Also between the Society and by pushing the plants with Seaweed and Fish extracts the end results are remarkable.

In this next picture you will see many pups growing on the stock of this pineapple. It is not unusal for me to get 10 -13 pups per plant. In fact you almost cannot see the fruit itself. You could not push a pineapple with the amount of chemical fertilizers as I do organically. Not to mention it takes a good 2 years for one to fruit.


This was my original design 20 years ago.


Living in the city I don't have a lot of room for a garden. This type of gardening allows me to grow more items than if I was in-ground gardening.

One of the things you might want to look up is a book called Square Foot Gardening


I hope this gives you an idea of how to make your own.
Olds

[Smoking Duck]

Wow!  That is absolutely awesome!  I have a garden right now thats been planted, but I see all this unused deck space that makes me believe I could be doing a lot more than what I currently am.  Plus, I give the kids jobs to do in the garden to help teach them responsibility from beginning of a project to the end.  This would be an excellent opportunity to teach them how to care for their environment by doing it all naturally.

Thanks for the great pics, Olds.  Now, I've got a project I'm gonna start working on.

[iceman]

Way to cool Old's. Nice job my man!  :)

[Wildcat]

Plus, I give the kids jobs to do in the garden to help teach them responsibility from beginning of a project to the end.

Responsibility all the way through.   ;) I wish all parents did likewise - I would see fewer kids in my court room.

That is a wonderful set up Olds.

[tsquared]

I just looked them up.....I'm wondering how in the world Olds made 8 foot ones.  But, he's always had a knack for ingenuity!

Some of those Floridian women have long legs. ;D
T2

[Ontrack]

It's pretty bad when you have over 5 acres of beautiful land to have a garden, and end up doing Earthboxes. We've been here 3 years and the deer have eaten just about everything, including most of our landscaping.When we first moved here our neighbors gave us a live wreath for the front door as a housewarming gift. On about our third or fourth night here, still getting used to all of the new noises of a new house, we kept hearing a strange noise at the front door. We looked out the window and watched in amazement as 2 deer stood on our front porch and gorged themselves on our new wreath, leaving nothing but a few peices of wire, a couple of peices of green leaf that they evidently didn't like, and several scratches on the door. For whatever reason, they have never touched the Earthboxes. I have 3, with various hot peppers on each end and tomatoes in the middle, all right between the garage doors. Maybe they don't like the heat or the noise?

[La Quinta]

Olds...first off...very nice boxes...next...that pineapple gig...planted a pineapple...move in 1 year...peeps who bought the house the next year told us how awesome the pineapple was...gotta tell ya...we were pissed...they do take a long time...I guess it was good...:(

[Oldman]

It's pretty bad when you have over 5 acres of beautiful land to have a garden, and end up doing Earthboxes.

Agree... When we had a large garden (when I was a boy) my stepfather used an electicfied fence to keep out the deer etc.. The kind of like what you would use on cattle.

Olds...first off...very nice boxes...next...that pineapple gig...planted a pineapple...move in 1 year...peeps who bought the house the next year told us how awesome the pineapple was...gotta tell ya...we were pissed...they do take a long time...I guess it was good...:(

Pineapples from a crown take at least 24 months. However, any secondary from that plant will take more like 18 months. Some folks will tell you that the secondary (from suckers) are not as good tasting. I can only state that by using a stronger than normal Fish and Seaweed extracts when the fruit first flower that I cannot tell the difference. Normally I apply the fish and seaweed extracts a one ounce each per gallon of water for vegetables. I also used other types of fertilizers i.e. blood, bone meal etc.. This is why a closed system is so effect. Nothing goes to waste or is wash out of a regular container or into the ground.  Do note that the N-P-K rating of organic fertilizers are much lower than chemical.  Don't allow that to worry you.

If someone want to know how to mix organic fertilizers let me know. I will work up a chart where you can mix and match various item.  One other thing. the N-P-K are only 3 of several major items needed. Not to mention the 50 plus micronutrients of the seaweed.

One very important item is to do a balanced compost pile. Once matured take some of it and make a compost tea. Spray that on your plants. You will be surprise at the result and benefits it will give you. I can give the ratios if someone wants.

Any non-reactive container can be made into a Growth Box.

Olds

[Smoking Duck]

I just started reading up on compost piles.  I remember my father doing them when I was a little kid but not so much when I was older and able to learn and remember (he has a horrible back problem).  Anyways, I'd take any and all info you'd like to throw out about compost, fertilizers, etc.

I was reading about the tea you were talking about as well.  Sounds like an awesome way to give them what they need and have it work effectively.

I'm afraid my knowledge is limited in gardening, but as always, I'm willing to learn and pass on to my kids and others.

[Smoking Duck]

It's pretty bad when you have over 5 acres of beautiful land to have a garden, and end up doing Earthboxes. We've been here 3 years and the deer have eaten just about everything, including most of our landscaping.

My parents have the same problem where they live in a suburb of Pittsburgh.  When I visit, it isn't unusual to see 10-20 at a time right in the driveway or in the street.  Something that used to work was soap shavings.  When we lived in Upstate New York, Dad used to shred soap and sprinkle the shavings around a fruit tree he was trying to protect.  However, it seems as if the urban deer no longer really have the fear of human scent as much and am not sure if it would work on them.  Unfortunately, this is what happens when a population gets out of control and because of the human population, hunting isn't or can't be done.

[Tiny Tim]

I looked at this Earthbox thing the other day, and didn't completely understand the concept of the water getting into the soil...how to make the "wick" and other parts.  Got an Earthbox flyer today with my patty press from Cabela's, and went to Earthbox's website to look it over and read how to set it up.  I understand it now, and we may be building one for growing this year...almost certainly for next year.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Oldman]

Some of those Floridian women have long legs.  ;D

To funny as my wife is 5'2" and has eyes of blue...

TT glad to share my ideas with you and all. I got a really neat idea of how to do an easier box. However, I'm so slammed that this idea on the back burner. In fact I can only work on Mother's garden Sunday afternoons and this week I found the the #$%# cabbage loopers had hit her Musk Mellons, and Cantaloupe melons. They are now all in garden hell. Also there is a little powery meldew, but that is easy to take care of. A  mixture 1 to 10  of skim milk and water does the trick. If that does not work I will just give them a bicarb (btw the bicarb mixture I use is also great on black spot in roses.)

Olds