Compost tower. Reach for the sky, tomato plants!
Last week I wrote about posting a picture of the compost tower I set up at Terra farms. You can see from the picture that it’s a simple six-foot high x 2 foot wide cylinder of wire fencing. Filled with hay and eventually green grass cuttings, the theory is that it will slowly compost and leach nutrients into the surrounding soil. Planting a few vining plants around its sides will take advantage of the increased soil fertility around the base of the “tower”, as they climb up for support. Three weeks ago I planted a couple of tomato plants (Gold Medal and Costoluto Genovese) on the south and east sides. I was a little early, and eager as usual. We went back last week to find nary a trace of them. Either cut worms or high winds or a snap freeze disappeared them completely.
Carrying on, we planted three more on three sides. By planting on three sides, we’ll be able to tip the tower over and replenish and turn over with fresh greens to keep the aerobic composting going. For pest and insect management, a few garlic cloves and onion sets were interspersed. Heavy watering, deep mulching, and that’s it, you’re on on your own, plants.
All in all, a productive weekend. We managed to plant potatoes, tomatoes, pole beans, green melons, basil, green zucchini, ground cherries, peas, sweet corn, watermelons, peppers, blackberries, and cucumbers. The onions and potatoes planted a few weeks ago are sprouting, and all is well so far.
Contrary to what I posted over the weekend though, I did forget to bring any good potting soil or worm castings, so my goal of outdoor seed starting will have to wait another couple weeks.
Planting a wide row of russets and reds
Finished potato hill/row, planted, watered and mulched.
The hole at the top right hand of the photo is our experiment with hugelkultur. This is a method of raised bed gardening I first heard about from Paul Wheaton, in an interview on thesurvivalpodcast.com. Originally credited to Sepp Holzer, it basically consists burying wood logs under mounds of soil. As the wood decomposes, it absorbs moisture like a sponge. Whatever is planted in the raised beds will sink tap roots down into the moisture and thus require less watering. Since we didn’t have that much good soil to work with (most of it went to the big potato row), we decided to dig into the clayey sub-soil and bury the wood, and then mound the soil on top of it. By the time we come back, hopefully the eight-ball zucchini we planted on top will have sprouted and gotten a good head of steam.
Hugelkultur - start with burying some logs, mound some dirt, and plant away
South view of the compost tower
I’m envious! You know, we’re still sitting at freezing temperatures up here. The sun has come out and melted the snow that was sitting on the car, but it’s still just 1C (34F).
The compost tower looks cool, but I absolutely LOVE the hugelkultur idea!
Well, it’s nice weather for now, but wait until the heat of summer, with multiple days in temps over a 100 degrees F, and we’ll be wishing we’re up in your neck of the woods.
Great post 101! I love the idea of burying logs. There are a few acres of woods right next to my house so I have access to tons of wood. I am going to try this in the garden.
I really enjoy learning about your innovative gardening methods. Can I vacation at Terra Farms this summer?
everyday tips recently posted..Thoughts For Thursday- Things I Don’t Care About
Come on down! Although eastern OK is not exactly known as a vacation spot, but it sure is close to Eureka Springs and Branson, MO. This is a miniature version of the hukelkultur beds made by Paul Wheaton, which are six foot high have real logs at the bottom.
I’ve never heard of the idea of burying logs before, but it completely makes sense! I’ve watched logs decompose when I lived in Ohio and we had enormous stacks of logs from a few trees we had to cut down. They do indeed trap moisture well! When I get some “earth” to plant in, I’ll try this!
Hi Paula, if the triplex sale goes through, will you have a garden to work with?
I think you’re gardening on land that’s not very close to your home, so I guess that limits the number of visits to your garden. Up here I usually plant potatoes much earlier than the the “warm season” plants you mention: tomatoes, beans, melons, cukes, etc. (I haven’t planted onions in my home garden, but I think they get planted in warmer conditions than potatoes.)
I’ve never tried burying logs (living in the city I don’t have easy access to logs, anyway) but I know that in areas where I’ve added a lot of wood chips the soil builds up nicely and retains a good amount of moisture.
Sounds like a productive gardening day! I’m so behind; usually by this time I’ve sown the cold season things like peas and greens, but I’m not even close to doing so yet.
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Hi Linda, the property is little over an hour away, so I’ve decided not to stress about watering. Whatever is planted will have to either make it, or not. We planted potatoes this late as they were on sale at Lowe’s for a dollar a bag. Couldn’t pass it up.
Very interesting. I’ll be going home in a little over two weeks total time and I can’t wait to start gardening. I’ll be starting off slow under the guidance of my friend. He said I’ll be starting with the absolute basics of tomatoes and cucumber. Awesome work and please keep us posted.
-Ravi Gupta
Ravi Gupta recently posted..There has to be a better way
Hi Ravi, cucumbers are dead easy. Given the limited space in our backyard, I’ve grown vertically on trellises. Now that we have more space to work with, I’ve opted to let them roam horizontally, and see how that works out.
Very impressive, Looks like a lot of work, but I’m sure the end result is great!
Strange that your early tomato plants totally disappeared…
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Hi MR, it’s not a lot of work, it’s a TON of work! But that’s the point. After a day of digging and walking and schlepping wheelbarrows of soil, I feel like I’ve gotten a good workout, and sleep like a baby.
I can’t tell what happened to those two tomato plants…. completely gone.
On your recommendation I’ve been reading Paul Wheatons website nonstop over the last few days. Your soil look fantastic!
You’ve given us one more composting idea to try!
Molly On Money recently posted..Changing Molly
Hi Molly, the richsoil.com site *is* addictive. I’ve downloaded everyone of their podcasts, and just burned through them.
We’ve now mostly run out of the good soil, so the next task for the boys will be making a few compost piles in the spots in the pasture where we “quarried” out the soil.
Can you come over and garden for me? I am tempted to buy one of those upside down tomatoe growers. Food growing is one of those things which is a great idea, but I never actually do it!
Barb Friedberg recently posted..TOP INVESTING & PERSONAL FINANCE WEBSITES excluding blogs
Hi Barb,
Ask me any questions, and I’ll waive the usual consulting fee (zero)…
There are some folks who get results with updside-down growing, but unfortunately I’m not one of them. I got exactly *one* tomato out of two upside-down kits. I finally disposed of one of the the kits at our yard sale, and tossed the other one, which had a broken rim.
[...] great way to save money and eat well is through gardening. Andrew explains his plans to grow tasty veggies. Then once you have home grown tomatoes, why not make a pasta sauce? Kathy shows you how to make [...]
Hi Andrew, I’ve never heard of the hugelkultr or the compost tower before. Those are some interesting ideas.
My backyard is a mess for gardening: shade, decking and/or gravel everywhere. I think I’m going to try some containers this year though. I should start a small compost pile with kitchen scraps too. I will probably move next spring so hopefully the next place will be better.
Jennifer Barry recently posted..A House of Cards- An interview with Nye Lavalle
Hello Jennifer, shade does suck, but it can be overcome. I’ve had cucumbers grow reasonably OK in partial shade. Come to think of it, other plants with large leaves should do well, like most squashes and other cucurbits. I had a patch of orach and New Zealand spinach on the shady south side of the house that just killed it last season. During the hot summer months, that little bed was basically our only source of salad greens.
Never knew you were such the green thumb. Learned something about gardening! Do you eat your harvest to save on money, because they are healthier, or do you actually sell them at your local market? Getting a workout and sleeping like a baby is priceless. Thanks for sharing!
Buck Inspire recently posted..Royal Wedding- Barbara Walters- T-Mobile- and Blog Tips
Two out of three, Buck. It’s healthier, and it’s a great return on investment. Our boys have actually sold some of the produce at their lemonade stand.