This is an update and review on the function of the strawberry barrel project with vermi-compost tube that was planted a few months ago with 3 types of strawberries and home compost. The plants looked great for several weeks and produced well. But I overloaded the vermi-compost tube with too much rotting food at once. The tube went anaerobic fast (too wet and encouraged the wrong microbial work force) and the strawberries on the lower levels burned from the soil chemistry change.
So, the clean out plug at the bottom of the tube was utilized to take all the muck out and start all over. Would highly recommend not omitting that removable clean out plug if you plan on making this! Although removing the sour slop out of the tube improved the plants in the upper levels – it was too late for the lower levels. All of those strawberries burned and died.
But, shortly after the clean out, volunteers sprung out of the home compost and, as shown below, there are now several sunflowers, parsley and a large tomato taking over. I have tucked in a few bok choy starts as well in what was the “dead zone.” so far, all seems to be readjusting, but a great error to add too much food waste at once.
Now I have added a large clump of worms from a healthy bin and have been S L O W L Y adding scraps along with shredded paper to keep from getting too wet. Watering this system has been problematic as things tend to dry out fast at the top and drain slowly at the bottom. Perhaps more sand or vermiculite should have been added in the compost mix at the bottom when planting to help with drainage. It is possible that drilling larger drainage holes at the bottom would help out too. But not a total loss, despite the overload, as I have been harvesting parsley and strawberries from the upper levels. The bok choy on the lower portion look vigorous and with one plant per pocket should give a good crop as well. The monster tomato may turn out to be best part of the error as the black plastic seems to be giving good heat. Stay tuned…
Time had ravaged the old chicken run we built over twenty years ago. The salt air had turned the chicken wire to crumbly rust. The termite tunnels were more extensive than the volume of wood that housed them. Visions of large raccoons plummeting into the rotten structure began to gnaw on my thoughts. It was time to start anew.
Although the old run was originally sturdily built and entirely enclosed, it had never had a proper coop for the girls. Instead there was a bit of a covered structure that kept the rain off and for most of our mild winter weather provided enough cover. Our old fence needed replacing as well. This necessitated a way to secure the hens while portions of the fence were down to keep the neighbor dogs – good dogs.
Now if you have shopped around for chicken coops in the central coast/bay area recently, even the shabbiest used coop can cost a chunk of change. Building a coop from scratch (no pun intended) was appealing but would cost time and pushed back getting that new fence installed.
Our local landfill has a business called the Last Chance Mercantilewhere people can bring items that would otherwise be thrown into the landfill. Items are then resold as-is for people to clean, repair and use for another turn of the wheel in the great material continuum. This is a business model that other landfills need to adopt as it cuts down the waste stream load and puts resources back into a use cycle. You never know what treasure you will find at the Last Chance. But I digress.
A used playhouse from the Last Chance loaded up on the roof rack
At the Last Chance I found and purchased a homemade kids playhouse (treasure!) that was broken down into 6 flat pieces. I was able to load onto the car racks and bring home. A few minutes with the cordless drill and we had a serviceable enclosure that could be closed at night while the old chicken run was torn down.
The hand painted dragons were an added bonus to this purchase!Reassembly included a little repair to some broken trim and adding bird wire inside all of the window openings to keep night critters out
Later upgrades included building a raised platform with a bottom so that the chickens were entirely secure at night. I was worried all the disruption would find the hens roosted in trees that night, but they got the memo and were perched inside as it got towards evening. They have faithfully roosted in the coop every night since its installation, even after moving twice while building the new run. Chicken stamp of approval!
If you plant it — they will come. One of the greatest joys of gardening is creating attractive habitat for the small folk.
Now I am not talking about that pesky opossum that bit holes in the jug of fish emulsion left outside last night.
I am referring to dueling hummingbirds, Night hawk moths darting among blossoms at dusk, and the somnolent drowse of bees in the afternoon. Attracting pollinators into your yard is easy with the right plant selections. Fortunately there are many plants to choose from that will thrive in our area.
Easy care favorites for pollinators in the Marina area include: Matilija poppy, Ceanothus, Clarkia concinna, Dill, Echium candicans and E. pininana, Black sage, Cleveland sage, Clary sage, Fennel, White sage, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsely, Eriogonum rubescens (Red Buckwheat), Sweet Allysum, California and Shirley poppies, Beach lupine… this is by no means a complete list – just some of the attractive plants that provide lots of pollen and nectar during bloom.
Just a reminder that if providing habitat for butterfly caterpillars, they will be eating your carefully chosen plants. For example, swallowtail caterpillars delight in eating dill, fennel and parsley. If growing these for your own use, you may need to plant extra!
This is a Hawk Moth caterpillar happily eating a native wild flower annual; Clarkia concinna or Red Ribbons
An on-site consultation is a great way to get ideas for plants that will thrive in your particular garden climate. I can help improve your success rate in planting your own pollinator friendly garden.
Plant Lists On-line
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign www.pollinator.org/guides.htm
There are several brochure choices here: CA Coastal Chaparral, CA Coastal Woodland and CA Coastal Steppe.
Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society www.montereybaycnps.org/local_list.php
Select geographic region closest to you to download a pdf from list
Bee plant lists – mostly natives but not entirely.
Pollinator Partnership has eco-regional planting guides to specific zip codes. There is a 24 page guide for California Coastal Chapparral Forest and Shrub regions – that includes forage plants for bats, insects and birds. http://pollinator.org/guides
There is something comforting about the various sounds that chickens make. Not the high alarm of “THERE’S A CAT!” or “I LAID AN EGG!,” but the smaller sounds as they discover a tasty slug or enjoy a satisfying dirt bath or settle in to the roost for the night. That said, my main conflict with the “girls” is that they are driven to turn over every atomic sized particle of soil if given the opportunity. The drive is strong, and it is important to keep sharply defined areas where the hens have free roam, and, where they can be BY INVITATION ONLY.
Case in point; I recently gained a small English breed hen that has remarkable escape artist skills (see post on selecting breeds). Miss Buffy could have shown the Great Houdini a trick or two in squeezing through impossible gaps and flying over tall fences with closely clipped wings. She quickly made WWI foxholes all over the back lot shortly after adjusting to the new surroundings. Her escape was possible because the old chicken run had rotted away and building the new one required multiple time consuming side projects including replacing a section of (also rotted) fence. So, during the construction of the new run, she wreaked havoc in the garden.
The new run is entirely enclosed; including bird wire across the top. We used the smaller 1/4 inch bird wire instead of chicken wire to enclose, because last year had a booming rat population of epic proportions. The smaller rats were entering through the 1″ wire cells to feed on downed food bits at night. The White Crowned Sparrows that migrate through our area in late winter, would boldly hop in through the open doorway during the daytime as well. A redesign was required to stop feeding the unwelcome guests, that would then linger further to eat peas (the pea PLANTS – those voracious birds never let them grow big enough to have peas), apples, tomatoes, loquats, blueberries and guavas.
A barrier dug in along the bottom edge will prevent skunks, possums and raccoons from tunneling in for an evening visit. I am changing the chicken feeder setup so that less food material will be dropped to the ground. The new enclosed roost will provide better protection from the weather and will interrupt the chicken flea life cycle (look it up – disgusting) because the droppings will never land in the soil and give the eggs a place to hatch.
For me, peace will be restored with the new pen. No one will fall into the chicken formed fox holes unsuspectingly taking the compost out in the dark. Lettuces and other tender greens will not bear the tell tale marks of a few “tastes.” Soil will be un-churned and the protective wood chip mulch will keep the moisture where it belongs. And the chickens will stay where they belong.
This was a Marina Tree and Garden Club sponsored project that came about with the collaborative dynamism of Grace Silva-Santella, myself and a lot of community volunteers. Grace and I worked to design, budget and project manage the installation of this public space next to the Marina Chamber of Commerce on Hillcrest Avenue. What follows is the April 15, 2017 dedication speech and story of how the garden came into being.
Are any of you familiar with the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? Then you know that the next line is “He is going to want a glass of milk.” This garden really is that story. It all began when Candy Owen-Meyers planted the seed to Mike Owen, that it would be a fine gesture to plant an oak tree in memory of former city council member Ken Gray. With the city’s blessing, the tree was purchased and planted by the club in the bare patch next to the Council Chambers. But the tree looked lonely. We discussed adding a nice durable bench, so people could sit under the tree to admire it. Under Mike’s lead, an unexpected outpouring of community donations made purchasing the bench a swift reality.
Grace and Mike mark out the location for the new concrete pad
But, clearly, the memorial bench could not just sit in the dirt under the tree. With the playground across the street under renovation, the city offered to add a concrete pad for the bench if the club would map out the size and location desired. Not only did Ed Meachum and the public works crew honor our vision—they exceeded expectations and made a beautiful colored pad for the bench.
With the concrete pad in place, the site was ready for contouring, building the rock wall and positioning the seating rocks
After the concrete was poured, it became incredibly obvious that this space needed more than a tree, a bench and some tinted concrete. It was an underwhelming public space that never got a second glance. The thought blossomed – Why not build a garden that invited lingering and conversation outside of council chambers? A green space where one could enjoy Ken’s bench and the tree? A welcoming respite near community services and the neighborhood playground. Why not dream big and feature beautiful low care California plants that would provide habitat for birds and pollinators too? Then we heard about a grant through the Monterey Peninsula Regional Parks District program (Open Space and Coastal Preservation Grant Program). So fortified with a plan, a budget, a well researched plant list and a proposal, Grace and I miraculously obtained a grant from the MPRPD.
With funds secured, the garden began to organically take shape with the steady help of many volunteers. Three large rocks were selected for seating around the bench and to encourage gathering. Grace and I imagined the delight of small children jumping on those smooth rocks while parents rested on the bench. The curve of the moss rock wall gracefully defined new planting levels. A mound was added for contour and interest with the extra soil on the site. Paver stones were laid to connect the sidewalk to the bench area and welcome entrance into the garden. Sheet mulching, wood chipping and planting soon followed. On a very cold and long Saturday in February, our dedicated volunteers saw the garden come to life. Strong hands gathered to carefully assemble the drip system to each and every new plant. Public Works installed programable irrigation valves to provide reliable, measured water for the new garden.
Ray Santella works on the fine details paver installation next the the new rock wall
This garden was built by the power of community. I want to thank the Monterey Peninsula Regional Parks District for providing the milk to go along with the cookie. Thanks to Layne Long for his enthusiastic support of this project from the very beginning. Special recognition goes out to Ed Meachum and the public Works crews who tolerated and satisfied our many demands with good cheer and can-do attitude. Thanks go out to the Monterey Regional Waste Management District for donating an enormous mound of compost, and, to Smith Tree Service for it’s wood chips. Thank you’s go to all of the generous donors that contributed to the memorial bench. And finally to all of the amazing community volunteers – Thank you for your spirit, enthusiasm and hard work. Cookies, anyone?
Microbes and organic matter are the foundation of all great soil. Without healthy soil microbes, most plants will fail to thrive. Without good organic matter, microbes will not be present in significant amounts to support healthy plants. It’s a loop you can improve with compost in any type of soil. With sand, added organic matter creates biotic activity, which builds humus, which creates a sponge for water and nutrients to stay at the root zone of plants. In heavy clay soils, added compost adds space between clay particles which improves aeration and drainage.
I can’t stress enough how important compost is to adding health and vitality to your garden.
A few weeks after planting the bed – lettuces, greens, onions and scarlet runner beans – all thriving.
Let it Rot
Composting is easy. It is going to rot even if you forget about it. The trick with composting is to manage—to some degree—to keep microbes active and, produce a useable product eventually. If you are vermi-composting, the trick is to keep the worms happy. Happy worms = really good worm castings to use in your garden!
If you are interested in pursuing further, there are many great books on composting and vermicomposting, and, Youtube has how-to clips on just about anything you can rot. Take a class at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District if you want a hands-on introduction on the Monterey Peninsula. www.mrwmd.org it’s FREE!
If you already compost, pat yourself on the back for returning nutrients to the soil and keeping materials out of the municipal landfill!
If you need a refresher course, or help setting up a new pile (or worm bin) in your garden, I would be happy to assist.
Bad soil does not grow good veggies. If you are planning to grow vegetables, creating raised beds allows you to control the growing medium and get to the good stuff (growing yummy things) faster. A raised bed will be warmer than growing directly in the soil. This adds HEAT for crops that may not like the cooler summer temperatures found on the coast.
A 4′ x 8′ bed is a good size – you should be able to reach in to the middle from either side. Depth should be greater than 12 inches or more. Cedar and redwood make long lasting wooden boxes. Recycling wood materials is another way to build beds. Just keep clear of railroad ties (creosote) or old painted boards (lead) to keep contamination out of your food supply! If you can get your hands on broken concrete, speed block, brick, roofing tile, rock, etc you can build free form beds to suit your taste. Or you can spare your back and try…
Straw Bale Gardens
Don’t laugh – it works. In fact straw bale gardening will save you so much time, labor and money, you will wonder why you did not do this years ago. There are many links online to sites that describe exactly how to create verdant rotting straw islands of goodness in your garden. Just do a search for “straw bale gardening.” When the season is over, you will have ready-to-use compost from the now reduced straw bale too.
Like a raised bed, a straw bale will be warmer for roots—a great advantage for tomatoes on the coast
Because the straw bale IS the soil, you don’t need to build a wooden or concrete bed, import or amend soil, or constantly water sandy soil. After the straw bale(s) has been properly conditioned (rotted) compost is added on top and plants are grown directly into the bale(s). Crops that like the straw bale treatment include tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and other summer veggies that could use a little more water and heat. For tomatoes, fish heads added down in the bottom of the hole with compost when planting have yielded good results.
What grows in the fog?
Do your research. Beefsteak tomatoes grow great in a greenhouse and specific little microclimates (lucky!) on the coast, but struggle in the cool July summers. Generally all the winter greens will do great. Beets, carrots, leeks, celery, parsley, bok choy, tatsoi, kale, cilantro, rutabaga, parsnip and mustard can grow almost year round. Seasonal plants that I have grown successfully within a mile of the coast include cabbage, peas, sunflowers, potatoes, Brussell sprouts, lettuces, Japanese pumpkin, scarlet runner beans, green onions and select varieties of tomatoes. So pick the plant winners for the coast! Unless you are in a very warm micro-climate, most of the warm season vegetables such as peppers, eggplants, melons, cucumbers, large heirloom tomatoes, etc. will be struggling in the chill summer.
Winter veggies like Romanesco grow well in cool summer climates
This is a must-have book for targeting plants that will grow on the cool foggy coast:
Golden Gate Gardening; The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California by Pam Pierce Indie Bound Book Link
Native and honey bees are a wonderful addition to any garden. And as a social insect, they are fascinating to study. But not everyone is ready to be a honeybee keeper. If you would like to support bees in your garden—but not ready to box up a living swarm—look over the links and information on Planting for Pollinators.
Do a little reading first. So many get captured by the concept but do little to educate themselves about the reality of keeping bees. Tending bees is work and there is a big difference between being a beekeeper and a bee “haver.” Are you willing to be responsible for collecting the swarms from your hive—even if they go over the neighbor’s fence or up in a tall tree?
If you are ready to jump right in… plunge ahead! But I will mention that a little mentoring up front can save you a lot of heart ache in the long run. If you have a fab location with lots of forage, perhaps encouraging a beekeeper to park a few hives on the property for a year would bring the responsibility of stewardship into sharper focus. Joining a beekeepers group is a fine way to listen to discussions and gain insights into fostering bees in a backyard.
A newly collected swarm moves into its prepared top bar hive
Bee links
Monterey Bay Beekeepers www.montereybaybeekeepers.org
Meets first Saturday of the month for news, presentations, comaraderie, and discussion. Visit the site for more information.
UC Davis Entomology Department
Incredible resource for much of the current research on colony collapse and information on bee health. Harry H. Laidlaw Bee Research Facility. UC Davis has a very good pollinator garden that you can visit also — the Haagen Dazs Honey Bee Haven.
This vertical gardening concept has been floating around the internet for a while. I have wanted to make one of these ever since the last drought, and, to stymie the sow bugs that have made a mockery of the strawberries growing in the raised beds. This set up allows for a lot of vertical growing space and includes a vermi-compost tube down the middle to break down food waste and provide nutrients for the growing plants.
The black food-grade HDPE 65 gallon container was spotted at the Last Chance Mercantile – a sign that it was time to put this concept to the test. There were several YouTube videos that showcased the steps required and it seemed like an easy weekend project to take on. In theory… we had all of the materials and tools.
The first step was figuring out how many pockets to make to hold the strawberry plants. I settled on 4 tiers with 7 pockets on each tier = a total of 28 pockets. This barrel is about 35″ tall – a nice even number. Using a carpenters crayon, the 4 tiers were marked out about 7 inches between each row and pockets about 5 inches long with 5.25 inches between pockets. Staggering the slits resulted in the strawberries having some room to drape down without blocking off light to any lower plants.
There was some fudging in measurements as the barrel has some tapering top and bottom and the circumference is widest towards the middle. This barrel was roughly 72-73 inches in circumference. The carpenters crayon could be wiped off with a rag and redrawn if the math needed some adjusting. Setting this barrel on a pair of saw horses took the strain off the old back and made marking and measuring much easier.
Use a drill to make holes where the saw will cut the slits for pockets
Drilling holes where the electric jigsaw would cut the pocket slit made room to get the blade in place to begin and end the cuts. This part went fairly fast with a new multi-purpose blade.
Nice clean cuts are easier when there is a good line to follow!
Then the top of the barrel was cut out. Pre-marking with the carpenters crayon made this waaaay easier to follow a line and not get off track during the cut. There is a lot of thick and thin variation in the plastic at the top here, so good to have a clean guideline to follow.
When the top is cut out, it is easier to get hands inside for the next few steps
We used a plastics heat gun to soften the plastic around the slits. This took about 3-6 minutes for each pocket – roughly an hour or so to heat and form the 28 pockets. Beer bottles were used to shape the pockets and made a nicer finished curve than using a pointed piece of 2″ x 4″ as seen on some YouTube demos. Using bottles with a tapered neck worked better than a bottle with an abrupt shoulder. Perhaps a wine bottle would have made a bit larger pocket. Worth trying next time.
The heat gun took about 3-5 minutes to soften the plastic enough to push a beer bottle intoWhen the plastic was soft enough the bottle was shoved into the cut pocket slit and left to cool into shape
The next step is cutting out the bottom of the barrel to fit the vermi-compost tube into. It was recommended to use 6 inch schedule 40 drainage pipe, but a regular 6 inch PVC pipe was less expensive and readily available at the local irrigation supply store. Trace the outline of the cut using the pipe as a guide and make sure to cut to the inside of the line. This needs a snug fit to the 6 inch pipe and it is easier to sand a bit to remove material than to have to use glue or some other after-the-fact fix.
Use 6 inch pipe to trace the cut line and use the jig saw to cut to the inside of the line
A coarse sandpaper was used to adjust the final fit to the 6 inch pipe
Using some of the extra pipe (They only sold in 5 foot lengths) I fashioned a collar that fit the pipe into the hole (so it does not slip through). I cut a 2″ section and cut open the ring so it would slip around the out part of the pipe. Regular purple PVC pipe glue attached the collar on fast and easy. Many 1/4- 3/8″ holes were drilled into the 6 inch pipe for worms to move from compost to soil and back again. Then sanding was employed on the sharp edges from the drill holes so as to not cut the worms later.
Note collar glued on to the end of the pipe to hold pipe in place
The last part was building and attaching the legs, which I decided needed to be sturdier than seen on the web so there would be better stability in our sandy soil. I used a router, which was tedious, messy and the wrong tool for the job. Doing this again would be much easier using a band saw to cut the curve in the thick wood. Another issue was that the lower odd numbered pockets interfered with attaching the legs equally apart. Should have adjusted for the quarterly leg placement when marking out the lowest pockets for a better fit. Stainless steel bolts (to resist corrosion) were used to attach the legs with large stainless steel washers to prevent plastic tear out from weight stress. Lining up the holes from the pre-drilled legs and attaching to the barrel was a bit of a chore because of the funky fit (pockets in the way). We used Gorilla Glue which helped fill the irregular voids between the plastic and the wood. It expands a bit as it dries and really gave a good seat for the barrel on the pressure treated wooden legs. Drainage holes (3/8″) were drilled into the bottom randomly after the legs were attached. The barrel has great stability on the stout legs – even filled with soil.
Finished and planted barrel with good home compost
A 6 inch plumbers test plug goes into the bottom of the pipe to seal off the vermi-compost tube and allow for occasional clean out of the compost tube. Home Depot had a $16 – 6 inch plastic version that was ordered online. Since no actual pressure—other than gravity—is employed here, this was satisfactory. I later found a 6″ PVC cap at Habitat for Humanity to replace the terracotta pot shown above, but the pot would have been fine for the top too. Maybe plug the hole on the pot in case sow bugs move into the compost and come out of the tube to feast at night. Grrrr….
6 inch plumbers plug is removable for cleaning out pipe
Some of the strawberries were transplanted from a not-so-productive raised bed and were ‘Sequoia’ and ‘Albion’ ever-bearing varieties. The rest were another ever-bearing variety called ‘Quinault’ that will fruit on an un-rooted runner. What a perfect variety for a hanging vertical container! Those fruits have been small, abundant and very sweet. The black plastic barrel, in this coastal climate, will help keep the season going longer. A hotter climate would probably be better served using a white or blue plastic so as not to cook the worms!
The strawberries were planted in with good home compost which was mixed with a little of the native sandy soil. There was a bit of settling of soil in the lower pockets and I had to go back in with a spoon and adjust (lift and add soil) the crowns of the strawberries so they are not below grade (causes rot). I may end up enlarging the drainage holes at the bottom too or add more holes since the soil stays fairly moist now that it is planted. Perhaps a sandier soil mix at the bottom two tiers would have helped the drainage too? A small amount of food waste has been added into the vermi-compost tube but not enough (yet) to add the worms.
Did this project get done in a weekend? No, but none of the steps were terribly hard or time consuming when broken down into mini-projects. The resulting barrel promises to be very productive and might inspire a second unit for growing vertical shallow rooted greens. Stay tuned!
A neighbor and gardener-in-arms often passes cast-offs my way from gardens that she works in. She had an interesting but broken terracotta wall plaque and made the challenge to make something creative with it (she could not bear to throw it away).
This was the plaque before adding the bird wire to the back
This piece needed a succulent of some sort to soften the broken edge at the top. The first challenge was to form and attach a bird wire basket that would hold soil and the succulent.
Using gloves and pliers I bent and trimmed 3/8″ bird wire to fit to the back of the plaque. A masonry bit was used to pre-drill any holes where the 1/2″ (head size) zinc coated screws would be used to attach the basket. I would recommend testing the fit between the masonry bit and the screws in a piece of terracotta scrap. Not too big or the screw connection will be loose – not too tight or the media will shatter from the larger screw.
Once the basket was secure to the plaque, coconut coir was used to line the basket and keep the soil contained within. The succulent was planted in and watered flat before hanging. Pre-soaking the coir before adding the soil helps get the succulent off to a good start too.
This was an easy project that adds a nice touch to the front entry. It was easily accomplished under 2 hours of time and would make a very nice up-cycled gift.
The succulent has been growing well even if passion vine has been hogging up the space
But not a total loss, despite the overload, as I have been harvesting parsley and strawberries from the upper levels. The bok choy on the lower portion look vigorous and with one plant per pocket should give a good crop as well. The monster tomato may turn out to be best part of the error as the black plastic seems to be giving good heat. Stay tuned…
