brian's balcony

Pictorial Garden Update #2

2009-04-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

Well, this week I got my zucchini moved into my homemade EarthTainer and they seem pretty happy. For instructions on how to make your own check out Ray Newstead's EarthTainer site. There is a 16 page PDF document and instructional videos at TomatoFest.com.

Checked in on the worms and they were really going at the food I have placed in there. I added some crushed up some egg shells and tangerine peels which I cut up real small. Of course I am thinking you can toss anything in there but come to find out that citrus rinds may not the best thing for them. Something about being too acidic. From what info I found I should be alright as I didn't put too much in, perhaps 1/2 the peelings, so we shall see how it goes and hopefully no one can say I am a mean worm owner and they make it through it intact.

I am also expanding out beyond my balcony. I decided that I would try growing a few things on my front porch and so I put a tomato plant (Big Yeller-uns) out there. I a hoping for good results because it will get several hours more sunlight than my balcony. If all goes well, I might keep adding to my porch until the association complains or I run out of room. I also started some California wild flowers and some sunflowers in an old toy in on my back porch.

Sadly, some of my lettuce bit the dust. Being my first time trying to grow some leafy greens I am not all that tuned into their light and heat requirements. Undoubtedly, I probably started them a little late and with a few toasty days last week, perhaps it was more than they could bare. I moved them to a more shady spot so we will see how they fare.

Now for the pics...

Zucchini in their new EarthTainer home

Happy Spinach. These guys are really coming along.

Radishes

Bush Beans. These guys are loving it. I swear they have doubled in size since last week.

Oh yeah, we are also working on a new D.I.Y. home for the Guinea Pigs, they are a little cramped at the moment. I'll try and get some pictures up of my projects not seen here.

Dunder Mifflin Poster

2009-04-10T00:58:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this is not on topic at all, but I am excited about it anyway. Here is the story...

I am not much into watching T.V. but I do enjoy watching the show The Office. So much so that at one point I joined their Dunder Mifflin Infinity website which is basically like other social sites but only about The Office. There were weekly tasks and what not that you had to do and they generally coincided with what happened on that weeks episode. So last year there was a task to design a Dunder Mifflin Poster with a Green theme to it and so I quickly bashed this out:

Well I was watching The Office tonight and in a scene where they were in the kitchen, something familiar caught my eye that was hanging on the side of the refrigerator.

So, I pulled up the poster I made and checked out the back episodes online and sure enough, there it is. I don't know why, I am just kind of excited about the whole thing and think it is pretty cool.

I wonder if I can use this on my resume?

Stitch-It-Yourself Shoes

2009-04-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

I have had my eye on the Simple Men's Stitch-It Moccasinfor quite some time but could not bring myself to spend $60 on them. So the other day I while I was looking for some soft soled shoes for my youngest son, I noticed that they were sale for just under $15 and I ordered up a couple pair in different colors.

When they arrived on my door step the yesterday I immediately set to putting the together. It was a bit of a tedious task stitching them together and my only complaint is that the amount of string they give you just doesn't cut it. Fortunately I ordered two pair and used one set of strings from the other pair to finish the first pair. I called the shoes manufacturer to request more string or inquire where I might buy some. They were very understanding and asked how much more I needed and said they would get it out in the mail today. How is that that for great customer service? No run around or anything like that.

Anyway, it took me several hours to stitch them together and my pinkie fingers are a bit chewed up and bandaged from using them to pull the stitches nice and tight, but all in all it was a fun project putting these shoes together. It is not every day that you get to participate in putting your own shoes together. Here is my sand colored pair yet to be assembled with my finished pair.

Oh and did I mention that these shoes are extremely comfortable and come with a nice squishy insole. So, if you are into the do-it-yourself type of thing and are looking for a nice comfortable moccasin and you are not bothered walking around in shoes your wife calls "Peasant Shoes," you might want to check these out.

Simple Men's Stitch-It Moccasin

Pictorial Garden Update #1

2009-04-05T01:16:00.001-07:00

So, here is what is growing. This week, I am going to get my homemade version of the EarthBox set up with two of my zucchini plants. I also have some arugula that has sprouted and I will start to harden the off this week. The worm box is coming along well. They have found the food and are busy at work and doing what they do.

Zucchini

EarthBox Bush Beans

Radishes

Spinach

Parris Island (Romaine) Lettuce

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce

The Garbage Warrior

2009-04-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

Garbage Warrior is the fascinating story of EarthShip eco-architect Micheal Reynolds' fight to build off-the-grid self-sufficient communities, well... out of garbage. This documentary follows his struggle against big business and his lobbying to change the legislation of New Mexico to enable him to build these experimental structures and sustainable living test sites. It is hard to watch this film and not be baffled and angry at the ineptitude of governments and politicians as they hem and haw and try to squash this kind of innovation.

Also check out the entertaining interview of Michael Reynolds by Stephen Cobert on the Cobert Report.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Michael Reynolds

comedycentral.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

NASA Name Contest

Milk Crate Raised Bed Planter

2009-04-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

I Came across this great video for a raised planter bed which utilizes milk crates on the How-To Homestead site. It seems this concept would lend itself nicely to an urban environment if you have a little space. Check it out.

Print out PDF with detailed instructions

How To Make A Self Watering Container

2009-04-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a great video on how to make a self watering container from Homegrown Evolution. I have been on the lookout to try and find and liberate some food-grade buckets from local reasturants so I can do this project but have had no luck so far.

If you are looking for some ideas you can check out these two PDFs:

I made a version of one of these out of storage tubs last year and attempted to grow some cucumbers out of it. It worked great and the plants grew like crazy and took over my back porch, but both my cucumbers and zucchini got hit with powdery mildew and before I could get it under control it all just got out of hand and I had to give up on the plants. My plan is to grow my zucchini out of it this year so I will post up some pictures when it is rolling.

2009 Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day

2009-04-01T00:22:00.000-07:00

It's the third International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day on May 1. Originating from Brussels the idea of sowing sunflowers anywhere has been catching on. Beautiful, tasty, wildlife friendly, non-invasive, and very easy to grow, for guerrilla gardeners, and those still wondering how to get started this is the time to dig in! You needn't wait until May 1, consider this a month long party, don't leave the house without a few sunflower seeds in your pocket and find some friends to join you on a walk around your neighbourhood sowing sunshine.

Read tips and see photos here.

PARTNERS IN GRIME

2009-03-26T22:34:00.001-07:00

So I got the balcony cleaned up with a little help form my youngest son. It was quite a mess and we both had fun getting dirty. I opened up a nice space where I plan to put a few boxes of leafy greens under which I will stash my worm box so it stays cool and shaded.

Speaking of worms, I checked in on them to see how they were doing and to make sure I didn't just totally bungle the whole project and kill them off, but they were wiggling around in there so I assume things are alright. Although, I am not sure if they have made it to the food so I introduced a few of them to the food pile and then covered them back up with some moist shredded news paper.

I also set up my EarthBox today with a row of Stinking Creek beans and a row of Purple Queen Beans. This was my first time setting up an EarthBox and the instructions were fairly clear and easy to follow but I did struggle a bit with the cover and making the holes for the plants to go in. As you can see, I butchered it pretty bad, but I have confidence that it will still serve its purpose. The instructions said 16 bush bean plants could be planted but for some reason that seems like quite a lot. I planted only 12 as that was all the seedlings that I had.

That's all for now.

Caution: Worms At Work

2009-03-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I picked up all the necessary componants to build our vermicompost box outlined in this article. Today I prepared all the boxes and drilled all the required holes. I located red worms at my local garden store and picked up 300 of the little guys. When my son got home from school he pitched in and helped with shredding and dampening the paper and then he did the honors of introducing the worms to their new home.

Meanwhile I divvied up some produce we had set aside for the guinea pigs and gave some to the worms, so we shall see how things go from here.

Wild Thing Guinea Pig Treat

2009-03-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

I was walking to pick up my son from Kindergarten today and noticed that in the bushes on the side of the road that there was an abunance of dandelions which made me think that they would make great Guinea Pig food. Dandelions seem to be all the rage these days for humans that are into the wild thing. I have even seen them being sold in the grocery store produce section.

I got the thumbs up from my wife to make sure they are ok for our little furry friends and my son and I were off to picking free greens on the side of the road as we walked home. Once home, I gave them a good rinse under the tap to make sure any gross stuff was washed off and then dumped them into the pig pin.

It is nice to know that if I want to give a treat to the pigs every now and again, I don't have to go any further than my front door. I am not sure I am ready to do some wild harvesting for personal consumption, but hey, you never know in a pinch.

CHEAP & EASY WORM BIN

2009-03-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

So, here is a link to some instructions on the worm composting bin I plan on making which should cost under $10. This should be relatively small and will not take up too much space on my balcony. There is also a little feeding and troubleshooting advice as well, so check it out.

GROW YOUR OWN... SCREW THE SYSTEM!

2009-03-22T19:08:00.001-07:00

Last year was my first attempt at growing some veggies in containers on my balcony. I had fairly good success with a couple of cherry tomato plants, four zucchini plants and a few jalapeño plants and various herbs. However, I didn't do so well with bell peppers and Japanese eggplant but granted I think I started them too late and to be honest, I sort of lost interest and probably neglected them far too much.

So, this year, I am going to give it another shot. I am going to skip the tomatoes and the jalapeños since we didn't eat too many of them and ended up giving most of them to friends. I am going to broaden out the variety of what I grow and plan on trying to take over as much of my balcony as I can to growing food. Here is what is on the growing agenda:

Parris Island (Romaine) Lettuce
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Arugala (Rocket)
Spinach (Bloomingdale, Long Standing)
Radishes (Cherry Belle)
Dill (Bouquet)
Purple Queen Bush Beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris)
Stinking Creek Bush Beans
Zucchini

Plus, who knows, I may add a few more things as space permits and I am going to get a little creative with some bumper crops like chives, green onions and other herbs.

Also on the docket for this year is some other homesteading type projects. My oldest son and I are going to start a vermiculture bin system that should produce some nice worm castings (i.e worm poop) for our plants. I am also going to try and devise a rain water catch system to utilize what mother nature provides for free.

Also, I want to try and make my own self watering containers to grow out of. I currently have one Earthbox, but to be honest they are kind of expensive, so I will be exploring some other avenues. I made a self watering container out of storage bins last year that worked out pretty well, so we will get that one fired up again, but there is a plan for one made out of buckets in the book The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process Self-reliance Series)
by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen.

Anyway, I will try and keep this blog updated frequently with the progress of my balcony experiments and will include pictures when I can and links to websites, articles, and resources as much as I possible.