The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

How to prevent weeds in your garden

2009-11-01T14:29:00.001-08:00

I doubt there is anyone who enjoys pulling weeds, though now at the end of the season is a great time to do some preventive measures to prevent new growth next season.

Kill your weeds early: The sooner you pull your weeds the easier it is to keep up with them. In addition, if you pick the weeds before the mature and flower and drop seeds you will save a ton of time pulling weeds for every one of those seeds that drop. Call me old fashioned but I normally skip the whole herbicide method and just pull the weeds by hand. Not only does your lawn or garden immediately look better, there is no coming back to see if the weeds need another dose of spray and the whole environmental part of keeping some chemicals out of our water system.

Mulch: This is one I didn’t completely understand until I had been gardening for a while. I for one never have found “beauty bark” beautiful and have always preferred the more natural look and benefits of fertile soil. But that is entirely why you want to use a mulch such as ground bark, straw, pine needles, leaves, newspaper, rubber bark, or even some old carpet. This helps prevent weeds in twp ways. First, it blocks light from the potential little weed seedlings to make their way to the surface. Second, they are not fertile mediums to grow seeds, which is exactly what you are looking for for your large flower beds which like to create good crops of weeds. As a final benefit they help insulate and hold water down for the plants you want to thrive having great growth and eventually shading out those “poor” weed seedlings. just 3-4 inches during the fall and your back should be bending over much less next spring.

If you are thinking, “What about my vegetable garden? I want seeds to be able to grow in there next year.” For your vegetable garden I highly recommend chopped leaves and a vegetable garden mulch. If you happen to have a leaf blower/vacuum that will chop them up all you need to do is empty those bags in a thin 1-2 inch layer across your garden. I used to have one of these though accidentally sucked up a rock which didn’t “chop” well and broke it so the alternate method I use is the following. Bag your leaves throughout the fall and once the leaves stop falling dump them out in a long row in your yard. Then use you lawnmower with bagger attachment and run them over until they are all chopped up. You can also do this more frequently during the fall but I find this a good time to use all the gas in the lawnmower before the end of winter feeling more like I am doing something more meaning other than just letting the mower sit there until it burns off the remaining fuel. With these leaves on the surface you smother any weed seeds and also block out all light to the soil. When spring time comes you simply work in the decomposed leaves into the soil and your garden has a head start with some good organic matter.

Pre-emergent weed control: For some parts of your yard like your lawn mulching is not really an options so to protect against pesky weeds like one of my personally loathing weed, annual bluegrass. Which grows and seeds so close to the ground it is nearly impossible to pull the plants to prevent the spreading. Pre-emergent herbicides is the solution to this problem. Pre-emergent herbicides work by preventing weed seeds from germination by inhibiting cell division in their tiny root system. Given these plants are annuals a successful application can rid you yard of these weeds until they eventually blower over from a neighbors. Pre-emergent herbicides can be purchased as a chemical or the organic method is applying glutton corn meal which normally can be purchased from your local feed store. One thing to remember is that this also will prevent you normal grass seed from germinating as well so be sure to time your application after with with enough lead time to allow the pre-emergent from wearing off.

Grow a cover crop: Growing a cover crop has two major benefits to your garden. Various legumes, grasses, and buckwheat make good options for for cover crops to plants while you garden is empty. First it creates a natural shade from the sun making it hard (or impossible) for seedlings are the surface to survive under their great shadows. Second it provides organic mater as “green manure” to add nutrients to your soil. One recommendation is to make sure you do a little research on the plant you choose as a cover crop, if you accidentally wait too long to “harvest” your cover crop it could go to seed and you may have an entirely new weed problem on your hands.

Cook the soil: When all else fails apply some black plastic (thicker the better) covering to your planting beds and let them “cook” throughout the fall/winter. Like mulch this will prevent any light and most water from entering the areas covered. This will essentially cook the soil killing any weeds, seeds, fungi, or anything else living in that area. Though this is very effective in eliminating weeds and disease from your soil it also kills everything else including good bacteria that your friendly worms like to visit your garden, so you soil may take sometime to recover and return to becoming living soil. I would recommend this method as a last result when the previous methods have proven to be completely unsuccessful.

Just for some positive outlook, you can also think of weeds as green manure assuming you are adding these to your compost, so even out of control they still can decompose and help your garden…

Harvesting pumpkin seeds

2009-11-01T08:23:00.001-08:00

The kids and I carved several pumpkins this year but we waited carve the three pumpkins we grew in our backyard until Halloween since these were the seeds I wanted to save for planting next year. First, I know exactly how these pumpkins were grow, organically and free of any pesticides. Second, I was able to let these pumpkins grow undisturbed until the day I picked the seeds, so the seeds should definitely be mature.

The process is very simple, while getting the “goo” as my 5-year-old would say out of the pumpkin set the seeds aside and add to a colander. Give them a good rinse and remove any orange “goo” that may have snuck in. Pat dry with a towel and let the seeds dry on wax or parchment paper for a couple days. Once they are dry to touch put them layered on a paper sack and let them dry for a few weeks until putting them in homemade seed packets until the are ready for next year.

If you have way too many seeds than you need (I know I do) you can also use the great recipe to roast some of you extra seeds as a snack:

CVG’s Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Extra pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp of Worchester sauce
1/4 tsp of seasoning salt

Directions: Add ingredients to bowl and mix well. Lay on a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for about 25 minutes being sure to flip the seeds after about 10 minutes. Eat as soon as you can without burning your mouth.

Harvesting corn seeds (Kernels)

2009-11-01T07:42:00.001-08:00

Corn is one of those crops I really don’t have space to grow but still like to try every year. This past year I only had one ear that made it to maturity, in the plants defense we have a very hot summer and I didn’t have the most consistent watering schedule so I am to blame for most of their demise. Given I used the last of my corn seed this year and wanting to make the best out a bad situation, I decided to use this ear for seeds for next year.

I decided to go the natural route and simply let the corn stay on the stalk until ~~I was ready to pull up my corn stalks~~ my wife got tired of looking at our dead corn stalks in the backyard which turned out to be yesterday (October 31st) As you can see from the picture above the corn kernels have dried out pretty well, though still contain a little moisture.

To remove the kernels I started by braking the cob in half and then starting where I split the cob pushing the loose kernels off with my thumb starting from one end to the other. Once I have this first row off it should be pretty easy to attack these kernels at any angle.

Lastly I layered the kernels in a single row in an open ended brown lunch bag to allow air flow to allow the remaining moisture to be removed. I put the bag on top of our cabinets in the kitchen and will add them to a homemade paper seed packet after a few weeks or drying (or when I remember they are up there more like a few months late) then store in the refrigerator until time for planting next year.

Now I have more seeds than I probably will ever need for a few years and hopefully will have better luck (or at least remember to water them better) next year.

Fuji Heavy Industries autonomous farming robot

2009-10-31T16:25:00.001-07:00

We have seen MIT students making robots to tend on their plants. Now Fuji Heavy Industries has created a robot that can completely take care of your fruits and vegetables in your fields (or greenhouse) for a modest fee of only $100,000. You can pick up your own by the next fiscal year.

It uses lasers with reflective panels to orient itself and is 6.5 feet long, unfortunately there are not too many additional geeky details which probably would be helpful before putting down the $100K for this bad boy.

Given this is the cheap vegetable gardener, I will be sticking with my hands and trowel next fiscal year though can’t wait to see a video if this in action.

Growing blueberries

2009-10-20T18:04:00.001-07:00

If it were up to me every part of my landscaping would be edible. Though my homeowners association may disagree with me but blueberry bushes looks just as nice as any ornamental plant/bush when you visit the nursery with the obvious bonus of free food.

When selecting a blueberry bush, unless you are very patient spend about $10 a plant and get some more established ones (about 1/2 inch stem) You can get the two for $10 plants from your local Home Depot but you won’t be eating blueberries for a couple years. With the larger plants you should pinch off the blossoms to get better growth for the first couple years but I opt to getting my reward now instead of later and enjoy the handful of berries the young plants can produce.

When it comes to plant selection there are a large number of species to choose from with varying fruit size and harvest timing. I would recommend getting varieties that have varying maturity dates so you can enjoy those blueberries for a longer period of time. When I got my first two plants I went with Toro and Berkeley. The Berkeley is a very popular bush given it produces average size berries great for muffins/pancakes/cereal or the occasional snack with a mid-late harvest. The Toro on the other hand produces large (almost grape size) berries which are great for jams and snacks though bit of a mouthful for muffins. If you are curious of other varieties here is a great resource.

I have heard differing opinions on whether you need to have different species to successfully produce fruit after a little research I found this article which explains that blueberries are capable of pollinating with a single species, though studies have shown that having more varieties can produce larger and earlier fruits. So if you have a favorite variety you can go crazy with the single plant though a little diversity seems to always be a good thing.

When it comes to pest control the biggest pest is birds. You can control them by laying some netting on the plants, though in my personal opinion that just gets in the way of me getting my snacks so I opt for the lazy approach and just plant more plants and share with “neighbors”. Worse case I end up with a backyard with some bushes that look much nicer than my current evergreens, and I always can take up bird watching.

One of the most important parts to being successful with your little blueberry plants is soil preparation. The plants need to have an acidic soil and their roots like to remain moist, but not drowning in water. Given my area has an abundance of clay in my backyard, I naturally do not have either of these requirements. To give the plants a head start I dug a 1 foot wide/deep hole and filled it with peat moss and mixed with a few handfuls of compost. Not only will this retain water well, but the peat moss is also naturally acidic and will be a nice haven for a large family of worms in the next few years to add some awesome natural fertilizer (worm castings) Last I purchased I box of organic blueberry fertilizer which provides the primary and trace minerals as well as help keep the acidity of the soil up. I simply followed the directions on the box and watered the plants when there was a couple of days without rain.

Now some of you might be thinking, “hey it is fall why are you talking about growing blueberries” Well this is the “Cheap Vegetable Gardener, right now is a great time to visit your local nursery to pick up some of their “old overgrown” blueberry plants at bargain prices which you can plant now and enjoy some delicious berries next spring/summer.

Pickled jalapeno peppers

2009-10-03T22:43:00.001-07:00

My jalapeno peppers did great this year. So good I didn’t really know what to do with all of them. After making some salsa and having several mature red ones as snacks in the garden, I still have about two pounds that I didn’t want to go to waste. After a little thought I decided to make some pickled jalapeno peppers.

CVG Picked jalapeno pepper recipe

1 cup vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp coriander (mine were still a little green from garden)

1/4 tsp mustard seed

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions: Mix ingredients and bring brine to boil. Either slice or leave the pepper whole. If you choose to do whole peppers, be sure to poke them with a toothpick so they won’t collapse. Fill jars with jalapeno peppers and then fill with hot brine up to 1/2 in from the top of jar. Boil for 10 minutes and feel free to pick some pickled peppers as fast and as many times as you want this summer.

Twittering computer grow box

2009-10-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well this is pretty much clichéd nerdiness but given it only required a couple of lines of C# I couldn’t resist. I have updated my grow box software to “tweet” some sort of semi-humorous and not really witty comment appropriate to its current state and share its current temperature and moisture content every 2.5 hours.

For those who want to do something similar, this is how I did it. I one of the many twitter C# libraries and for no specific reason I chose tweetsharp and after adding a reference to their DLL and just the few lines of code (below) you can be programmatically making updates via twitter.

private void UpdateStatus(string message)

    IFluentTwitter twitter = FluentTwitter.CreateRequest();

    twitter.AuthenticateAs("user_name", "password");

    twitter.Statuses().Update(message);

    twitter.AsUrl();

    string response = twitter.Request();

If you want to see it in action go to http://twitter.com/computergrowbox.

Right now I only have a handful of not so witty comments, so if you have some good zingers add them to the comments and if I like them I will add them to the list.

UPDATE: Grow box shares its own pictures

I get busy these days and sometimes can’t make it out to keep a close eye on my plants in the grow box. Given I have everything automated the box basically takes care of them, though I thought it would be nice if I could see how they are doing so added photo sharing to the grow box’s twittering software.

I already have the software taking pictures every so often so all I really needed to do what send out the most recent file to twitter. After a little looking I found that tweetsharp already supported this so yet again this was just a few lines of code to implement.

First I needed the logic to determine the last photo I have taken, fortunately I was carefully about my naming using a timestamp based name similar to “Photo_2008_10_01_090130.jpg”, so alphabetical sorting would work just fine. I removed the error handling to keep things brief but here is the code to complete this logic:

string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(photoDirectory, "*.jpg");
Array.Sort<string>(files);
string fileToUpload = files[files.Length - 1];

Now you have your photo to upload just signup for one of the photo TwitPic using your twitter account and run the following code using your credentials.

IFluentTwitter twitter = FluentTwitter.CreateRequest();
twitter.AuthenticateAs("user_name", "password");
twitter.Photos().PostPhoto(fileToUpload, 
                      SendPhotoServiceProvider.TwitPic);
twitter.Statuses().Update("My Picture").AsJson().Request();

Hopefully this, you too can make you own grow box (or other inanimate object) share its feelings on twitter.

Computer controlled grow box Beta 2

2009-09-29T08:43:00.001-07:00

Though I have made some significant changes to the grow box controller, the actual grow box has undergone some minor but important changes over the past few months.

Automated watering

Now I must say this one is pretty darn simple. Though I will be planning on a slightly more complicated hydroponic setup later I decided to start with a very easy bottom watering technique. Just take a regular old fountain pump (I went with the cheapest I could find) drop it in a 5 gallon bucket of water and attach a hose long enough to reach your planting tray and plug in the power to the pump to your grow box controller and that's about it.

To prevent evaporation and algae and little bugs making a home in my nice bucket of water, I added a lid with two holes for the water output and power input. The power input required me to make a straight cut with a utility knife to ensure a snug fit while not requiring me to cur the AC line to feed the wire through.

I also cut a hole of the same size as the water output on the bucket lid to the grow box to allow the line to enter while still keeping the box closed.

Exhaust fan control

Air circulation is important for plants to be healthy but when the box gets warmer than expected I installed two controlled CPU fans to help regulate temperate as well as one static fan that constantly pushes air from the top to bottom.

I added a 12 volt exhaust fan to the top of the box (pictured above) to help push hot air out of the grow box with another (pictured below) at the lower part of the grow box to push in cold air as needed. Both of these fans are powered by a 12 volt power wall adapter plugged into the grow box controller.

Heating

Though the computer and lights allow the box to create a comfortable internal temperature, sometimes it needs a little help. For this I installed a regular old seedling heater to hopefully take a little sting out of the cold floor the seed tray is sitting one. Like other components this was simply plugged into the grow box controller.

Putting it all together

My previous version was a little sloppily put together with duct/packing tape (lets just call it prototyping). Though this added some hackiness appear it wasn’t too functional so I added a little strip of wood to support a couple hinges which I created a top which holds the LCD panel.

Upon opening the top you can see the grow box controller and the state of the art 600 MHz PC in all their glory.

As you can see I have still have some cleaning up to do with compress air and maybe a few more zip ties but all in all everything seems to have come together nicely.

Late bloomers

2009-09-27T13:48:00.001-07:00

Last February my 7-year-old daughter and I attended the Northwest Flower and Garden show for the first time, which is back on next year if you haven’t yet heard the good news. During our visit my daughter purchased a single dahlia tuber from Swan Island Dahlias.

We carefully followed the detailed planting instructions and it grew to about 5 feet by the end of the summer, though there were no blooms emerging. With Fall coming upon us we both were getting a little worried we wouldn’t see anything this year. Fortunately the plant finally started sharing some late blooms while the rest of our garden is more in the dying off state.

How to determine your seed’s germination rate

2009-09-26T16:07:00.001-07:00

Whether you are trying to determine if those seeds you have been stored for 3-4 years are still good or questioning your ability to harvest seeds on your own testing germination is a great way to take away from of the guesswork and avoid disappointment next spring.

The process is very simple, I believe I did the same thing in second grade during our plant section. Though that was to observe how a seed sprouts/roots the concept is exactly the same.

Take a wet paper towel and place 10 seeds on it and place the wet paper towel in a Ziploc bag. After a few days (or weeks depending on the normal germination rate) check back on your seeds and count how many sprouted.

In my case six out of ten of the jalapeno seeds sprouted. So just do the simple math using the following formula:

Germination rate = (# seeds sprouted/# total seeds sprouted) X 100

So in my case:

(6 seeds sprouted/10 seeds total) X 100 = 60% germination rate

Of course the more seeds you use in your “trial” the more accurate the results will be for my purposes the error rate is good enough for me.

If I was a seed seller this would be disastrous since most distributors have germination limits (90-95%), but given these are for my own use and I have about 300 more seeds that I will use no major loss. Though I will need to remember when I plant these out I will want to plant 2 seeds per cell to have good odds one of the seeds will germinate.

Another option is to give your 4 year old a handful of seeds and a pot full of dirt and see if most of them sprout. Much less scientific but my daughter didn’t seem to notice.

Peppers sprouting in grow box (time lapse)

2009-09-25T08:46:00.001-07:00

Well slightly more exciting than watching grass grow but for something that takes several weeks to complete is definitely worth a watch. If you watch carefully you can even see the automatic watering in action.

Joining the sprouts is a mature pepper plant which has been flowering and daisy seedling my 7 year old planted hoping it will flower as well.

Do have have to follow the directions on the back of my seed packet?

2009-09-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Though the advice on the back of a seed packet gives some great information, they are recommendations and their advice may not exactly apply to your garden.

First is row spacing, many times you read something like “plant seeds 3 inches apart in rows 1 foot apart” This brings up some immediate logic of why can the plants be 3 inches apart one way but 12 inches in another. This sort of thinking the premise for intensive gardening techniques such as square foot gardening. This is where instead of growing your plants in rows you plant them in a grid pattern making best use of your growing space.

Now even these spacing requirements are actually optional. All plants compete for resources to survive. This can be sunlight (or even shade from sunlight), nutrients, water, airflow, etc. Depending on the quality of your soil and frequency of watering you can push the limits of your growing space. Assuming you add some fresh compost easy season and possibly do some side dressing with an organic fertilizer like fish emulsion or alfalfa pellets you can easily reduce this space and still have high yields. I did just that with my cherry tomato plants whose seed packet is above. I planted these about a foot apart and got great growth and yields.

One other factor is how you grow. If I was growing my tomatoes in cages my foot space probably wouldn’t even be technically possible but since I grew them on a netting this allowed for spread out much more naturally and provide adequate sunlight and airflow. Keep this in mind when growing sprawling plants such as cucumbers and squash using some vertical space can free up the valuable growing space on the ground.

The last factor depends on when you are going to pick them. If you are growing onions to simply pick as green onions you don’t have to give then the 3-4 inches needed for their bulbs to grow. You could easily plant an inch apart since you are going to pick them before they are competing for resources. A similar idea is growing for micro greens, plant picked when just a few inches tall.

Though I wouldn’t say to completely ignore the back of your seed packets, just make sure to use it as a guide not a requirement.

Harnessing power from trees

2009-09-10T18:26:00.001-07:00

Some UW researchers have determined that if you add a couple of similar metals in a tree it produces electricity. Though only 200 mV so we won’t be moving to tree power anytime soon. Though the articles mentions some applications such as detecting environmental conditions or forest fires.

To me the most interesting part is they don’t exactly know the cause of this voltage, though they theorize that “there seems to be some signaling in trees, similar to what happens in the human body but with slower speed.”

Via HackADay via UWNews

How to make a grow box controller

2009-09-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

While my existing system was working I decided to make an upgrade to the electronics on my old system for several reasons:

I needed to add more automated external controls (heater, fans, water pump) with my existing design this was entirely possible though was starting to get a little clunky.
The existing controller (PS2 Controller, parallel port with various wires to control relays) worked but was not exactly compact.
Wanted a modular design so if I needed to debug some issue I could simply unplug the USB and power and bring it out of the box in the garage for needed work
Ability for others to create so I can share my software without forcing people to hack PS2 controllers to get to work
Ability to use components like 1Wire temperature sensors (others to come) and Arduino
Just for the fun of it

Well now I have attempted to justify my reasons this is what I used to put the whole thing together:

Parts List

Black plastic project case (8”X6”X3”)
Breadboard or multipurpose PC board
soldering iron and solder (optional if using breadboard)
Arduino
4 - solid state relays
4 – 1K resistor
4 – 2N2222 transistor
4 – 1N4004 diode
DS18S20 (1Wire temperature sensor)
4.7K resistor
(10K resistor and homemade soil sensor) or Vegetronix soil sensor
20 gauge solid copper wire (recommend multiple colors)
Heavy duty extension cord
2 – outlet sockets
2 – socket faceplate (optional)
hot glue gun and glue

If we had lawyers, they probably would want us to say this:
WARNING: I am not an electrician and do not pretend to be one. I do not know the specific building electrical codes of your area, so please be sure your wiring is completed under the proper safety code for your area. As always, using high voltage electricity can result in self-electrocution or burn down your house if not done safely so if you are not comfortable doing this wiring please contact a qualified professional.

Putting it all together

On the electronics side overall the circuits are actually pretty simple and if using a breadboard definitely something that could be tackled by a beginner. Though on the other side since this project is dealing with AC current I definitely would recommend caution (no hands unless power is unplugged) or have someone a little more comfortable with 120/220V help you out.

The Brains

I will be the first to admit that using an Arduino for this application is complete overkill for this application but it gives plenty of room for additions in the future. For all intensive purposes you could have your grow box completely controlled from the Arduino own processing power though on my case the software and UI is more interesting part to me. For this reason the Arduino code is actually very “dumb” basically just taking commands via the build in serial through USB and setting digital outputs to HIGH/LOW or reading analog inputs.

Here is the code for your grow box controller:

        1: /*

       2:  * GrowBox Arduino Interface

       3:  *

       4:  * Descriptions: Simple interface to digital and analog controls by passing serial inputs

       5:  *               For example: 

       6:  *                  "A1" to read analog value on pin 1

       7:  *                  "D1H" to set digital pin 1 to HIGH

       8:  */

       9: #include <OneWire.h>

  

//1-wire

OneWire  ds(8);  // on pin 8

#define BADTEMP -1000

  

//define unique sensor serial code

byte temperature[8];

  

#define PIN_VALUE 1          // numeric pin value (0 through 9) for digital output or analog input

#define ACTION_TYPE 0        // 'D' for digtal write, 'A' for analog read

#define DIGITAL_SET_VALUE 2  // Value to write (only used for digital, ignored for analog)

  

int NUM_OF_ANALOG_READS = 2;

char commandString[20];

  

void setup()

{

  Serial.begin(9600);

  

  setOneWireHex();

  

  // Power control

  for(int i=0; i<=7; i++)

  {

    pinMode(i, OUTPUT);        // sets the digital pins as output

    digitalWrite(i, LOW);      // turn everything off

  }

}

  

void loop()

{

  readStringFromSerial();

  

  if (commandString[ACTION_TYPE] != 0)   {

    int pinValue = commandString[PIN_VALUE] - '0';  // Convert char to int

  

    if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'A')

      Serial.println(analogRead(pinValue));

    else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'D') {

      if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'H') 

        digitalWrite(pinValue, HIGH);

      else if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'L') 

        digitalWrite(pinValue, LOW);

  

      Serial.println("OK");

    }

    else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'T') {       

      float temp = get_temp(temperature);      

           

      Serial.print(temp);     

      Serial.println("C");     

    }

    else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == '1') {

      printOneWireHex();

    }    

    else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'V')   {

      Serial.println("VERSION_1_0_0_0");

    }

    else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'P') {

      Serial.println("PONG");

    }

  

    // Clean Array

    for (int i=0; i <= 20; i++)

      commandString[i]=0;

  }

  

  delay(100);  // wait a little time

}

  

  

void readStringFromSerial() {

  int i = 0;

  if(Serial.available()) {    

    while (Serial.available()) {            

      commandString[i] = Serial.read();

      i++;

    }

  }      

}

  

void setOneWireHex() {

    ds.reset_search();

    ds.search(temperature);

}

  

void printOneWireHex() {

  ds.reset_search();

  if ( !ds.search(temperature)) {

    Serial.print("NONE\n");

  }

  else {      

    ds.reset_search();

      

    int sensor = 0;

    while(ds.search(temperature))

    {

      Serial.print("S");

      Serial.print(sensor);

      Serial.print("=");

      for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {

        Serial.print(temperature[i], HEX);

        Serial.print(".");

      }

      Serial.println();

    }

  }

  

  ds.reset_search();

}

  

float get_temp(byte* addr)

{

  byte present = 0;

  byte i;

  byte data[12];

  

  ds.reset();

  ds.select(addr);

  ds.write(0x44,1);         // start conversion, with parasite power on at the end

  

  delay(1000);     // maybe 750ms is enough, maybe not

  // we might do a ds.depower() here, but the reset will take care of it.

  

  present = ds.reset();

  ds.select(addr);    

  ds.write(0xBE);         // Read Scratchpad

  

  for ( i = 0; i < 9; i++) { // we need 9 bytes

    data[i] = ds.read();

  }

  

  int temp;

  float ftemp;

  temp = data[0];      // load all 8 bits of the LSB

  

  if (data[1] > 0x80){  // sign bit set, temp is negative

    temp = !temp + 1; //two's complement adjustment

    temp = temp * -1; //flip value negative.

  }

  

  //get hi-rez data

  int cpc;

  int cr = data[6];

  cpc = data[7]; 

  

  if (cpc == 0)

    return BADTEMP;

  

  temp = temp >> 1;  // Truncate by dropping bit zero for hi-rez forumua

  ftemp = temp - (float)0.25 + (cpc - cr)/(float)cpc;

  //end hi-rez data

//  ftemp = ((ftemp * 9) / 5.0) + 32; //C -> F

  

  return ftemp;

}

Copy and paste the above code into your Arduino software. For the code above I used the OneHire.h library which is free to use and can be downloaded from here. To be able to use this library simply copy the contents to C:\arduino\hardware\libraries\OneWire. Now you should be able to Compile (CTRL+R) and upload the code to the board (CTRL+U)

Now with the software uploaded you can send some simple serial commands via its built in USB to serial adapter to interact with it. The interface is are broken up into 1 to 4 character commands, which I will detail below

Command	Description
T	Returns temperature from One Wire component
D4H	Sets digital pin 4 to HIGH (ON) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
D4L	Sets digital pin 4 to LOW (OFF) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
A1	Reads analog value from pin 1 (replace 1 for alternate pin)
PING	Returns PONG which is used to confirmed controller is online
V	Returns version which is some forethought into the PC application being able to support different versions of controller software

Using the build in serial monitor tool in Arduino.exe, my application, or you should be able to control your Arduino with this very simple command based interface

Now you can hook up some LEDs and watch them blink which is fun for a little while but if you want to add some grow box components read on….

Temperature Sensor

As you can see I have fully embraced the circuit schema on the back of a napkin idea. These are the actual diagrams I crumpled up and stuffed in my pocket with several trips to the garage for some final soldering of various joints until everything was solid.

Below is the simple circuit required to get your 1Wire temperature sensor working. I would recommend checking your documentation (if not labels on the chip) for the orientation to have 1 and 3 correct, if you have it wrong you should get some complete unrealistic number. Hook ground up to pin1 on the DS18S20 and pin 2 hooked up to the digital input pin 8 on the Arduino with 5V with a 4.7K resister in between to step down the voltage.

If everything is hooked up correctly you should get the current room temperature in Celsius by sending command “T” to your Arduino. If you prefer Fahrenheit uncomment line 162 and recompile and upload your changes, though if using my software I support both degree types and do the conversion in the the software. To make sure everything working (or just to play with your new toy) put your fingers on the chip for a couple seconds and take another measurement unless you keep your house very warm the temperature should go up a couple of degrees

Turning things on and off (Relays)

If you were smart enough to check the current requirements of your Solid State Relays (SSR) before you bought them you may be able to skip this whole circuit and simply hook the digital outputs to the 5V positive side and ground to the negative side of the SSR.

Unfortunately if you are like me and bought some SSRs that require more current draw than the Arduino (or any other IC chip) of 40mA then you will need to create the simple circuit below.

Basic idea is pretty simple, you are using the output from the digital pins to switch of the transistor which then allows the ground to complete the circuit with the thus turning on the relay. As you can see there is a 1K resistor between the base (middle pin) of the transistor. If you are not using a SSR relay (though recommend you do) you should add a 1N4004 diode between the positive/negative which protects the transistor from being damaged in case of a high voltage spike which can occur for a fraction of a second when the transistor switched off, this is also known as a back-EMF diode or fly back diode.

Now here you have a couple options. If you are confident of our wiring skills you can do like I did and take a couple of sockets and hook up the neutral and ground in parallel. Two save space and since I really didn’t need two separate plug-ins (nor its own plug) for each relay I removed the little metal bar between the two sockets so they could be switched on independently. Now simply hook up hot to the left side of all your relays in parallel and then connect a wire from the right side of the relay to its own plug on the two sockets.

Now a less wiring intensive method is to simply take a 6 foot (small if you can find them) and cut the hot wire (usually the one with non-smooth wire) and attach each end of the wire to both sides of the relay.

Moisture Sensor

When it comes to a moisture sensor there are a few options. First is the classic two galvanized nails, second is the cheap gypsum soil moisture sensor which I have written up in the provided link. Lastly if my personal favorite the Vegetronix soil sensor.

If you use the Vegetronix hookup is simple no circuit needed simply hook up the 5V to red, bare wire to ground, and black to analog pin 1.

If you are using the other options you will need the simple circuit below. Technically it is a voltage divider, but that doesn’t really matter. Just hook up one end of your sensor to 5V and other sensor to ground with 10K resistor and also connected to analog pin 0.

Cheap soldered solution

If I could do it over I probably should have just bought a small breadboard. I did most of my prototyping with my larger breadboard but got cheap when I was at ~~Radio Shack~~ The Shack and just got this prototype board for half the price.

Virtual breadboard layout

If you are new to soldering or have no interest in learning I would definitely recommend this option. Simply place the components in the holes and make connections with 18 gauge solid copper wire. You should be able to pick a small breadboard for less than $7.

Various applications

Of course for my application, I am using this to integrate with my custom software solution to control my grow box (will be having private/public beta soon). Specifically soil sensor, temperature measurement, heater, lights, exhaust fan, and water pump.

Though there is definitely no reason you can use this same setup for other application.

A couple of ideas:

Home automation (turn on/off lights, turn on coffee machine)
Attic fan
Hydroponic system

Going Forward

I would like to convert this into an Arduino shield. For those new to Arduino I will go with Arduino’s description, “Shields are boards to be mounted on top of the Arduino board and that extend the functionality of Arduino to control different devices, acquire data, etc”

So basic idea is you just plug it into the top the Arduino and hook up a couple wires to some terminal blocks and you have a nice clean solution. Creating these printed circuit boards get much cheaper the higher the quantity. I am considering doing a run of these if I get enough interest so if you may be interested in one of these send me a mail in “Contact” in the header.

Alternative seed saving containers

2009-09-08T08:57:00.001-07:00

When I am storing seeds for months at a time my homemade paper seed packets work great, but for seeds I seem to use many times throughout the year I was looking for a new option.

My solution was small plastic/metal resealable containers. They are small and do not take up too much extra space and securely close so now worries of reaching into my pocket do find it full of seeds (had this happen more than once) They are also water resistant (if not waterproof) so now worries about setting these down on some moist soil soaking the seeds.

You probably have many of these containers lying around your house from other products (prescription, OTC drugs, food containers, etc)

Unfortunately (I guess fortunately) I do not need prescription drugs too often and wasn’t smart enough to save any of my past containers so I opted to get some from an online supplier. This particular one many options for specifically for seed saving containers at very reasonable prices. I am also considering using these when I share seeds with others as gifts.

What sort of creative options have you used to store your saved seeds?

Saving jalapeno seeds

2009-09-07T19:41:00.001-07:00

I am attempting to grow the best pepper plants I can indoors (grow box) so I started with jalapeno peppers. They grow relatively small 2-3 feet and require 2-3 gallon container for growing. While this is fine for an outdoor garden, though indoors I can only sacrifice 1 gallon container. This summer I grew several jalapeno plants which spent half of their life in the grow box and spent our warm summer outdoors. All of the plants produced but there was definitely a clear winner which had incredible early yields even with its small growing quarters.

I used several immature peppers (green) for salsa this year but allowed several peppers to mature (red) which I will be saving the seeds for planting this winter and next summer for future plants. By hand selecting the best parent plants should be good old natural selection at work.

The process to collect pepper seeds is pretty simple though I must first provide this warning:

WARNING: Peppers are hot, especially the veins. When handling peppers use caution and wash your hands well with dish soap. Under no conditions do not rub your eyes or ~~pick~~ rub your nose before washing your hands or you will be regretting it for a couple hours. Using gloves is also recommended.

That being said slice the peppers lengthwise with a sharp knife.

Use a fork or spoon to gently dislodge the seeds into a small bowl.

If you are lucky enough to have hot sunny weather still (week of rain here) lay they out in the sun for a couple days and store them in a cool dry place until you are ready to plant them. If you are sun challenged like me set them on a windowsill for a few days.

As I have said before saving you own seeds is very easy and free and as an added bonus you can personally pick the best plant to be the donors of seeds for your future plantings. In my case I also have the benefit of a plants that is genetically grown to following my sporadic watering and care patterns.

Make your own seed packets (packet templates)

2009-08-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Last year I did origami seed packets last year which worked out pretty good though I only got two per sheet of paper and didn’t hold too many seeds (especially large seeds like peas) with the many types of seeds I am collecting this year I decided to try another option.

I looked online and found many templates, though I couldn’t find any with standard seed package sizes. Eventually I gave up and created my own and thought I would share.

Small Seed Packet (2.75” X 3.00”)	4 packets per sheet	pdf doc docx
Typical Seed Packet (3.00” X 3.75”)	2 packets per sheet	pdf doc docx
XLarge Seed Packet (4.50” X 5.25”)	1 packets per sheet	pdf doc docx

Basic idea is pretty simple, just print them out and glue the flaps on the inside. I used a plain old grade school glue stick which worked out great. Not only does this work great for new seeds collected, but I also used them to reduce much of the space my large seed packets were taking for a small number of very small seeds.

How to use Vegetronix soil moisture sensor (VG400) on Arduino

2009-08-28T22:15:00.001-07:00

With the summer starting to come to a close it has been time for me to start thinking back to the computerized grow box. I have been doing some considerable work on the electronics and software over the summer. Better to break stuff while the plants are outside and not while killing them inside.

Though I have been happy with my homemade gypsum soil sensors I decided to try out a commercial option hoping for better accuracy and longer life. This is important with my current plans to include automatic watering to the latest version of my grow box. Don’t want to wake up to a flood in the garage due to a broken sensor. After some looking I came across the Vegetronix VG400 which measures the dielectric constant of the soil using transmission line techniques. Which I have no idea what that means but sounds impressive.

The hookup couldn’t be simpler, red wire to 3V, bare wire to ground, and black wire to an analog input. As you can see below in my completely not to scale diagram below.

From here it all comes down to some simple code to write on the Arduino to get some values.

void setup()
{
// Setup serial
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
   Serial.println(analogRead(0));

   delay(200); // wait 200 milliseconds
}

Upload the code to the Arduino and now I can get a moisture value from the analog input between 0 and 614 (0-3 volts) depending on the degree of water saturation.

Though not as hacky as my PS2 controller moisture sensor solution definitely more elegant and reliable. Stay tuned for more details of other improvements to the computer controlled grow box.

Blackberry Picking Tip – Hands free berry picking

2009-08-15T07:24:00.001-07:00

I love to pick blackberries, they grow literally like weeds in my area and very easy to find a trail with more berries than I ever could pick. The fresh air is nice I am always looking for new ways to pick berries in less time. This tip from my brother-in-law will be sure to help step your berry picking up a notch.

Simply take an old milk carton and cut a hole in the top.

Then take your belt and loop it through the handle and now you have both hands free to pick those berries even faster. Of course this would work for anything else that could be beneficial to have both hands free.

I also cut a small notch lower than the top and used the same container to rinse the berries are allow easy separation of stems, leaves and/or insects that decided to join my bucket during my rapid picking.

As always if you have a gardening tip you would like to share please feel free to .

Big events this week

2009-08-15T06:54:00.001-07:00

My ~~four~~ five year old has been patiently been waiting for the “color sunflower” she planted from seed at a friends house this spring to finally bloom. Every morning she will run to the kitchen window and check on its progress. It turns out the sunflower was waiting to share her blooms on my daughter’s birthday which was definitely one of her favorite presents that day.

Here she is posing with her flower (still in pajamas)

Garden Salsa recipe

2009-08-08T19:50:00.001-07:00

Big moment this week, I was able to make salsa entirely from ingredients. I normally don;t use cherry/grape tomatoes for salsa but my Early Girls are not that early this year and have quite turned red.

CVG Garden Salsa Recipe

2-3 tomatoes (or 12-15 cherry/grape tomatoes)
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
green onion
5 sprigs of cilantro
tablespoon vinegar
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded)
sugar

Directions: Coarsely chop tomatoes (removing seeds, though if I few sneak in no big deal), onion, and green onions and add to bowl. Finely chop garlic, cilantro, and seeded jalapeno pepper and add to mixture. Add vinegar to bowl and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes and add sugar until salsa does not have a spicy aftertaste (normally 1-2 teaspoons) If you like the spice skip the sugar and seeding jalapeno.

Mango Salsa Recipe

2009-08-02T13:42:00.001-07:00

I am starting to get some cherry tomatoes turning red but not enough to make salsa so yet again so I decided to make some Mango Salsa. It is great to eat on tortilla chips the same you would for regular salsa or black bean corn salsa. One of my favorite things to do with is as a topping to blackened salmon (salmon grilled with dusting of Cajun seasoning)

CVG Mango Salsa Recipe

3 mangos
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
green onion
5 sprigs of cilantro
juice of one lemon (or lime)
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded)
sugar

Directions: Finely chop 1 mango (or blend in blender/food processor) this will create a base for the salsa. Coarsely chop remaining mangos, onion, and green onions to have more defined texture and add to bowl. Finely chop garlic, cilantro, and seeded jalapeno pepper and add to mixture. Squeeze in juice of lemon into bowl and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes and add sugar until salsa does not have a spicy aftertaste (normally 2-3 teaspoons)

Now if you really like the spice you can leave the seeds in and/or skip the sugar but for the blackened salmon it give a good contrast to the spicy meat and people just are not usually expecting fruit to be spicy.

I can proudly say with the exception of mangos, lemons, and sugar the remaining ingredients came right out of my garden.

Doing recon at the local farmers market

2009-08-02T08:17:00.001-07:00

Your mission, should you decide to accept it is to infiltrate a local farmers market to gain intelligence to help aid your personal garden.

Sure, the farmers market is a great place to find some fresh food you can’t or didn’t have time/space to grow in your garden. It is also a great place to get seeds/starts for your garden. It is also a great resource to figure out how various fruits/vegetables grow in your area.

Even if you are growing everything you want/need in your own garden a quick stop at your farmers market can help you check out your competition and see for example in my case, “hey their garlic grew just as bad as mine this year.”

This is also a good time to try out new fruits and vegetables you are thinking of growing next year. There is nothing worse than growing a bed full of arugula and figure out at that point you hate the stuff. If you are lucky enough you might even get a meal and some seeds to plant with next year depending on you seed saving ability.

Now as always you don’t want to blow your cover while doing surveillance, so make sure you have a good cover store. In my case I used a few people known as “my wife and daughters” to appear less conspicuous. You can even use techniques of taking a picture of your “daughter” to get some recon picture of their products for further analysis.

In the end it looks like my little spy helpers had a good time and we even contributed a little to the local farmers economy and got the secret ingredient to CVG Black Bean and Corn Salsa Recipe (ok, it was corn).

This post will self destruct in 10 seconds (sorry had to say it)

Grow box during the summertime - UPDATE

2009-07-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: With weather climbing my grow box got up to 111.5 degrees today with the lights off. If I was using one of those fancy computers with temperature sensors it would have turned itself off by now. Turning off computer so I will have something working this winter…

[July 25, 2009] I was planning on growing my jalapeno peppers in my grow box this summer, but given the higher than average weather we have been having.

With the weather being in the ~~90’s~~ 100’s and given the CFLs on average increase the temperature by around 10 degrees the grow box has not been great place to grow plants unless I was thinking of growing cacti. Looking at my historical data the highest temperature this summer was ~~107.6~~ 111.5 degrees.

As you can see above I have been making some progress on the computerized grow box, which I will plan on writing it up soon…

How to make your tomatoes turn red?

2009-07-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

While going searching my logs I noticed the query in the topic. My first response, in my sarcastic mind was, "Uh red paint, maybe a red permanent marker?" After some more serious thought I did get some more helpful ideas.

Don't be greedy: I know it is hard when you want to get as many delicious tomatoes as possible and you let your plants go wild producing as many fruit as possible but unfortunately you hit the end of your growing season with 70% of those tomatoes to never to become ripe before the first frost. You can prevent this by pinching off any suckers that are not part of the main vein of the plant. Sure you may not get as many fruits but your plant can spent more of its energy getting that fruit red instead of growing more green tomatoes to throw in the compost.

Be light on the nitrogen: Do not give your plants too much nitrogen during its growth period. You will get a big beautiful plant, but unfortunately fruit will bear too late in the season to mature into ripe red tomatoes.

Get supermarket quality tomatoes from your garden: Of course tomatoes ripened on the vine will have the better taste but when your season runs out and your tomatoes are still green what can you do? One option is to take any flawless tomatoes (no bruises, no cracks) place them very gently in a cardboard box padded on bottom with newspaper and place in a cool humid location. You may also add a ripe banana to speed up the process by adding a little extra ethylene. If you are luck in a couple/few weeks you should have some red tomatoes.

Just eat the green tomatoes: If all else fails there is always the option of breading them with some bread crumbs, salt, and pepper and fry up until golden. There is also the green salsa option which I am planning on trying out this year...ok I may have been a little "greedy" this year.