Fertilizer Factory by firenze1459
Contest Winner
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Here are the components of my vegetable garden:

4' x 6' x 1' high untreated cedar raised beds:  They are made by Greenes and were extremely easy to join the corners and look quite handsome.

Compost from my kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and leaves: I used black plastic 33 gallon garbage pails, then drilled 3/8th inch holes all around the cylinder. Rolling it every few days produces a dark loamy soil in a few weeks. I combined this to some bought topsoil with additional compost and mixed it with my existing sandy soil.

Manual labor: The grass was removed first and I dug down another foot to allow for deep roots.Then I added the compost mixture to the height of the raised bed and mixed the soil again. This technique is sometimes referred to as "double dug" or French Intensive style. The layout is measured in 1 foot units on a grid. I strung twine to make the squares and stapled it to the wood. The plant spacing is very dense. This technique discourages weed growth and pests, helps retain moisture, and produces a high yield in a small space.

Seeds and seedlings: Currently, I am growing four types of tomatoes, two basil varieties, green beans, mustard greens, lettuces, and Seminole pumpkins. The plants differ depending on the temperature of the growing season.  

Mr. Bunnypants: Yup. My Florida White rabbit is the CFO, chief fertilizer officer that is, of my garden. Due to his steady deposits and diligence, production and profits have flourished. Rabbit droppings have the highest nitrogen content compared to chicken, cow, horse, and pig manure. They also contain phosphorus, have no odor, no mess, and can be added fresh to the soil. The droppings are little time released fertilizer capsules that I add to the soil before planting and top dress around the plants every week. Droppings go in, juicy, organic, and delicious vegetables come out. 
kurshiukas says: Nov 30, 2011. 10:29 PM
A suggestion - adding several earth worms to the compost bin will considerably speed the process. They just LOVE organic kitchen scraps :)
MadBricoleur says: May 22, 2011. 11:23 PM
My garden has both bunny and chicken dropping fertilizer :D and they LIVE together...
The bunny-chicken dropping ratio used to be skyrocketeeringly higher when there was a "little" (well maybe not, it took 3 batches of baby bunnies to finally control it) population overload. It was funny to take a step in the chicken coop find that it's composed entirely of little spherical pellets.
woofboy111 says: May 21, 2011. 11:09 AM
Mr. Bunnypants...
mickeym says: May 22, 2011. 3:12 PM
AANNDD????
woofboy111 says: May 22, 2011. 10:58 PM
...is the CFO of the garden!
mickeym says: May 22, 2011. 3:10 PM
this one is unique because it shows beginning to end results with clear instructions & beeuutiful photos
mary candy says: May 21, 2011. 7:46 PM
the bunny is so sweet !
Beautiful garden .
mawcoffey says: May 21, 2011. 2:31 PM
How clever! I never knew that about rabbit droppings. Makes me want to buy a bunny.
sbarkan says: May 20, 2011. 4:40 PM
I've always wanted to walk bunnies around the block on a leash! Do you think Mr. Bunnypants will do that?!?!
ChrysN says: May 20, 2011. 4:10 PM
Mr. Bunnypants! I love the name.
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