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Now is as good of time as ever to grow your own food. The bad economy has me feeling like anyone with the ability and resources who is currently un- or even under-employed might want to pretend we are in an agricultural society rather than an industrial one. Lower incomes bring about the need to trim the budget and seriously consider alleviating conspicuous consumption. Just because you can buy something, doesn't mean you should.
Even if you aren't experiencing financial woes, you should still be at least somewhat conscious that we humans produce detrimental effects on our planet that you can help to pacify in some way. Whether it be consuming less products made by polluting factories, recycling water to grow plants to breath in our excess of carbon dioxide, or by composting food and yard waste to lessen the load on our land fills (mainly by keeping biodegradable items out of plastic bags, never to escape for nature to take its course, but rather to sit and add bulk to an item that will be there forever), you can help our planet.
And on top of financial strain and altruistic duties, gardening is just plain therapeutic. It's great to start the day by watering the garden and even better to come home and check for new growth. Fresh food is also much healthier than anything thats been processed.
In this presentation, I will show you how I went about building a garden and the things that a garden demands most; water, nutrients, and protection. I will show you how to do this in an environmentally friendly and cost conscious way.
On a foreward note: I made all of this stuff you are about to see a couple of weeks ago and did not think to take before or during pictures. Hopefully I can illustrate sufficiently with my words.
Even if you aren't experiencing financial woes, you should still be at least somewhat conscious that we humans produce detrimental effects on our planet that you can help to pacify in some way. Whether it be consuming less products made by polluting factories, recycling water to grow plants to breath in our excess of carbon dioxide, or by composting food and yard waste to lessen the load on our land fills (mainly by keeping biodegradable items out of plastic bags, never to escape for nature to take its course, but rather to sit and add bulk to an item that will be there forever), you can help our planet.
And on top of financial strain and altruistic duties, gardening is just plain therapeutic. It's great to start the day by watering the garden and even better to come home and check for new growth. Fresh food is also much healthier than anything thats been processed.
In this presentation, I will show you how I went about building a garden and the things that a garden demands most; water, nutrients, and protection. I will show you how to do this in an environmentally friendly and cost conscious way.
On a foreward note: I made all of this stuff you are about to see a couple of weeks ago and did not think to take before or during pictures. Hopefully I can illustrate sufficiently with my words.
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Signing UpStep 1Make a Raised Bed Garden w/Sticks and Dirt
This all started when I decided to cut down a bush in my yard that was mainly long twigs ranging from about 1/4"-3" in diameter. Since starting college 2 years ago, many of my professors have been ecologically minded and preached of sustainability and environmental impact and such. Having meditated on their various teachings for a little while now, I figured it a good idea to plant my first garden, at the very least in preparation for being broke while eventually living completely on my own. Anyway, I ended up deciding to use these limbs/ twigs/ sticks to begin building a raised bed garden. Raised bed so I could add better dirt and compost rather than till into my hard and sandy soil.
I basically drew an outline of my garden by driving some of the more sturdier limbs into the ground, spaced about 5 feet apart, about 50 feet in length total, 2-3 feet in width and against the wire fence the seperates some wet land forest type area from my yard (the plants and stuff you'll see just beyond this fence are all my dads doings). The limbs I drove into the ground were about 2-3 feet in length and stood 1-2 feet above ground. I drove one in and then put another one directly behind it with about 6 inches between the two, as to allow me to add limbs in between these and build them up for the raised bed.
After I used up the limbs from the bush I removed from my yard, I needed a substantial amount more limbs. I scoured my front yard for limbs from trees that had fallen from the winter and some that needed trimming anyway. I then ventured into the forest behind my house and found one dead tree of a good length, some more fallen limbs, and finally a few more including one slim and long pine tree that were alive and i had to cut down but damn't I needed more and no one ever takes from that little forest because it's marsh or something that can't be built on so the invisible hand of the market says no one will be trying to purchase this worthless land. What I mean is, I know I cheated by cutting down a good tree and some live limbs that would use a good bit of CO2 but that forest will be there long enough to grow many more trees because no one will be buying it, so it's sustainable.
After building up the raised bed with limbs, I dug a big hole just behind my dads garden and just before the forest so I could add a couple inches of dirt and make the limb structure a bit more stable by packing the dirt as needed.
After that, I bought 5 bags of cheap compost and 5 bags of cheap top soil from Home Depot. I then put down the 5 bags of compost and spread basically evenly with the exception of a couple of feet that I left bare (with just fill dirt from the hole I dug) for potted plants to sit. I then spread the top soil directly over the compost.
Directly after the first rain and post adding dirt, I sowed my seeds that I bought from Wal-Mart and planted 2 tomato plants my mom bought me and 2 more she had in a place in her yard that didn't get enough sun that she gave me.
Also, I don't really mind the weeds growing on or directly around the raised bed as long as they don't invade the actual garden. They are plants too and can help to take in CO2 and exhale O2.
I basically drew an outline of my garden by driving some of the more sturdier limbs into the ground, spaced about 5 feet apart, about 50 feet in length total, 2-3 feet in width and against the wire fence the seperates some wet land forest type area from my yard (the plants and stuff you'll see just beyond this fence are all my dads doings). The limbs I drove into the ground were about 2-3 feet in length and stood 1-2 feet above ground. I drove one in and then put another one directly behind it with about 6 inches between the two, as to allow me to add limbs in between these and build them up for the raised bed.
After I used up the limbs from the bush I removed from my yard, I needed a substantial amount more limbs. I scoured my front yard for limbs from trees that had fallen from the winter and some that needed trimming anyway. I then ventured into the forest behind my house and found one dead tree of a good length, some more fallen limbs, and finally a few more including one slim and long pine tree that were alive and i had to cut down but damn't I needed more and no one ever takes from that little forest because it's marsh or something that can't be built on so the invisible hand of the market says no one will be trying to purchase this worthless land. What I mean is, I know I cheated by cutting down a good tree and some live limbs that would use a good bit of CO2 but that forest will be there long enough to grow many more trees because no one will be buying it, so it's sustainable.
After building up the raised bed with limbs, I dug a big hole just behind my dads garden and just before the forest so I could add a couple inches of dirt and make the limb structure a bit more stable by packing the dirt as needed.
After that, I bought 5 bags of cheap compost and 5 bags of cheap top soil from Home Depot. I then put down the 5 bags of compost and spread basically evenly with the exception of a couple of feet that I left bare (with just fill dirt from the hole I dug) for potted plants to sit. I then spread the top soil directly over the compost.
Directly after the first rain and post adding dirt, I sowed my seeds that I bought from Wal-Mart and planted 2 tomato plants my mom bought me and 2 more she had in a place in her yard that didn't get enough sun that she gave me.
Also, I don't really mind the weeds growing on or directly around the raised bed as long as they don't invade the actual garden. They are plants too and can help to take in CO2 and exhale O2.
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Nevertheless, your ideas are awessome, so I hope you make more instructables.
P.S: your dogs are super-cool.