Liter Bottle Basil - a self-watering herb system based on "wick watering"

I can't take credit for this idea, but I will give it a Two-Green-Thumbs-Up Award.

This self-watering container provides an easy way to grow herbs. It also makes a "fun" children's science experiment.

1. Take a 2 or 3 liter bottle.

2. Rinse it well with water/vinegar solution.

3. Cut the bottle in half.

4. Remove the cap and drill small holes around the cap in a circular pattern and one centered.

5. Cut a piece of cotton string to 12 inches. Tie a knot about 2-4" from the cut to make "Y"

6. Feed the string through the cap's hole to create a "wick" so that the water will flow up. Spread the strings' fibers around so that the wick will reach the entire planter.

id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498250055858681026" border="0" />

7. Fill the bottom half of the liter bottle with water and liquid soil nutrients, if desired.

8. Attach the drilled lid to the top half (with the cotton string attached through the center)

9. Fill the top (capped) half with organic soil and plant your basil seeds)

10. Place the top piece (cap down) into the base of the liter bottle.

11. Place this self-watering planter in the sunlight, refilling the base with water as needed.

12. The wick (cotton string) acts to carry the water to the root structure providing optimum
water as needed.)

You can begin seedlings in this manner and transplant when desired into the garden or harvest directly from the container. With proper lighting conditions, plants can be grown indoors as well. Thank you's to our neighbors and their three young sons for experimenting and sharing the "wick-watering" growing method.

Worms!

I began vermicomposting (crazy looking word that means worms composting) 2 years ago when I moved into my first apartment. I was distressed to be landless and wanted to give purpose to the onion peels and egg shells piling up in my sink. So I started a method of indoor composting and adopted some worms to help me out.



Worm Bin Recipe:

1 Rubber or plastic tub with lid
1 electric drill
Some bedding for the worms (cardboard, hay, mulch, leaves, woodchips, shredded newspaper, etc.)
2 jars of (thankful) bait worms
1 spray bottle

1. Drill holes 1 in. apart around the top edge of the tub (about 2 inches from edge).
2. Drill holes about 1 in. apart around the perimiter of the lid.
3. Drill holes on the bottom of the tub at the corners (for drainage)

4. Fill 1/4-1/3 of tub with the bedding.
5. Put some compostable items* in the corners (push under the filler).
6. Dump the jars of worms ontop and watch them happily wriggle into their new home.

7. Keep the bin moist by spraying water on top of the bedding daily.
8. Add more bedding once a month or as needed.

After a few months you can collect the compost: scoop some of the mixture onto a piece of newspaper. Hold a lamp or light over the compost while you slowly collect layers of compost. Wait a while giving the worms time to burrow into the center of the mound. Eventually you will end up with a pile of compost next to a pile of worms. Return the worms to the bin and give the compost to your garden.

You can keep your bin indoors. If you choose to leave it outside, keep it out of the sun and bring it indoors during cold seasons.

If you have a problem with wandering worms (sometimes they will crawl up and out of the bin when they are adjusting to the new environment) take off the lid and leave a lamp over the bin at night. Worms are shy critters and like to stay out of the spotlight.

Suggested items that make happy compost and cheerful worms:
Coffee Grounds
Unbleached filters
Tea bags (remove any staples)
egg shells
discarded vegetable matter
rotten food can be composted as long as it is cut into small pieces

Never put in meat, oils or fats.

Happy Worm-binning!
-Kate

First Harvest

What better way to commence this blog than with the year's first harvest!



We started backyard gardening a while back... but, life sometimes gets in the way. Our 2010 gardening harvest is comprised mostly of herbs (parsley, mint, basil) and some cool weather crops, chard, mesclun mix, and lettuce. The cherry tomatoes we planted in a container are yielding well. We had a stunning yield from the raspberry bushes (5 lbs) in June.



Today, we harvested the beans (leguminosae) We didn't get very fancy this year, but planted a few standards: Kentucky Wonder beans (pole), French Haricort (bush), and Yellow Wax Beans (bush). So here is a photo of today's yield from our back yard garden.



Here's to good eating, happy gardening and healthy land!

-Judy and Kate