did it again

DID IT AGAIN
ive never been one who likes to talk a lot
but if you get me started on alzheimers disease organic gardening or
solar power or rainwater collection ill talk your ear off

i go into my lecture mode or my doctor mode
and will tell you much more than you really probably
wanted to know

heck
this week i sat in a dentists chair for close to 3 hours
during the drilling and whatever else he was doing
he made the mistake of asking

my live oak tree died after it was planted
i went into my arborist mode and explained what may have
happened
planted too deep
girdling roots
over watered
not watered enough
weed and feed

live oaks dont die like that

then he asked about gardening and what to plant
i went into my organic garden teaching mode
he almost didnt get my teeth all done in time
i suffered some since the anesthetic had worn off some
it was worth it though
another convert i think

my wife she and i have put in several gardens
those square foot gardens
for folks in the last two years
hoping to infect them with the gardening virus
some have managed to continue gardening with some success

they just need to know how to start and what to do and
what and when to plant

we have provided that knowledge for them

on a recent habitat house the new homeowner made the mistake
of mentioning how she wanted a garden
another worker said you need to talk to the organicgreen doctor
about a garden
that was a mistake

we now went into the organic garden mode and here is what we
did

we take the mel bartholomew square foot garden concept
merge it with the dr deb tolmans keyhole garden concept and
come up with the keyholeless square foot garden

its a 4 foot square garden with a central 1 foot composter

i build a frame this time from 6 inch cedar boards
we then select the appropriate site
dig down 12+ inches and remove all the soil
then take the 1 foot diameter cylinder composter and bury it
6 inches deeper in the middle of the square

on the bottom we line it with a double layer of cardboard
cover that with a thick layer of old newspapers
then dump in john dramgooles hill country soil from
the natural gardener nursery

(this soil is already made with everything you need in it)

they now have 16+ inches of the best soil made

the soil level around the composter is slightly higher than
the edge of the garden
this somehow helps to diffuse moisture and nutrition out to the
borders of the garden

the composter is filled with composter material
i added buckets from my compost pile that the chickens at
the country n keep turned over for me

all the homeowner has to do is add leaves left over veggies from
the kitchen occasional dirt and manures or compost
to continually feed the garden
all they add is water and occasional dumping of compost over
the garden twice a year
and love

1 foot squares are made with wire to aid in planting
so they have 15 squares to plant

in this garden we planted
since its winter time
oregano onions garlic multiplying onions carrots english peas-which
will grow up the composter-lettuce spinach potatoes swiss chard
kale cilantro and arugula

in late march they will replace some of these with beans
tomatoes malabar spinach bell peppers jalapeno peppers
egg plant etc

we planted 9 onions which sell since they are organic for
$1.50+ a lb. this garden should grow 9 1+ lbers
you do the math
the swiss chard should last up to 2 years
a bundle of these are $2.50

the multiplying onions are from some i got from my dad
25 years ago
they will last forever

the lettuce and spinach will be harvested by cutting them
off above the ground and they will grow several bunches
of lettuce and spinach
estimated at $5+ a package it will probably produce 3-4 of these

etc etc etc

when its cold we keep it covered with this row cover

we will follow their garden the first year to help them get started then
they are on their own

hopefully theyll get infected with the organic garden virus

good luck with your keyholeless square foot garden

the organicgreen doctor

square it, garlic

Walk to End Alzheimers
we are walking in the bell county/temple 
walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3 2012

you can walk free but a donation to and or joining
my organicgreendoctor team is appreciated

join us there

SQUARE IT
i am frequently asked about gardening
people are always saying to me

wish i had a square foot garden

i recently was sitting talking with some people about
gardening
one has recently moved here from out of state

if you live here you know you cant garden like you do
in other parts of the country

theres no soil
its hot in the summer
theres not much water

so you have to make adjustments to your gardening techniques

i promised to repost or redo my blog on  4 ft square foot gardening

i want to kiss keep it simply simple

find a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun and a spot
the deer cant get to

scrape off the grass

cover the area with 10 layers of newspapers that extend past the
4 ft width

build a 4 ft square frame from cedar or old left over recycled wood
but not treated wood

mark off 1 ft squares on the frame


get the best garden soil you can find
in this area its the hill country soil from the natural gardener
it comes in bags or you can buy it in bulk like i do


they also make a lady bug brand of mel bartholemews square foot
garden mix that has stuff in it that helps to retain moisture

place the frame over the garden area and dump the solid inside
the frame

start out with plants not seeds if you are new at this since
your success rate is better

plant them
keep them watered every day for a week or two then
as needed
stick your finger in the soil up to the second knuckle
if its dry you need to water it

water by drippers hose soaker or hose end low sprinkler

keep it mulched when the weather is cold

yes its that simple
the garden fails because you over water it or under water it
do the finger test

the fall is the best time to plant and garden in this area
for the 1 foot square you can plant cilantro parsley broccoli
cabbage brussell sprouts asian greens asian cabbage swiss chard
mulitplying onions strawberries
you can plant two per square of spinach lettuce some asian greens
you can plant 4 per square of garlic (see link below)
you can plant a row of carrots turnips beets to 1 square

the natural gardener also has demonstration gardens of this
technique of gardening

these plants will all grow all winter long here

yes its that simple

GARLIC

i plant garlic every year
this year i planted over 100 plants since we use a lot of it
last year i left them in the ground too long and watered them
too much at the end and was left with rotted garlic

should have read this article first
its the best one ive seen about how to grow garlic

you can put garlic in pots in the flower beds
anywhere theres a spot to plant it
and have garlic next late spring
and it looks good in the landscape

the dirt doctor has a good organic gardening book he
wrote with
i think the information in this link is also in the book

read this links article and plant some garlic

your pasta and soups will appreciate it

the organicgreen doctor

keyhole square foot garden

KEYHOLE SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
whats a keyhole square foot garden

well i made it up
i took the ideas from the keyhole garden and combined it
with the ideas of a square foot garden

what comes out of this is a keyhole square foot garden

mel bartholomew is the god of square foot gardening
i have three of his books
the first is dated from the 1980s and i have his latest update
version of his book square foot gardening

here is his website for the square foot gardening foundation
which promotes square foot gardening nationally and internationally
and
here is his blog the mel bartholemew blog

the idea is simple
you can garden anywhere
in an apartment in the city in the country in a high rise etc
build a 4 ft square frame and add good dirt
and then add plants
its that simple
he has a mixture he recommends internationally and nationally
but a local source of his soil for the area where i live is the lady bug brand
of square foot garden soil-a mixture of coir fiber and vermiculite
to hold moisture and five different composts

i recently wrote a blog on the keyhole garden method that is
being promoted especially in africa and other areas using
local rocks and materials to build a circular raised garden with a
central composter and with a pie shaped wedge cut out of the
circle so you can walk into the composter and reach the middle
of the garden
it has been a very successful method of gardening in these foreign
countries
here is a reference to an article on keyhole gardening and my blog
reference

so i had the idea of taking the features of both methods and combining
them into a method i call the keyhole square foot garden

here it is

at the habitat for humanity house i am working on my wife and i
donated a garden to the new home owner
we recently met with her and the three of us put in her new garden

heres how we did it

first we located a site that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight
this one gets some late afternoon shade

we scraped off the top layer of soil
since the soil is deep at her site i opted to dig out 6 inches of her
soil then added this 4 foot square frame of left over 2x6 untreated lumber
dont use treated wood
use cedar or rock or concrete blocks or untreated lumber
so we then have a space thats 4 ft x 4 ft x 1 ft deep

i elected to go to my nursery i like here called the natural gardener
they are the ones that makes mels square foot garden mix for this area
it probably takes 3-4 bags to fill a 6 inch deep garden as mel usually
recommends

i opted to use their hill country soil instead which is the best garden
soil made as it has several types of compost in it granite sand
all the bacteria and fungi needed for plant growth
just dump it in and plant the stuff

we lined the bottom of the hole with cardboard recycled from the
construction site and cut a hole in the middle for the composter
that was made from left over chicken wire and concrete wire
it was placed in the center of the space and was placed it another
6 inches in the ground
its total height was 4 ft (guess that would make this is a cube foot garden)

the bottom was then lined with 10 sheets of newspapers
just trying to keep out all of those dang weeds and also provide
food for all those worms we want to attract to the garden

next the 4 ft square frame was placed down over the composter
there are 1 ft squares marked off on the frame using wire stretched
across the frame
this makes it easy to plant things in 1 ft squares

then we dumped that good old soil in there and we were ready to plant

in the composter we placed layers of chicken poop compost thanks
to my girls at the country n  of compost from the natural gardener  of
oak leaves  of shredded newspapers and added a bananna peel on
top to top it off
shell add compost material over time from her kitchen from mowing and
from leaves as they fall
all she adds is water to keep it moist

later we will add 2 ft path around the square foot frame using
plastic to block the weeds and addi crushed granite on top of the plastic

we planted these items in her garden-two tomatoes malabar spinach
oregano leeks mulitplying onions swiss chard arugula beans basal
bell pepper banana pepper jalapeno pepper and egg plant
nice garden choices huh
this fall late she will add a winter planting to this area

we then added bird netting over the pvc frame we placed to protect
against varmints
that squirrel sat on her fence and licked his chops
at 48 hours he has not attacked yet

now we have the new invention
the keyhole square foot garden
a self contained garden
just add water and compost material and love

will update pictures as the garden grows

the organicgreen doctor