Also known as sheet-mulching or sheet-composting– the method is well covered in Patricia Lanza’s book “Lasagna Gardening”– it involves the preparation of a garden bed by layering different organic materials into a ready-to-plant growing medium. You can read the book, or just get a reasonably good idea of how it works from what I did.

I started by segregating my various materials into “carbons” and “nitrogens”. Without getting all scientific, if it’s dried and brown, it’s mostly carbon; if it’s still green and moist, it’s relatively higher in nitrogen. Ideally, you want a ratio that’s overall a bit more carbon than nitrogen. If you were trying to make traditional compost, you’d want a ratio of 25:1 carbon to nitrogen. If you think about it, what we’re really doing is making compost– just all over the garden bed instead of in a pile, bin or container. Since still-green grass clippings have both carbon and nitrogen in a lower ratio than dried material does, it’s not always possible to create a precise composite ratio when layering, but, really, you don’t necessarily need to. For the purposes here, you just want to end up with something that’s a layered mixture of the typically available components, and is somewhat loose, fluffy, and moist in texture.

Anyway, dried leaves and grass clippings went in one pile, more recent grass clippings in another. I made a third pile of some well-dried hedge trimmings, which were composed of thin twigs and brown-but-brittle leaves trimmed from a boxwood hedge and some holly trees.

Although you don’t need to, I created a line of demarcation with some steel edging, mainly because I was installing this bed at the back of my lawn, and wanted to minimize intrusive grass runners.

I cut some cardboard I obtained to fit the width and length of the bed, thus entirely blacking out the grass within its borders. You could also use a 5-6 page thick layer of wet newsprint. Overlap whatever you use by about 6 inches as you lay it out. The grass underneath will die, decompose and become the first “nitrogen” layer. The cardboard/newsprint will become the first “carbon” layer.

Next, I dumped out enough green, wet clippings to cover the cardboard an inch or so deep. I’d go so far as to call this layer a “green manure”, as, judging by the pungent aroma and gooey texture, microbial decomposition was already well underway in the trash bag in which it had been saved. I followed that with a layer of mixed dried grass and leaves. I continued this alternate layering of lawn trimmings and sweepings until I had a good six inches in depth. I topped it off with the hedge leaves and twigs as a mulch layer. I left things alone for a week to let it “gel” a bit.

As I was growing at the edge of the yard along a fence row, I decided to plant pole snap beans. Using a two foot long 1″x1″ wooden stake, I poked two 3″ deep holes about every foot, each at about 6 inches from the front and rear of the 25 foot long by 2 foot-wide bed, resulting in around 50 plant sites. I dropped a bean seed in each hole, followed by a loose handful of a mixture of potting soil and composted chicken manure. I hand-watered the entire bed with a two-gallon sprinkler can, and then loosely hand-raked the mulch layer to cover the planting holes.

Repeating the watering regimen every other day, evidence of first germination occurred 5 to 6 days later, and, by day 8, twenty-one plants were already poking through the mulch, some by as little as 1/2 inch and some as much as 4 inches.

I found a lot of cool stuff by a manufacturer called Mr. Landscaper© that covers so many bases in low-volume irrigation, it’s hard to fathom what else you could possibly need to handle your garden and plant watering needs.

I did find one thing, however, and it really completes the whole setup. It’s the Orbit Sunmate Automatic Yard Watering System©. Although it’s aimed at high-volume lawn use, it’s wide range of operating pressures– from 10 to 80psi– allows its adaptation to low-volume irrigation quite nicely.

The starter kit consists of 4 pieces: a digital multi-station, multi-cycle timer/controller, two electronic station valves, and a 4-outlet brass manifold. Mounting hardware is also supplied. It sells for around $40, which is a great deal, considering the manifold itself costs about $14 if you bought it separately. The controller can run a total of four valves, of which extras can be had for around $15. As a bonus, the controller and valves carry a six-year warranty.

You start by programming the watering duration of each valve or “station”. Additionally, up to four “on” times or “cycles” can be set. Although you can’t stagger the cycles of individual stations, the wide range of watering durations allows the amount of water to each type of outlet to be determined. For example, even though your drippers and sprayers will come on at the same time(s) each day, the drippers connected to one station could be set to run for up to 99 minutes while, at the same time, the sprayers connected to another station could be set to run as little as 1 minute. This allows for a great deal of flexibility.

My current setup features one station which controls the outlets on a length of 1/2″ drip irrigation pipe. A combination of high-flow drippers and spray heads run for 90 minutes twice a day on a raised bed garden containing squash, tomatoes, basil, eggplant, peppers and ginger. Incoming water pressure on this station is controlled by a 25psi regulator in order to prevent the 1/4″ spaghetti lines from blowing off the connectors.

A second station’s outlet is fitted with a reducer/restrictor to feed a long length of 1/4″ spaghetti hose which branches out at its end to a number of 1gph drippers that are mounted on standard 10×20″ seedling trays. This station runs for 7 minutes at a time twice a day– enough to keep about 1/2″ of water on the bottoms of the trays most of the time, even on 90°-plus days. Pots in the trays soak up the water from below as needed. This works great for a variety of uses, including outdoor germination and growing starts until they are ready to be transplanted into the garden. Certainly some herbs could even be left to term in this setup.

I’ve recently purchased two additional station valves to max out the system, and am looking forward to an excuse to utilize them in the near future. The Orbit system (#62032) and extra valves (#62035) are available at The Home Depot; a full range of Mr. Landscaper products are featured at Lowe’s. Orbit also sells a comparativley limited line of drip irrigation accessories under the Dripmaster name, available at Wal-Mart.

What’s that, you ask? It’s actually nothing more than a fancy term for composting using worms. It’s easy, and is probably one of the best things you can do for almost all your plants.

Worm castings, as they are called (conjuring up images of industrious little worms gracefully “casting” their… well… their “worm poo”), are one of the most nutrient-rich forms of organic fertilizer you can use. All you need is a dark-colored, covered-but-vented bin, some kitchen scraps, some moistened shredded up newspaper, and a pound or so of worms.

Not just any worms, mind you, but a couple of particular species that excel at producing this gardener’s black gold. The most common species used are the red wiggler (eisenia foetida) or the so-called European nightcrawler (eisenia hortensis), with the red wiggler being the most popular. The Euros are a bit bigger, and reportedly don’t produce quite as fine a final product, but, if they’re all you can get, should work just as well.

A dark-colored bin is best, since the worms don’t like light. Some ventilation is mandatory, and a method of drainage is also useful. You could use a plastic tote bin, found nearly everywhere, to start vermi-composting. Poke a few dozen holes in the lid with a very small nail– worms can squeeze through holes as small as 1/16 of an inch. Do the same around the perimeter of the bin about 2″ up from the bottom. Place a thick layer– 6 inches or more– of shredded moistened newspaper in the bottom. Not too wet or packed too tight– make it a bit fluffy, and none of the shiny slick stuff– and then add your worms. They will immediately burrow down into the newspaper to get away from the light. Add some vegetable scraps from the kitchen, cover them with a few layers of wetted newspaper (not shredded), and put on the lid. Check under the newspaper every few days to see the worms’ progress, adding more food scraps only as necessary. Add some more moistened torn-up newspaper from time to time, too– they’ll eat it as well. Don’t have a paper shredder? Let your worms help prevent identity theft by feeding them your last month’s credit card statement– with today’s soy-based inks, your worms will devour it with no problem. Ultimately, your worms will eat half their weight in food every day!

A word about kitchen scraps: Vegetable or fruit peelings, coffee grounds, tea bags, stale cereal are all fine. No meats, fats, bones, or dairy products. Some say no onions or garlic as these have an antibiotic effect on the beneficial microbes in the compost. Others say go light on citrus rinds, as the the worms don’t like the acidity. Your worms will like you more if you chop up their food somewhat before adding it to the bin– it will make their work easier and faster. For tougher scraps, like broccoli stems, go ahead and cook them with the people part of the food, and then pluck out the worms’ share before serving. Also, be ready for a surprise if you put vegetable seeds in your bin– they’ll germinate and sprout like crazy in this dark, moist, fertile environment.

If you can, provide some kind of drain in the bottom of your bin, even if it’s only a hole with a cork in it. Moisture will work its way down and collect in the bottom. Draining it has several benefits. One, you won’t have any drowned worms– unlikely, but possible. Second, the liquid that you drain out isn’t trash, it’s the liquid form of this gardener’s black gold– worm tea. It will be very concentrated– you can add a mere few ounces of it to a gallon of water, and it will still be darker than strong coffee. Give all your plants a treat while you wait for the worms to finish their work. In a ten gallon tote bin, you can even safely add about a quart of water a week to help create more tea without seriously affecting the worms. Just don’t forget to drain it out and use it. If there’s more than you can use up, keep it in a jug with a hole punched in the cap, so the beneficial microbes therein can breath.

Keep your bin in a relatively cool location out of direct sunlight if kept outside. A garage or basement are also good spots. You can even keep it in your kitchen if you want– it has no unpleasant odor whatsoever (unless you perpetually over-feed). At most, your bin should have a subtle, natural, earthy aroma.

Once your compost is ready, it’s time to harvest it. How do you know it’s ready? Like regular compost, you won’t be able to discern any of the materials you put in the bin originally. Nothing will look like paper or kitchen scraps or tea bags at all.

How do you harvest it if it’s still full of worms? Simple. One way is to only feed them on one side of the bin. The worms will move to that side to feed, leaving the other side virtually worm-free. Another way is to spread out sheets of newspaper on a table. Gently scoop out baseball-sized mounds of compost and place them in rows on the newspaper. Turn on a bright light directly overhead. The worms will move downward in the mounds, and you will be able to brush or scoop off the tops of the mounds a little at a time as they do.

The bin described above will produce plenty of worm compost and worm tea for the average gardener or plant keeper, but, if you prefer a more elegant solution, there are products like the Can-O-Worms Composting Bin©. It has a vented base, a vented cover, and three trays which are used in rotation. You start with a single covered tray sitting in the bottom section, and feed the worms until the compost fills the tray up to a certain level. Then you add another tray, and put some newspaper-covered food in it. The worms move up to the upper tray as they finish composting their food and bedding in the lower tray through hundreds of worm-size holes. The bottom section even has an island for worms who fall through the bottom tray to get out of the collecting liquid and back up into the trays. A handy drain with a valve is provided to dispense worm tea. A starter block of bedding is included– about the size of a large brick, it expands to almost 4 gallons in volume when water is added. The worms, if not available locally, can be mail ordered from worm farms all over the country. Keep them happy, and they will make vermi-compost– and lots more worms– for years to come.

Construction, after a bit of design brainstorming, was fairly straightforward, and I was filling it up with soil in about an hour and a half.

I used 6′x5.5″x5/8″ cedar fenceboards. Corners are pressure treated 12″ 2×4s screwed perpendicular to 12″ 2×6s. Bottoms of 2×6s have 3/8″ holes drilled 5″ deep into which 12″ 3/8″ re-bar is inserted. These will serve to stake the box to the ground. Due to the 12 ft. length, center supports made of 12″ 2×6s, again with the re-bar, tie the 6 ft. sections together in the middle. There’s some very minor bowing at the middle, so I may or may not add something across the top, front to back, to pull it in line. 1-1/4″ galvanized screws attach ends of cedar boards to insides of corners and center connectors, 1″ down from tops of corner pieces so another layer can be stacked on top later if desired. 6 mil plastic sheeting lines the inside walls, but not the bottom– two layers of heavy cardboard are laid out in the bottom to shut out the grass.

The local organic nursery delivered a yard and a half of organic garden mix in a super sack. Really nice stuff, and with the surplus, I’ll have enough to beef up the beds in front of the house and fill another 6×6 foot raised bed . Plus, I have the compost pile going since last summer, and a worm bin that puts out some really good stuff for fertilizer.

All the necessary materials: One old 32-gallon RubberMaid trash can with lid, and a length of 4″ diameter corrugated, perforated plastic drainage pipe (available from most home improvement centers).

Necessary tools for the project include a cordless drill, a 4″ hole saw, a 5/8″ wood bit (the kind with points at the outer edges), and a pair of heavy kitchen shears.A length of the pipe was cut 33″ long, to the next nearest widest corrugation at each end. Rough edges were cleaned up, but the kitchen shears do a reasonably neat job, anyway. The flanged ends were cut perpendicularly 1/2″ deep at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions. 4″ holes were sawed in the bottom center of the can and center of the lid– it was easiest to center the holes by drilling from the inside surfaces in both cases. Since the pipe is 4″ in diameter at the narrowest point of the corrugations, these were necessary to pass the pipe ends through the 4″ holes, but then “lock” the pipe in place. This task was more difficult at the bottom end, as the can is thicker and less pliable than the lid, but the tightest fit possible is preferred.

5/8″ holes were then drilled in a regular fashion all around the can– 24 all total. 4 additional holes were drilled in the lid as well.

Conveniently, the yard man chose not to use the mulching mower this week. Lots of starter grass clippings, leaves, pine needles. Kitchen waste and shredded paper will be added also.

Total project cost: an amazingly low $3.48! Actually, only $1.16, as there is enough pipe left over from the 10 ft. length to make two more. If you wanted to make one out of a brand new can: $13.08.

Funny part of the story: As I was completing the project, my neighbor came out to wash his car and asked what I was doing. When I told him I was making a composter, he said he had one he didn’t use and I was welcome to have it– for free. Turns out it’s an Earth Machine, which the local municipality gave out free to residents several years ago in an effort to reduce landfill waste. Seems they normally sell for about $60-70. They appear to be nothing more, really, than an eye-pleasing way to make a compost pile, but include venting, an adjustable-vented lid, and a door to remove compost. It may well not work any better than my can project, but, for free, I’ll give both a try. I can see already, however, that my design has one advantage– all I will need do to give the pile a stir with mine is lay it on its side and roll it around the yard a bit. Between the lid’s built-in clips and the chimney flange holding it, the lid should, hopefully, stay firmly in place. The good news is that the compost that was left in the bottom of the Earth Machine will make a fine inoculant for both compost piles.

I downloaded several winter kale recipes today in hopes of harvesting and consuming most of it before I turn my attention to a spring tomato crop– one that does not include the apparently-resistant-to-nothing creoles. I may try Better Boy, Celebrity, plum, Roma, cherry or Sweet 100’s. I plan to convert the 5-gallon containers from last summer to Dutch pots, which should comfortably house tomatoes, and perhaps some cucumbers, bell peppers and squash, all of which should hopefully do nicely on the same nutrient.

[January 31st: Make that 30 tomatoes.]
[February 8th: I stopped counting at 40.]
[February 12th: 51.]

I found plans on the internet for a simple structure using PVC pipe to create a quonset hut-shaped “hoop house”. Covered with 6 mil clear polyethylene film and strategically placed shade cloth, it should keep out critters, control temperature, and help retain moisture.

I decided on making it 9′x12′ since I have a concrete slab extending my patio that I rarely use of roughly those dimensions. In that location, it will get good wind protection from the west and north, but it will still have to be anchored down to prevent any mishaps. With the addition of an exhaust fan and some venting, I should be able to provide an environment conducive to some vegetables, lettuces, and herbs.

I bolted together a frame out of treated 2×6s on-edge, nine by twelve feet, to fit on a section of my patio. 10 by 12 or even 12 by 12 would have worked using the same PVC and plastic sheeting. Using some mending plates, I made some L-shaped brackets to secure the frame to the slab.

The ribs are made from 3/4″ schedule 40 PVC, 10 foot lengths. Using 3/4″ crosses and tees, the ribs are joined together spaced 24″ apart. The top crossbar is from pieces cut 22-3/8″ (I think) to achieve the 24″ spacing once assembled. I did not use cement, but, in retrospect, should have, as one end joint worked loose over time from minor shifting in the wind. A 10 ft. length of 1/2″ electrical conduit inserted inside the top bar before the last end rib is installed aids rigidity. The ribs are secured at the bottom with heavy gauge pipe straps– I think you need to buy 1″ to fit 3/4″ PVC– on the inside of the 2×6 frame.

The cover is 6mil polyfilm sheeting from Home Depot. I have plenty left to re-do it whenever it becomes necessary– a roll 20 feet wide by 100 feet long was around $60. (What’s on there now still looks OK after nearly a year.) I made a dozen or so clamps from 1″ PVC by cutting slices 1-1/2″ in length and then removing a bit more than a quarter of their circumference, and sanding all sharp edges and points smooth. I applied the film on the ends first, wrapping from the inside, over the top of the end ribs, and making a short slit at the top center to fit around the top crossbar. Then a 13 by 20 foot piece went over the top, and both the end sheets and the top were secured by the same clamps at several points. Finally, the bottom of the sheeting was secured all around from the inside by folding it inward and screwing 2″ treated lath into the top of the 2×6s with the poly sandwiched between. Additional items included an X-shaped brace on one end to add rigidity, and a screen door made of treated 1×2s on the other.

You can get by in the winter months using a cheap box fan for airflow, but in the summer an enclosed hoop house such as this will need some serious ventilation to keep the temperature in line. Shade cloth alone won’t cut it. You might even consider making the ends out of screen instead of plastic.

I found that there are several techniques to grow hydroponically, and that– compared to growing in soil– the results are fantastic. For example, the time from planting tomato seedlings to harvesting vine-ripe mature fruits is significantly shortened– from three months or more down to as little as eight weeks.

I decided to embark upon a new project, and build my own hydroponic system. I settled on a particular design that employed a hybrid concept to supply nutrients to the plants.

It might be best to take a moment and discuss some of the various hydroponic methodologies. The simplest involves just dripping a nutrient solution over the root area of a plant which is physically supported by an inert medium like pea gravel, perlite, or the like. The nutrient is then “discarded”, meaning it is not recirculated over the plant roots again. This isn’t a very efficient or cost-effective method, so it is rarely used.

Another simple technique is to create a bubbler system from plastic bucket-type containers. Stacking a 3.5 gallon bucket in a 5 gallon bucket is a popular design. The smaller bucket’s bottom is perforated and then placed inside the larger The space between the bottoms of the buckets serves as a nutrient reservoir. An aquarium air pump is used to power a tube system that “bubbles up” nutrient solution from the reservoir to the top of the planting media in the top bucket where it trickles down over the roots and, ultimately, drips back into the reservoir through the perforated bottom.

A different approach employs a method know as “ebb and flow”. In this method, plants are placed in an inert medium in small pots which are arranged in a large six-inch deep tray. Using a timer to control a pump in a reservoir below the tray, nutrient solution floods the tray– and the pots– for a specific interval, and then drains back to the reservoir. During this “ebb” time, the plant roots are kept moist by the growing medium, but are also exposed to increased amount of oxygen.

A system similar to ebb and flow, but simpler, is called deep flow, or deep water culture. Pots remain submerged in nutrient solution, but the solution is oxygenated and recirculated constantly.

A more sophisticated system, called NFT– Nutrient Film Technique– employs the concepts of both feeding and supplying increased oxygen to the roots, but does them at the same time. Plants are situated in an inert medium in “net pots”, which are plastic cups with many small slots in their sides and bottom. The pots are inserted in the covers of plastic channels, known as gullies, through which a shallow film of nutrient solution flows. The slots in the pots allow roots to grow down into the nutrient film.

An offshoot of hydroponics is aeropononics. Also a soilless growing method, aeroponics goes one step further to almost eliminate the growing medium itself. In an aeroponic system, plants are suspended with their roots hanging in an opaque chamber. Nutrient is sprayed on the roots or misted in the chamber either constantly or at specific intervals.

My hybrid system employs elements of deep flow, NFT and aeroponics. Rather than have nutrient pumped in at one end of a gully to flow past roots on its way back to the reservoir, it is instead sprayed onto the net pots at each plant site. Additionally, the drain at the reservoir end of the gully is adjustable, allowing the depth of the film flowing down the bottom of the gully to be varied from very thin all the way up to nearly filling the gully. This adjustability allows seedlings placed in the system to start out under the deep flow technique, and, as their roots grow longer, the depth can be lowered allowing more oxygen to the roots in a hybrid aeroponic/NFT system.

This is not an original design. I found a commercially available system that very apparently uses mostly commonly available materials in its construction, so I decided to build one myself. After a few hiccups, I eventually got everything I needed and assembled the system. Some pics here.

I cut a 3-1/2-inch hole in the bottom of one bucket, as well as 16 3/8″ holes for soil aeration. A 16-ounce plastic Solo or Dixie cup placed in the hole serves as the “wick” for the potting mix to absorb water. Cutting slits in it allows the water to pass through.

The only mod to the lower/outer bucket was to drill a 3/8″ hole in the side just below the bottom edge of the upper/inner bucket, to serve as an overflow and to allow air in. One of the 3/8″ holes near the edge of the inner bucket was enlarged to accept a length of 1″ rigid plastic aquarium tube for a water fill tube. I purchased a single bucket lid, in which I cut a 3″ hole in the center for a single tomato plant, and also a 1″ hole to accomodate the watering tube. Before putting the lid on, I spread about a cup of granular fertilizer in a thin ring around the outer edge of the surface of the potting mix. Then the lid was put on and the tomato plant was planted thru the center hole. Should be enough to sustain a single plant for an entire season.

Project cost: Buckets $2.50 (x2); lid $.97; 1″x18″ tube $1.50; plastic cup free; 25 dry quarts potting mix $2.99; 1 cup dry fertilizer and 1 cup hydrated lime (to condition soil for tomatoes) ~ $.50. Total approx. $11.00.

Photos here.