I caught this off a permaculture site. It’s amazing. Take a couple minutes and watch.
http://youtu.be/LJ8pjOG4pXI
Category: Gardening
Broken pot garden
I saw this on Facebook this morning. It is beyond cool! What a clever use for a broken pot!
Getting your toes wet
On Facebook today Homestead had a post featuring a new Kickstart project, a self-contained aquaponic garden. This is really neat! I’ve supported other projects on Kickstart and this one is definitely worthy of support!
What fish?
The wall has really grown this summer. I mean REALLY grown. It’s now a struggle to see the fish. Somebody remind me . . . wasn’t this project for the fish? That’s a 50 gallon aquarium hiding back there!
The wall
This is so not a Pink Floyd thing . . . here’s the wall in all its glory. I’ve reorganized my sewing space and can’t back up any farther to get the trailing things in the picture.
Begonia invasion
Here’s what the wall looks like today. The begonias are taking over . . . and still no new gutter.
There’s a philodendron crawling across the floor . . . and the palm at the top is doing okay. The spider plans are barely holding their own, the dieffenbachia is also doing well as are all the various dumb cane varieties.
The hoya is doing nothing . . . still. It does occasionally get sneaky and route water off the wall onto the floor so I’m keeping an eye on it.
Bog filter 2012
The larger of the upper biofilter tanks is doing really well, though the water hyacinth has not bloomed this year and I’m holding no hope that it will. The triangular water reed has nearly tripled in size even after removing half the original plant last spring to give to Mindy. Jill? Can I restock you when I cut this back in the fall?
This year this larger filter tank is loaded with hydroton which provides shelter for the roots. The water bean, hyacinths and reeds are mega happy, sans blooming.
The smaller tank is also filled with hydroton and has last year’s penny royal which amazingly enough, wintered over due in part to the tank being made of closed cell foam (insulative), containing hydroton (insulative) and filled with standing water (insulative).
Because the maple tree and the triangular reed are sheltering the smaller biofilter tank from the sun the penny royal is growing much more slowly, which is a plus. Last year it was horribly root bound it grew so fast. I cut out most of it and thew it away, then took the remaining bit and cut it in half to give to Mindy.
I like the fairy moss as a fill-in between the larger plants. It helps keep the mosquito population down. Having marigolds growing in a pot on the back frame helps as well. I don’t worry about mosquitoes in the big tank – fish food!
The reed is blooming, though it hasn’t yet peaked to produce the mass of feathery tendrils that will be the end product.
Tip out gardening
Tip out plant wall. Totally cool!
Bloomin’ Bean
The bean I got from JMH last year is blooming. I have two blossoms, this one and another in the middle of the tank.
I picked up Fairy Moss and water Hyacinths today. The upper tank’s looking pretty good.
This is what the upper two tanks look like right now. The penny royal is growing, the season triangular reed is coming up. The water hyacinth and fairy moss is spread in the middle tank.
So far, so good!
Natural pool
This is beyond cool! A natural pool!
If I had kids at home, this would be a must have!