DIY Earthbox

After a failed attempt at finding straw to grow in, I decided that earthboxes were the way to go for us. Beside the voles and moles will not get to the plants using this box. Off to the big blue store I went and got myself a  pvc pipe, pipe cutter and a tote.

Here is what you'll need:

10' 1-1 1/2" pvc pipe - around $2
Pipe cutter - around $10
Tote - around $5 
3/8 and 9/16 spade bits
Carpet cutter 
Drill

Why use an Earthbox? You will use less water + less fertilizer + sometimes yield double the produce = saving you money. Weeds got your garden down in the dumps? Earthbox gardening will help that issue since weeds don't get a chance to start
How often do I water it? Every few days when the plants are young and maybe every other day once mature. It depends on the time of season and heat.

 Step 1: Cut about (12-15) pvc pieces to 2 1/2"  then measure the tote from top to bottom adding about 4 inches and cut another pvc that size, that will be where you water.

 Step 2: Cut the top of the lid. Be careful not to cut yourself! although it would be an interesting coversation starter at parties I'm sure you'd love to have all 10 fingers.

Step 3: Using the 9/16 spade bit drill several holes into the cut portion of the lid. You can be ocd with this if you like, I didn't do too much thinking on this part.

 Step 4: Using the 3/8 spade bit, drill a hole on each of the sides about 3" from the bottom.

 Step cinco and seis: Place your cut pvc in ocd fashion and place the cut drilled portion of the lid on top of the pipe pieces. You will need to cut a notch portion out on the corner of the cut lid so the longer pvc pipe will fit nicely.

 Final step: Ta DA!!!!

Fill with your dirt and then water and get to growing. Don't forget to add mulch on top to prevent weeds and drying the top soil out.

I planted pumpkins in this batch of earthboxes and watermelon in the other two on the left side of the garden near the corn patch. I'm wondering what kind of trellis I should make for these babies? Any ideas?

Bedroom updating and Birthday parties.

We have been busy but it's great! We had the RAD race and harvested some yummy veggies then traded some of eggs and did more yard work.

So far we've harvested in April:
Belle radish:  12.4 oz
Icicle radish: 14.6oz
Bok choy: 1lb 11.9oz
Black leaf lettuce: 14.6 oz
Snow peas: 2.8oz
Asian Salad: 1lb 08 oz





 We are about 1/4 done in our bedroom for decorating and painting, I just need to get off my butt find the time to start our dresser then get paint going in the room. Here are some inspirations and a thought board I made for our room.

 I took the barn painting inspiration from houseofsmith and used in our upcycle project for barn doors in our room.

 The hubster agreed that once I get the bedroom done we could start working on a different room. I wonder if meant the bathroom was included in that agreement? Either way I can not decide on the bathroom style but I sure love these inspirations.

As for this week it is full of organizing for a garage sale in the coming weekends, prepping for my oldest sons birthday party, and finally getting all my earthboxes done and planted ... There will be a short tutorial on how to make those this week.

BATMAN!!!!  

My son loves all things batman right now and he was totally thrilled when I agreed to a batman party for him. In pure Kim fashion, I have of course already sketched out a few details on the party.

I ordered the cutest favor bags from Etsy the other day and need to rummage around to find some boxes so I can start the pinata. 

What is going on in your neck of the woods?

April To Do

Being back in Georgia is wonderful but I don't recall having so many hot days. I'm learning very fast that our short crop season here in the deepest part of Georgia is SHORT. One of my Chinese cabbage have bolted before forming (major sad face) and I suspect that a couple of my bok choy might be bolting, luckily I can make stir fry out of the bok choy. Do you know if I can cook with the chinese cabbage that has bolted and not formed its main head?

Our garden projects are trudging along..... With the rains we've had over the past month we've learned the importance of having proper drainage. This spring/summer it's my hubsters main goal to get the garden filled with rock (for erosion prevention) instead of the wood cuts like we originally wanted and dig a french drain in three sections of the yard long enough to reach about 20 feet past the main garden into what my hubster called the "waterway easement". To help prevent water just pooling in the yard he is installing grates that will lead to the french drains thus pushing all the water into the easement and into the back of the property.

So far this past month we've harvested

Radishes- 1.75 lbs
Lettuce- 9.3 oz
Bok choy- 1.7 oz


I can not wait till may to harvest more things!! This year and my hubster has to remind me, is a trial year for us. Many things I've learned in this new garden in Georgia is 1) I need to start my cool crops about a month earlier 2) utilized my row covers better and 3) don't push yourself too much otherwise you'll get burned out.

Start outdoors

Cucumbers
Melons
Zucchini
Beans
Radish
Corn
Spinach
Carrots
Swiss chard
Onions
Herbs
Tomatoes
Okra
Peppers
Winter squash
Pumpkins


We decided to move the lawn schedule ahead a month and treated the lawn for bug, mainly mole crickets. They are wrecking our backyard lawn and I've even spotted the bastards in my corn patch.

This month I will be working on adding three bean nets to the beds, making a few trellises and earthboxes, adding dirt to the final boarder beds and finishing up my white garden.

What is on your To Do?

Week 7 Garden update

I haven't blogged about the garden in over a week because I was a little discouraged really. Molly, our dog ate all my tomato plants, half my peppers and all my basil.

After a few days of no gardening I decided IF I was going to meet my goal of not having to shop at the grocery store for my produce I NEEDED to get back in the game and plant more seeds. So I bit the bullet and headed to lowes to buy tomato seeds. Although I had a few heirloom seeds left I needed more.

Here is our garden

 We have 2 Pom pomegranates to grow only 8'-10'. I decided last year that I would espalier the trees along the fence of the garden.

  I've got a butt ton of radishes growing in the garden. These are icicle radishes in the "Asian" bed.

 Peas grow in 4 of the 10 beds to help provide shade but also to fill up empty space.

 I am a vampire *hisss hiss* No vampires shall bug my garden because these babies are garlic.

 Chinese cabbage is growing well. I decided to plant 2 more this week.

 Here is the row of snow peas. The two tall ones my youngest grew.

 More snap peas.

These babies are Tyee Spinach. I can't wait till the start producing! We eat a lot of spinach and drink a lot of it too.

Lettuce is doing great right now in the bi polar temps of Georgia.

 More radishes... these are french radishes.

 After Molly decided to snack on my tomato plants I got this little guy from the nursery. Heirloom, score.

 Here are the eggplants and leeks I've started to harden off

 Lemongrass which was doing fine indoors until I goofed up and tried to harden them off.. bad move. They're dying now. I'm going to start more after the last frost and see if I have better luck.

LUFFAS!!!! I can't wait to get these babies outside.

Although I forgot to take pictures I've planted broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, swiss chard, more lettuce, bok choy and basil in the beds outdoors. Indoors I started the lavender, marigolds, cabbage, nicotina, tomatoes and celery

 The hubster has been hard at work trying to finish up the fence around the garden. He is wanting to add a horizontal log at the top of the fence but I kind of like the look now. What do you all think?

 The last thing he is going to add are the doors, three of them. I can't wait to see the design on for them.

We've decided to buy a few fruiting trees like the 4 in apple, 4 in 1 cherry, 4 in 1 cocktail, avacado and lemon/lime tree. I also want to find a dwarf orange tree but haven't found one anywhere yet. I really really reaaaaally want an almond tree but it might take some convincing the hubster to let me get one.

This week we'll be working on getting the 1' edging beds installed into the garden, ordering more dirt and filling those babies up. Starting to build the bean house and get a couple trellises up. I've got more planting to do as well. There will be some front lawn work that will be started in the tree garden. I came across a picture online that is totally our inspiration

I love the oversized stepping stones going straight to the house. With the boys friends coming over daily this is a great idea I think.


What is on your To-Do list this week?