Below the Surface Day 1

   So most people I know thinks if the top of the plant is healthy the rest is... But that couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure if the top looks green and isn't wilting it might seem fine. But the roots keep it standing up, drink water, absorb nutrients, and even deter pests. That is why I made little garden environment inside a test tube:

   Inside is a Wapsi Valley corn seed that is buried about half an inch below the surface and is in the "subsoil" part of the jar. Sub soil is less nutritious than top soil and most people don't till that deep, but you don't need to. If your like me, you dig a hole 3 feet below the surface and throw all of your plant food scraps in the bottom. This makes the plants dig three feet for the nutrients and thus increase the root mass and makes the plant much more sturdy in the ground. That's what I did with my glass: The dark areas are very fertile (simulating the areas I put nutrients), and the lighter areas are some leftover paver sand from the terra cotta fridge experiment (that simulates the less nutritious layer):

I will be monitoring it's root growth over the course of three months. Then it goes outside where it will mature and produce an ear of corn.

Terra Cotta Fridge-a Part 3

   So after those two posts about the fridge I kind of abandoned the idea... until some water got into it and I stuck a thermometer in it. Here is an image:

   If you can see the number on the thermometer, it says the water is 58.F... On an 85.F day! This is a great thing because this means I can cool things very efficiently, cheaply, and using NO electricity at all! Just using the power of the sun!

Bees

   Believe it or not, most people I know don't have a clue on what bees do for the garden. They pollinate every kind of flowering plant you can think of: Grass, Corn, Oranges, Grapes, Apples, Olives everything! And here is our latest visitor to the garden:

   Bees are vital to our survival. But they have been dying off in something called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Most people think it's a virus. But others think that it's just because of stress. Beekeepers are always traveling the country pollinating the local crops. This gives bees less time to rest, leaving us with dead bees. But we can change this. By planting flowers (See the flower tab above for a list of the flowers that would work), and by not using chemicals like neonicotinoids (neo-nik-ko-tan-oids) found in Poncho, Belay, or Clutch. We can improve the honey bee health status.

Today's Fresh Food From the Garden

Here are what's left of the fruits after the squirrels got some:

   Great... but a shadow of the harvest I previously had (Click Here). Which leaves me with a question. What color tomato should I grow next season? I'm putting a tally vote on the left side of this blog and am asking readers to please answer that question.

Today's (soon to be) Fresh Food From the Garden

   The Fall harvest is coming soon and soon with it the time to reap the rewards of a hard gardening year. But what if you want to keep growing things this year? Well... plant a winter garden. Here's my Sweet Potato plant I planted two weeks ago:

And here's a Russet potato I'm going to plant once it has roots:

And if your wondering how to start sweets potatoes and regular potatoes:
   Sweet Potatoes: When there are green stalks popping out of the potato and they are about six inches long. You burry the whole potato until only about three inches of the stalk are showing.


   Russet potatoes: You first see if it has a growth shooting out (or an eye as it's called). Then you cut the potato in half and soak the cut half in water as seen above. And it's ready to plant when you see roots coming out of it. Or look like this.

Today's Fresh Food From the Garden

 Okay, so you've been wonder what my Painted Mountain corn is looking like...Take a look:

Pick a Color, Any Color!

   This was my first year growing this variety before you comment. I grew corn last year and the year before, but it was Silver Queen... Not Painted Mountain. And I grew this variety in between other (much larger) corn plants. So these guys were out competed my the large plants with bigger root systems to hog all of the nutrients. But I'm not eating this, I'm storing it as seed for next year.

Terra Cotta Fridge-a Part 2

Well, Due to inconveniences in the weather... the pot didn't get to the temperature I expected it to get to. Here are the numbers:

	Temperature Of The Pot	Temperature Out Of The Pot	Air Temperature In The Pot
Sep 23, 2011 8:00 AM	65.F	66.F	65.F
Sep 23, 2011 9:00 AM	65.F	73.F	65.F
Sep 23, 2011 10:00 AM	60.F	75.F	70.F
Sep 23, 2011 11:00 AM	60.F	79.F	72.F
Sep 23, 2011 12:00 PM	60.F	84.F	77.F
Sep 23, 2011 1:00 PM	60.F	88.F	80.F
Sep 23, 2011 2:00 PM	60.F	89.F	84.F

 But it did cool a pint of water (0.5 l) from 75.F (24.C) to 66.F (19.C) in an hour. And you might be thinking to yourself right now... Why would a fridge be on a gardening website? Well, this is a fun project you can try to make with some leftover pots. And if it's very hot and the produce you just picked needs to get really cold really fast... this is the device you need to use.

Terra Cotta Fridge-a Part 1

Now this device that I'm going to show you only works when sunny and..:

I got to get started... What we are going to build is called a Zeer Pot. A fridge that runs on the sun, you'll need:
  2 terra cotta pots (one larget than the other)
  5' of thin plastic tubing
  Waterproof Silicone
  0.5 cubic feet of paver sand
  Duct tape
  Scissors
  A large towel (Not shown here)
  A gallon of water

 Step 1: Cover the bottoms of the pots with some duct tape

Step 2: Plug the holes on the other side with the silicone and let it dry for four hours

Step 3: Fill the bottom of the pot with enough sand so when you place the smaller pot in it, the rims level out

 Step 4: Get the tube, and plug one side with the silicone and let it dry for an hour

 Step 5: Wrap the hose around the smaller pot and tape it there

 Step 6: Cut some holes in the hose and test if water will run through it

 Step7: Place the small pot in the large pot

 Step 8: Fill the gap between the two pots with sand and put some sand on the bottom of the small pot

 Step 9: Wet the sand, but don't put a lot of water or else the small pot will float and create a big mess

 Step 10: Get your towel and soak it in water

 Step 11: Fill the pot with a little bit more water

 Step 12: Let it sit and wait for it to cool down. I stuck a thermometer in and out of the pots to compare the temperature

This works on the principle of water evaporation. When the water evaporates away, the heat is carried with it, and the inner chamber cools down. And this only works when the sun is beating down directly on the pot, and both the pot and towel have to be wet.

And how cold will it get...? See the next post for the chart.

Happy Anniversery

  I have good news! Today is my 1 year anniversary on blogger and telling everybody about the amazing diversity of plants and how to grow them in your backyard(or rented property, balcony... etc.)! So as a treat... I'll give you guys a great tip in gardening. The greatest fertilizers known to man today are...Worm and Bat guano. Yup worm and bat poop. Worm castings are very high in nitrogen and potassium And the casting even repel flies, mosquitos, and parasitic nematodes! Bat guano is also high in nitrogen and potassium, but it contains trace minerals like iron, copper, sulfur, and magnesium. So next year... or even this year if your planting root vegetables (carrots, beets, turnips, onions, garlic, potatoes, radishes etc.) go grab some worm and bat guano and have the best winter garden on the block!

Today's Fresh Food from the Garden

   Sorry for any inconveniences in no productivity in my garden. But I hope this makes up for the lack of produce. My crops are back! Take a look:

Invincible Corn!

Summer is coming to a close. But the Painted Mountain Corn don't even know it's getting cold, take a look:

   You can also grow in winter (if you're willing to shovel fresh warm cow or horse manure). 
All you need are:

1. Eight hay bales
2. A glass pane 4 x 4
3. Fresh warm manure
4. A shovel
5. A wheel Barrel

And here's how you make it:

1. Dig out a pit 5 inches Deep and 3' 10 (1.25 m) x 3' 10" (1.25 m)
2. Border the pit with the hay bales and make it 3 feet (1 m) tall
3. Fill the pit with 2 inches (5 cm) of warm fresh manure
4. Plant Either: Determinate Tomatoes, Peppers, basil, or parsley
5. Put the glass pane on top

Mantinence: Lift up the glass door and clean it in order to allow sunlight through in the cold winter months.