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Commanding_Heights
Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 09, 2006
Posts: 140
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 Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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Here are some pics of my fall garden
http://mydoomgarden.shutterfly.com/
I'm currently growing:
Comfrey - for compost and salve
Beets
Chard
Collard Trees
Spinach
Different Types of Cut and Come Again Lettuce
Broccoli
Cabbage
Onions
Kale
Comments and questions welcome
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kpeavey
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Joined: Oct 04, 2004
Posts: 1261
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| Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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That's some sexy worms you got there. At what rate do you apply castings? If you make tea with the castings, at what rate do you apply the tea? What do you do with them in the winter?
I've been checking into comfrey over the last week, hope to get some going, particularly for compost production.
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Ludi
NeoMaster
Joined: Dec 27, 2004
Posts: 12632
Location: zombie horde wonderland
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| Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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Very nice worm bin!
Very neat garden!
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Commanding_Heights
Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 09, 2006
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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| kpeavey wrote: | That's some sexy worms you got there. At what rate do you apply castings? If you make tea with the castings, at what rate do you apply the tea? What do you do with them in the winter?
I've been checking into comfrey over the last week, hope to get some going, particularly for compost production. |
Let me explain what I use for worm composting first. I use Can-O-Worms. Here's a link. It's basically a worm condo where the worms move from the bottom up. It has three different levels or trays. Each one has holes drilled in the bottom. When on tray is full you simply put another on top and start adding scrap to it. The worms will move up over a period of weeks on their own. Then you have (i'm guessing) 1 1/2 to 2 cubic feet per tray of worm castings. I don't have a scientific application rate. It's by experience mostly. I just look at the beds that are lagging the most and top dress them. Or I'll just divide evenly between the beds. The Can-O-Worms also had a liquid catch tray at the bottom with a valve to drain it. I get about 32 ounces of pure worm/compost tea a week. I put that in a miracle grow sprayer and set it to the 55 gallon setting. I spray that with my waterings a couple times a week. I can almost see the smiles on my plants faces 
No matter how hard I try I can't seem to over-nutrient my plants with worm castings or compost like you can with commercial ferts.
That worm tea also greatly reduces bacterial and fungal problems with my plants. The theory is that the good bacteria coat the plants and crowd out the diseases.
Since I use the worm bin I do, it's easy to just move it into the garage in the winter and they do just fine. They just don't eat as much in the winter. If my wife would let me bring them in the house they'd probably eat like it was summer. Heat is a bigger issue with worms. You need to make sure the scraps you add dont get above 90 degrees F or they can start to die. So don't add so many scraps that they have time to start composting and the worms have nowhere to go.
Now on to the Comfrey. Make sure you get the boking 14 variety. It seems to be the best for compost. I really couldn't get a lot of my comfrey questions answered so I had to buy it and try it. Here are my observations. I can get 3 cutting a year out of it. It grows bloody fast. My bed has 14 plants in it and I've got about 100 lbs of biomass from those plants. It doesn't grow from seed. You simply divide the roots. I could probably get 100+ plants out of those 14 next year. Make sure it's contained whereever it's planted. It's almost as agressive as Kudzu. When mixed with Alfalfa and stinging nettle you have the perfect compost mixture. The C/N ratio is great and the nutrients are great due to the depth of the roots of these plants.
Alfalfa has roots that go 40 foot, stinging nettle and comfrey are 25 to 30 foot. They can reach nutrients that other plants simply can't and bring them to the top.
One other thing about comfrey is it's a water hog.
Remember, anyone can sell you advice but NO ONE can sell you experience.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by Commanding_Heights on Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Commanding_Heights
Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 09, 2006
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:10 am Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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| Ludi wrote: | Very nice worm bin!
Very neat garden! |
Kind words as always Ludi. Thank you. |
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Commanding_Heights
Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 09, 2006
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:25 am Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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| I should also mention that Comfrey in those pics was cut back to nubs about two weeks ago. Just to give you an idea about how fast it grows. |
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cudabachi
Heavy Crude
Joined: Feb 09, 2006
Posts: 408
Location: Venezuela
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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| Collard Trees? |
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Commanding_Heights
Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 09, 2006
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:47 am Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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| cudabachi wrote: | | Collard Trees? |
Yes. They are a pretty hard plant to get a hold of. They are actually a perrenial tree that grows 6 to 8 feet tall and produces collard leaves. Although they need to be propogated to a new place every couple years because they are heavy feeders. They are propogated from stem cuttings.
A 100 square foot bed of trees can provide 4 times more protein and 8 times more calcium than the milk produced from a fodder crop grown in the same area. Plus they contain no oxalic acid, so they can be eaten raw without iron being tied up. |
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Quinny
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Joined: Jul 03, 2008
Posts: 317
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:15 am Post subject: Re: Pics of my Fall Doom Garden |
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Thanks very informative.
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