Homestead Garden Diversity: Bales, Beds and Buckets! Over the years Ive grown gardens totally in the ground, totally in straw bales and totally in buckets. Around 2011 after growing just in the straw bales for several years, I decided to add back a couple of raised beds. I did this as a direct result to the price of the bales(at that time the cost had risen to $4.25)(last yr they were $4.75)(and I needed to recycle the bale remnants). In 2012, I added the raised beds and trialed the self watering buckets. Both were big hits ...growing ~87lbs of taters and peppers galore! Now, because I was no longer taking up valuable real estate on the bales with peppers, cukes, etc, I decided to only use them for tomatoes.. since they were guaranteed to get wilt from our soil. In 2013, I added in the rain gutter garden to help reduce watering needs. There was the initial cost of buying the gutter but the buckets came free(from a local Chinese restaurant). The system is a water miser without a doubt! So, whats my point of all this? It may have taken me years to figure it out...but I have finally got the combination right. My garden yield has never been better and I am keeping costs down. My advice to you is this ....it may take you a few trys to get it right...but keep at it and find what works for you in your space and budget.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 12:19:00 +0000
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