Mel's Garden Experiment- 5-Gallon Wicking Buckets

As I've already stated in here, Mel's idea of gardening is for fresh eating and mine is self sufficiency. At times, never the twain meet. She's more for experimenting and mine is tried and true. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above trying something new. I've done it quite often, but I demand results. Show me how to get the same results and I'll go for it with you.

Each year, Mel tries something different in the garden and I'll let her. Last year the garden was all hers. It was a bust and all the hard work, I'd spent ridding weeds from the gardening areas was laid to waste. But it wasn't a total waste. You see, all the rime and money I had put into building great soil wasn't wasted. It's still there under all those weeds.

Best yet, all the earthworms and red wigglers are abundant for vermicompost. I can't lift a spade full of dirt without disturbing a few. They are happily breaking u the soil pooping out their "golden" fertilizer, reproducing, and loosen the soil without me lifting a finger. Ya gotta love that. Added to that rabbit manure, composted chicken waste, and  leaves and their molds, and I have soil with block busters to grow things without adding chemicals. It was 4-5 years in the making to get here.

Mel hates weeding. Because of this, my almost weed free garden went to the weeds last year in an explosion. They choked out all the vegetable plants. Those that weren't choked out struggled and were impossible to harvest because they couldn't be found. Disgusted, Mel left it alone. Enter Jo this spring. We need the vegetables so I'm taking the garden back. Mel will be allow to experiment, but only in a small section.

Over the winter, Mel watched a YouTube video on self watering wicking tuns and high tunnels. That's the answer to a no wedding garden she thought, so she planned the garden and was going to build a high tunnel over the garden area. I wasn't about to spend another cent on a "hair brained scheme" no matter what everyone else said about it. I know Mel. I watched several videos and was on the fence about the plan.

 

I told Mel to try it first. We had enough stuff on the homestead to make them for nothing. What homestead doesn't have surplus 5- gallon buckets? We have bags of empty soda cans. The aluminum recycling place is closed due to the county lockdown because of COVID-19 so the soda cans are adding up. For the fill pipe, we repurposed scraps of PVC and support legs from some cheap storage racks. And for the fill "dirt" we recharged raised bed "soil" and compost. We didn't use the chemicals Leon did in the video. Instead we used the compost with blood and bone meal. 

Mel didn't want to place the buckets on the ground so she built stands a foot off the ground. She used scrap lumber, scrap bricks, (leftover from the porch and other building projects) and already purchased wire shelves. I had bought the previous year for rabbit cages and food pantry shelves, but didn't use them. So my cost for this venture was zero. You gotta love that!

It ended up looking like this.

So Mel can piddle prattle in the garden this year with her buckets. Here's hoping it works out well for us. She's testing out bush green beans, corn, cucumbers, and beefsteak tomatoes. I planted oregano in with the tomatoes. She argued with me, but I did it anyhow. We're breaking down the elevated raised beds of  oregano, sage, lemon balm, and lavender this year. I may transfer those into some wicking pots too, but we'll see how many I can plant around my heirloom Roma tomatoes. Did you know these herbs are perennials?  Plant them once, watch them self sow, and multiply. 

I firmly believe in companion planting.I planting peas or beans, and parsley in my asparagus patch each year, Oregano, basil, and garlic with my tomatoes. My potato plants are surround by dill weed. These are just a couple of examples. They combat predatory insects and diseases. They have a symbiotic relationship where each supports the other for the best possible outcome plus it doubles or triples what I can harvest from the same spot. When you have a small area to plant, this is paramount.

So Mel can be happily conduct this year's experiment and I can garden for the short and long term. We both win.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo