Compost Confidential

First Harvest Meal from the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

Once again, this is not a video but I just had to show you my first harvest of note where I actually had a complete meal from the bounty. Everything in the garden is coming on strong now. Even the nasturtiums are blooming on cue. What you see in this bowl is over four pounds of veggies, all harvested in one day. Not bad for a total expense so far of $14.55. And the best part; we’re just getting started.

A new video should be up within a couple of days. Thanks for checking in.
JL

 

Thought You'd Like to See...

 

This post does not include a video but if you'd like to see them for this series on The Twenty-five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge, click here to view them on YouTube.

I realize that if I only post a blog entry every time I have a new video to show, you're not getting much action in between in real time. So here's a shot of this mornings surprise harvest of 'green finger' cucumbers, compliments of seeds sent to me by my virtual friend on Twitter, Theresa Loe. These cucumbers are really tasty and I love the size. This is the second harvest from only about two plants. I also love that fact that they don't take up a lot of space in the garden. They're mostly 'hanging out along the front of my bamboo fence.

In other harvesting news, some of my squash will be ready for harvest tomorrow. Initially I was concerned that they were not getting pollinated because I hadn't seen any bees out there. So I hand-pollinated all I could. But today I saw honey bees in my garden and I was really excited about that.

Some of the pole beans, Chinese cabbage, chard and lettuce will come in tonight for dinner so now that it is officially well into summer, all the vegetables my family and I eat for the rest of the season must come from the garden. The tomato plants are doing well but I am a few weeks away yet from harvesting any of them.

My plans for the next video are to address the very few pests problems I'd had. Actually, I wouldn't even call them problems. I had a few whitefly and one cucumber beetle. But I feel like I need to addrsess what do do for pest control on a budget so I'm thinking that should make it into episode 12, which I'll edit and upload later this week.

That's all for now. The budget is still holding at $14.55 in total expenses. Now I'm wondering if I can keep it here for the rest of the season. How cool would that be to finish out the season for under $15?!?

If you'd like to see all the videos in this series, The Twenty-five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge, they can be viewed on my channel at YouTube.

Keeping the Deer at Bay When Joe's Away - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

(To watch this video in better High Definition, click here to view it on Vimeo).

So I survived nearly week away, without my nightly ritual of spreading homemade deer repellent around the garden perimeter. My plan to deter the deer in my absence was one I concocted in a few minutes time, but with no idea as to its potential effectiveness. Yet with no other options, I had to take a chance and hope for the best.

As you’ll see in the video, I placed these “deer repellent traps” for lack of a better term evenly around the garden perimeter by securing them to the bamboo fence with twine. The tops have remained securely in place and I’ve managed to avoid any evidence of deer or other critters munching on my garden since then.

In the next episode I plan on addressing other pests control, such as how I’m dealing with whitefly and cucumber beetles that have started to show up in my garden. With only a little over ten dollars in the budget, home remedies are still at the top of the list for controls.

And now that it is officially summer, all the veggies my family and I eat for the rest of the season, must come from my garden. This week, we started harvesting cucumbers, along with lettuce, chard and Chinese cabbage. Basil is a no-brainer and I use that every day.

So here’s a rundown of where we stand as of June 26, 2009: 

Current Expense Count (still the same):

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………....$2.27
Two tomato plants…………$5.28

Total……………………….$14.55
Available…………......……$10.45

Thanks for keeping up with my progress and especially for your comments on this blog and when you post them on YouTube.

Oh Deer! - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

(If you'd like to watch this video in better HD quality, click here to view it on Vimeo)

So, this is what I love about gardening. There is never a dull moment. Just when one challenge subsides (incessant rain), another one presents itself, hence the title of this latest video, “Oh Deer!”

According to my next-door neighbor, there has never been a deer sighting in our hood (50+ years); that is until I started a vegetable garden! Why am I not surprised? But how ironic the timing and how thankful I was to have my video camera out to capture that moment. I may not have a garden by tomorrow thanks to him, but at least I have proof of the culprit, should the worst-case scenario occur.

Not to be deterred, I see that I’ve been given another opportunity to present a real-life scenario to fellow gardeners. This time it’s about how to defend your garden against deer when you only have twenty-five dollars to do it all! Personally it is a challenge I’d rather not take on right now. I’m not even sure I have enough money for mildew control, not to mention a foe of much greater consequences. And truth be told, I’ve never personally had to deal with deer before, as they’ve never ventured into my semi-urban gardens.  Clearly this deer works for God and this is some movie with script writers far more divine than I. I’m sure they’re up there yucking it up to see what else they can throw at me.

I hope you enjoy this video and by now you should know to always watch it to the very end. I apologize if you find my humor in this one slightly warped. I’m having fun with this twenty-five dollar victory garden project for sure and thankful that you all have been so encouraging along the way. You’ve made it very inspiring for me to see this project through successfully. We have a long way to go but it helps to know I’ve got you guys in my corner. 

In real-time, we are six days ahead of what you see in the video as I write this on June 13th.  The garden is filling in nicely and so far I have no other problems to report. I’m very happy with the results and encouraged now more than ever. Thanks for joining me on this adventure and as always, you know I love to hear from you. By the way, if you love those hand-painted garden signs you see in the video as much as I do, you can order your own from Emily. Reach her on Twitter, username: "@emilyoftexas" or on her webiste here.
JL

p.s. My expenses are holding steady for now. Here’s the summary:

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………....$2.27
Two tomato plants…………$5.28

Total……………………….$14.55
Available…………......……$10.45

Smoking Grass is good for your Garden – My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

If you’d like to watch this video in better HD quality, view this episode on Vimeo by clicking here.

Well, in spite of all the rain, my garden is finally looking great. I made my first harvest last night of lettuce for an awesome organic salad.

But you’d never know that from looking at my videos. They’ve been lagging by a couple of weeks from “real time updates” until now. In this episode, I get you to within a week today. And over the next few days, I’ll close the gap even more. In episode 10, you’ll finally be up to date with seeing things pretty much as they happen.

At the close of this episode nine, I let you know I’ll be leaving it for a week and wonder how the garden will look upon my return. Thanks to a steady supply of rain, it exploded in my absence. I often wonder if we should take a clue from Mother Nature about these things and love our gardens less. I know many people who have killed their gardens with kindness.

On another note, I have made some inquires into the financial and logistical possibilities of installing a webcam that can monitor the garden 24/7 with a live link for viewing whenever you wish. I was going to justify it by saying it’s another way to keep me honest by looking in on the garden whenever you want. But truthfully, I really wanted it for me to be able to keep an eye on it when I have to be away. But this morning I learned that the camera cost alone could be up to $500 and then if the site gets a lot of traffic, I could be charged a great deal more by my web hosting company. So, it just doesn’t appear financially feasible. However, if anybody has any insights to make this more doable, I’m open.

Finally, upon returning from my vacation, my first real reunion with my garden in daylight was early this past Sunday morning. As I was taping a segment for your future viewing pleasure, something caught my eye. As I looked up, I couldn’t believe what was happening. A large deer was strolling through my backyard like he owned the place. Now although I understand deer and very common in many backyards across America, I never imagined they would be in mine. I live in a downtown neighborhood, presumably insulated from any wild creature larger than a rabbit. But for two days in a row now, this deer has been hanging out in and around my yard.

Now my focus has changed completely. Up until this point, my biggest concern was water. Now, it’s hoping that my garden will be there the next morning. With a budget too small for a physical barrier and barely enough for a bottle of repellant, what will I do? Believe me, I’m search for answers and I’ll bring you along as I do battle. Stay tuned. This could get very interesting.

Maybe I Should have Planted a 'Rain Garden' - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

To watch this video in better HD, click here to view on vimeo.

So this video was shot two weeks ago. As you’ll see, I gave you a taste of the incredible amount of rain we’ve been getting here in North Carolina and all around the southeast. At one point as the rain is coming down, you can just hear the frustration in my voice. Yet, I’ve been around gardening long enough to know that build it right and things will work out.

And that’s the case today. We’ve finally had a glorious week of sunshine and I’ve taken full advantage of being outside playing in the garden. The plants have indeed rebounded. The seeds have germinated nicely and the sun has dried out the saturated soil and greened up the foliage. But just as things are getting good, I’m leaving for a few days. I’m looking into a “garden-cam” to monitor the garden online 24/7. Am I obsessive? Maybe a little, but I do think about it often while I’m away, plus I thought it would be fun for anyone to log in and check out the garden whenever they want. So, I’m making progress on that but unfortunately it won’t be set up before I go.

Back to the video for a moment. I realized I didn’t take any time in it to show you how I constructed the bamboo fence. If anyone wants to know, just looking at it will let you see it’s a simple weaving process. So far it has served its purpose well and is quite sturdy. And of course, the best part is the price…free!

I haven’t spent any more money yet so I still have a little over ten dollars on standby to deal with potential pest or disease issues that might come up. I have two more videos to edit this week so look for those to appear soon.

Current Expense Count (still the same):

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………....$2.27
Two tomato plants…………$5.28

Total……………………….$14.55
Available…………......……$10.45

Thanks for keeping up with my progress and especially for your support. I love getting your comments on this blog and when you post them on YouTube too.