Posted on Apr 14, 2009 under Aquaponics, Gardening, Heating, Self Sufficiency, Solar power, Water |
The mailman was just here to drop of my first copy of Urban Garden Magazine. UGM is a bi-monthly magazine focusing on hydroponics and indoor growing. I hadn’t heard of this magazine before, since it is distributed through hydro- and grow-shops in the US, Canada and the UK. That is until Dan, one of the magazines editors contacted me and asked me if I wanted to write something for the magazine.
So, I wrote a piece on greenhouse temperature control and the people at UGM loved it, in fact, they already have me booked for another gig in their next issue!
If you don’t know UGM yet you should check out their website at www.urbangardenmagazine.com, they normally have a few of their articles published on their site, or pick up a copy at your local hydro-store.
If any of you already have a copy, I would love to get some feedback on the article!
Posted on Apr 11, 2009 under Aquaponics, Fish, Gardening, Self Sufficiency, Water |
My goldfish have been polluting the water for a little while now and all the plants I have transplanted into the aquaponics grow bed are doing good. A few days ago I decided to add the NFT channel, that I made a while ago, to the system and pop some basil seeds in. The seed packet says that germination takes 15 to 20 days, the seeds I put in started sprouting after 3 days! The picture was taken this morning, 4 days after sowing.
Posted on Apr 06, 2009 under Gardening |
A few weeks ago I grew some cat grass from seed. The growth rate was really amazing, so I decided to grow some more, this time with a camera pointed at it. The below video was shot over the course of 12 days.
Posted on Apr 05, 2009 under Compost, Gardening, Self Sufficiency, Water |
Spring has really started and everything is starting to grow, but not every plant is wanted in our garden. We have a lot of stinging nettles in our garden and getting rid of them can be quite a challenge. This plant, however, can be put to good use in our garden by using it to brew a natural, highly effective, fertilizer. You can use the whole plant to create fertilizer: leafs, stems and roots.
Roughly cut up the plants and dump them into a barrel with water. You’ll want to add about 1 kg of plant matter to 10 liters of water (about 1 pound to a gallon) After 24 hours you will have a plant strengthener that is very high on silicic acid, a substance that will strengthen your plants cells and protect them from stinging and sucking insects.
Letting your nettles stay in the water a little longer will break down the contained nutrients and leave you with a fertilizer that is very rich in nitrogen and trace elements. Place your barrel in a sunny spot, but think about where you place it as the process of breaking down the plant matter into its elements will release a very bad smell. Give it a daily stir with a shovel and after two to three weeks your fertilizer is ready to be used. All the plant matter that hasn’t been broken down can be added to your compost pile.
The liquid fertilizer can be sprayed directly onto your plants, in which case it should be diluted: 1 part fertilizer to ten parts water. Or you can water the plants with it. One treatment a week will give you noticeable better growing, healthier plants.
