Monday, May 19, 2008

Urban Organic

Well, I survived the grilling by the scientific elders and won't have to sell my soul to appease the science gods. Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging and sewing and crafting and not being a brat to live with shortly....

I've got some craft blog posts coming up soon, but in the meantime I thought I'd share some pics of our little organic farm we've got here. The boy has worked so hard and it's really coming together. Not enough to live off (yet?) but it will definitely help supplement our summer produce. Mmmmm, fresh blueberries!

Garden 1

Click the pic to go on over to flickr and see labels of what we're growing.

Last year TN (and much of the southeast) suffered a nasty drought and our water bill was outrageous. We've recovered our rainfall total recently, but the boy and I were thinking of ways to circumvent this for the summer. We saw these rain barrels at the Earth Day festival and decided to buy one instead of making it ourselves at it benefited the Watershed Alliance...oh, and because the boy is as bad as me about having WAY too many projects to finish and this was one he didn't mind giving up.

One good rainfall fills it up as it collects from gutters on about half our roof. Should hold enough to water the garden for a week in the summer I'm guessing!

Rain Barrel

Now that the backyard is coming along, I suppose it's time I hold up my end of the deal and get to work on the front before our neighbors pull a landscaping intervention....

5 comments:

  1. Must...get...water...barrel...

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  2. I'm soooo jealous! I would love to have a garden. I just need to figure out where to put our dogs that eat everything! Even brick and cement. *sigh*
    I am going to check into either getting or making a rain barrel. Great idea! :o)

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  3. Does your barrel have a top or is it kept open?

    Love your site by the way!!!

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  4. Trish:

    The barrel is closed on top, making it a closed system with the water coming in via the diveter and out via the tap.

    I found the diverter we have at www.gardeners.com. Search for item number 33-991

    If you make a barrel remember 3 things:
    1- use food grade plastic if the water is for veggies/kids play
    2- the barrel needs to be opaque (or painted) to prevent algae growth
    3- the barrel needs to be a closed system OR have a fine mesh screen over the opening so you don't have a mosquito breeding ground sitting next to your house.

    Have fun!

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  5. That was precisely why I was asking.

    We have trouble with West Nile here in Chicago but this sounds perfect.

    Thanks so much.

    Your garden and all of your projects are inspirational!!

    Keep it up!

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