Loving Nature’s Garden | A Green Earth Begins at Home

Hello Skunk!

March 4th, 2010 | 6 comments |

wet baby skunk by Out at Bob's

One day you find a skunk under your deck. What do you do? Do you say, “Hello, cute little skunk. I’m so glad you have moved into my nature garden.” Or, “Little skunk, I know you’re part of nature, but you must find another home. Not in my back yard!”

One morning last week, and again the same evening, there was a very noisy critter on my back deck. It really sounded like something large bumbling about. I put on my nature detective cap and came up with the following possibilities of who might have moved in: groundhog (not, because they feed in the daytime); possum (possible – I know they’re in my neighborhood); skunk (hopefully not); raccoon or fox (both are in my neighborhood, but I’ve seen no signs of them in my yard).

I wasn’t really too excited about the idea that there could be a skunk out there under the deck. I mean, what would I do? Fortunately for me there was still snow around so I went out to have a good look for footprints. I came back in with several photos. After trying to match them with all of the above critters, I’m not sure if I was relieved, or disappointed, to decide that all I’d found were squirrel prints.

So, the squirrels in my yard are apparently trying to raid the squirrel-proof feeder at dawn and after dusk just to see if that’s different from daytime. That’s what I decided the loud noise was – squirrels leaping onto the metal feeder. It would have been nice to have a possum, but a skunk I’m not so sure about.

Have you ever had a skunk in your garden? Are skunks beyond your limit when it comes to back yard nature? Are you hoping never to find out?

Self Watering Containers

March 2nd, 2010 | 5 comments |

Self Watering Garden - copyright Mike Lieberman

In exploring container gardening for my deck I came across the idea of self-watering containers.

Today’s article is by Mike Lieberman who kindly agreed to share his knowledge on container vegetable gardening.

Last year when I was first became interested in gardening on my fire escape, I knew that my options were limited as to what I could grow my vegetables in. I knew that I had to grow in some sort of container, but wasn’t sure if I had to buy a special one, could make my own, or what.

That’s when I came across the self watering container concept. It’s pretty much a homemade version of an Earthbox, which were way too expensive for me.

Self Watering Containers and How They Work

It’s easy to build a self watering container and cheap as well. It’ll cost around $5.00. The most difficult part in building is cutting out the insert for the container.

The way that a container functions is that the water reservoir is below the insert and the soil is above the insert. There is a small wicking container at the bottom of the container to bring the water up to the soil. A pipe is used to get the water down into the reservoir.

This way the plants suck up the water with their roots, which is a more natural way for them to get water. When plants are watered from above, it takes a few moments for the water to work it’s way down to the roots.

Watering a self watering container is simple as well. When the reservoir is filled, water will start to spill out of the overflow hole. This takes the guessing out of over or under watering your plants.

Container Vegetable Gardening

On my fire escape, I had lettuces, red peppers and cherry tomatoes in self watering containers. The lettuces and tomatoes did great, but the peppers didn’t produce as much. I think that had more to do with sun than with the containers.

For the upcoming gardening season, I plan on changing up the design a bit and using a container within a container as opposed to making the inserts. This is one of the fun things about gardening, the constant learning, tweaking and experimentation.

Self watering containers are something that I’d recommend for first timers, not only are they cheap to make, they take the guessing out of watering. They are also great for gardeners with small and limited space.

Mike Lieberman resides in NYC. He is someone who walks their talk as a living, breathing demonstration of how sustainable living is possible anywhere. Lieberman shows others how they can do the same on his own blogs and writes for others around the web. You can find him at CanarsieBK.com.

Have you tried container gardening? I will be visiting Mike’s blog to view his videos and learn how to build self-watering containers for my deck. I’m amazed at what he has managed to grow in such a small space.

Garden Friends in February

February 26th, 2010 | 4 comments |

Writing about gardening has brought me many wonderful garden friends. Here are some of the gardeners who touched my life in February.

Debi of Go Explore Nature is new to gardening. Debi is a student on my Step by Step Gardening course. She is taking up gardening with the same enthusiasm which she puts into all of her outdoor adventures with her two boys. You can read about Debi’s adventures in the school garden. Oh, to be in California in February!

When I wrote about I’m a gardener because… Debi shared that the death of her dad has brought her to gardening. I really love the comments I’ve received on that post. They have given me many connections with other gardeners. Suz of Slow Family Online was inspired to write a wonderful post about who brought her to gardening which prompted some equally wonderful comments at her blog.

While you are over at Suz Lipman’s blog please do read her About Slow Family. She writes of how she wants to do things with her family, rather than dump her kids to be entertained while she runs errands. Be sure to catch the part where she talks of walking the girl scouts. And of course she loves to garden and observe nature.

I have another great friend who believes in getting kids outside. Shannon Baer of Backyard Mama doesn’t just write about getting outdoors, she runs an outdoor-focused preschool. Of course Shannon loves to garden too. She’s making her seed order up this week – despite that, she took time out of her busy schedule to talk with me on the phone. It is always nice to put a voice to an online face. Shannon has a gardening mentor and she helped me with research for Lesson 4 – Mentor, Mentor of Step by Step Gardening.

Jenny of J Peterson Garden Design is new to my list of garden lovers. When I wrote about Who’s Yard is it Anyway. Jenny came over and commented. Jenny and I share a love of books by Sally Wasowski. I asked Jenny to recommend a favorite post at her blog and she pointed me to garden evolution, which showcases how synergy with one of her clients produced a beautiful garden.

Jenny also sent me to visit East Side Patch where I discovered a fellow American from Scotland who mixes science fiction and gardening in his blog. Truly a unique combination and worth a visit!

It would be remiss of me not to mention Carole Brown at Ecosystem Gardening and Rachel Matthews of Successful Garden Design with whom I have contact several times a week. Really, I have too much to say to about them to say more. I’ll save it for another time.

These are some of the garden lovers in my life. Who inspires you?