Hydroponics Craze

Winter veggie harvest, beets, turnips and onions

The cold winter snap we had followed by the record heat, prompted the winter veggies to start bolting. So I picked most all of the beets, turnips and kale. I still have swiss chard I will pick soon.

Wicking Table

This is a soiless wicking table I decided to try. Growing with a batting like material as a base + fertilizer and then top it off with tree mulch. There is a 5 gallon bucket inverted with a small hole in it for water drainage. The idea behind it came from rooftop gardening sites.

Construction of the new salad table

I started making this box for a raised bed garden, then decided to convert it into a salad table. It is made out of an old door put on some bricks for height, cut boards for the sides and some plastic cement mixing bins from Home Depot. I built a small pvc frame to hold the bins on one side. I lined the box with plastic sheeting and will build a pvc frame with plastic over it to hold in moisture. In the bins I put plastic berry containers for a self watering container system.

Peppers everywhere!!

Yellow, red and green peppers are looking good. The eggplants are growing nicely also. They like the cooler nights and are still blooming.

Temps still high

Temps are still high and the tomatoes aren't producing much. We are on our third invasion of hornworms. The chickens are having a feast! My pups got out and decided my tomatoes were something to seek out and destroy, so some of the tomato plants got squashed. Oh well, I guess they needed trimming!
My bigger garden didn't do as well this year, so I pulled most of it up and am changing out the soil. I bought a 200 gallon water tank and if I can get the shade up with a gutter over my chicken coop, I will have most of the water I need for a fall garden as well as a more successful next summer garden.
I am also trying to figure out how to convert one of the buckets to a hydroponic system. I have most of the things I need so this will be interesting if I can get the system to work!

Buckets still working nicely with tomatoes and peppers!

As summer rolls along, I've only lost 3 plants in buckets. Those buckets had water that went stagnant. I have since learned adding a couple pennies to the reservoir can curb algae!
I have bought a couple Earthboxes and plan to put some herbs in them on the patio. I will also be planting seeds for fall and winter veggies. The big garden wasn't as productive this year, so I will be replacing the soil for the winter season. Surprisingly, the plants in my greenhouse have done pretty well. They are in containers but it is very hot in there, often reaching 120 degrees during the day!