Hi, I just ordered it so what exactly I plant is still on the drawing board. It will be against the garage in front of my greenhouse so I'm thinking, because the way the trug is shaped, that I would plant snow peas at the back and build a little trellis for them. A root veggie in the middle and some kind of leaf veggie or perhaps herbs in the front. Not sure yet.
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That sounds like a solid plan. I'm totally new to gardening so its alot at one time. I was going to start with the smaller one (I think).pow wow wrote:Hi, I just ordered it so what exactly I plant is still on the drawing board. It will be against the garage in front of my greenhouse so I'm thinking, because the way the trug is shaped, that I would plant snow peas at the back and build a little trellis for them. A root veggie in the middle and some kind of leaf veggie or perhaps herbs in the front. Not sure yet.
Good luck with your gardening! It's snowing in PA right now so maybe I shouldn't feel so behind.
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Raised bed, square foot or container gardening is no different than row gardening except fo the confined - easy to work space and plant spacing for mature size - no thinning. If your seeds are best sown directly into the soil then do so. I direct sow my cucumbers, bush beans, mustard greens and turnips. I just space them. I plant 9 bush bean seeds in each square foot. I grow the cucumbers vertically and plant 4 along the back side of the box. Peppers, tomatoes and eggplants are best started from seed then transplanted to the garden - my experience. My herbs are in containers. I started the basil and dill from harvested seed in starter pots then transplanted to larger pots. The book will answer most of your questions. Hopefully it comes in quickly.
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I'm trying to create Mel's mix and have found 4 cubic foot bags. The problem is, I need 2.5 cubic feet! What is the best way to pull out 2.5 cubic feet?
Sorry for the voter on this. I figured it all out in my head relating to 5 gallon buckets but think I'm confusing myself.
Does anybody with a bit more experience have a good idea on how to measure this?
Sorry for the voter on this. I figured it all out in my head relating to 5 gallon buckets but think I'm confusing myself.
Does anybody with a bit more experience have a good idea on how to measure this?
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Hi Cynthia,cynthia_h wrote:Which ingredient is packaged in 4 ft3 bags?
Cynthia
It is the vermiculite. I'm seeing that a 5 gallon bucket is .67 cubic foot. This should mean 3x5 gallon buckets = 2 cubic ft.
Then, since 3.74026 = a half a cubic foot, I'm guessing I could do 3 and 3/4 gallons to measure the rest.
Does this logic makes sense?
Thanks!
I like jardin's suggestion of approximating by halves and quarters, so follow him before taking off on my wild goose chase; I used to teach math....
and, yet again, I will inveigh against the "customary system" of measurement and say that this entire situation would be so trivial an 8-year-old could figure it out in the metric system.
OK. Breathing normally again.
1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons (but we'll call it 7.5 gallons). Therefore,
4 cubic feet = 30 gallons, or six 5-gallon buckets full of vermiculite.
Since you only want half of what's available, you only need three 5-gallon buckets full of vermiculite (pretty close to jardin's recommendation and your own arithmetic! ).
Be sure to work with the vermiculite in a wind-free area; the stuff is very light and fly-away. If you can't find a wind-free area, or if the wind comes up while you're working, tie a handkerchief or scarf around your nose and mouth or wear a surgical mask (a la serious allergies) while working with it. It can make a lot of dust.
What we did was to mix the compost, potting soil, and vermiculite together on a tarp. Rolling the stuff by using the edges of the tarp was quite easy, and everything got thoroughly mixed together. Then we used--yes--our 5-gallon buckets to transfer the mix into Bed #1--the cement block bed. By the end of the process, we were using trowels to fill the buckets, but the whole thing was fairly quick once we got the "tarp-mixing" moving along.
BTW, back-calculating from your total of 6 yd3 of materials (vermiculite + peat + potting soil), it looks as if you plan to make a 4'x4'x6-inch container; correct? My experience in Spring and Summer 2008 with the 6-inch depth was pitiful. My bok choy, chard (!), peas, zukes, tomatoes, leeks, carrots (oh, my, the poor carrots), beets, and parsnips were uniformly un-impressed with 6 inches of "improved" planting medium. Only the lettuce managed to grow to a normal size. Since the newspaper to block off weed development was new, the veggie roots had trouble penetrating it that year at the tender length of 6 inches.
As we "harvested" the very small collection of plants, it became clear that a greater depth was needed for basic root development. I measured the cement blocks again, and confirmed that they could hold 10 inches' worth of planting medium. I added a boatload of compost--couldn't afford vermiculite that fall, and haven't purchased peat again--and mixed it in as plants came out, building up the depth over a few weeks.
The fall/winter plants were much happier: more chard, kale, fava beans, cabbage, broccoli romanesco, and similar veggies. Thus my recommendation for 10 inches minimum.
Even the carrots were happier with 10 inches than 6, but now I plant them in the 12-inch box we have. I have a grand total of 92 square feet in veggies, all of it in raised boxes. There are a few containers (fewer after the house-painting of the last while) with herbs and other veggies; those containers need revamping for the Spring....
Cynthia
and, yet again, I will inveigh against the "customary system" of measurement and say that this entire situation would be so trivial an 8-year-old could figure it out in the metric system.
OK. Breathing normally again.
1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons (but we'll call it 7.5 gallons). Therefore,
4 cubic feet = 30 gallons, or six 5-gallon buckets full of vermiculite.
Since you only want half of what's available, you only need three 5-gallon buckets full of vermiculite (pretty close to jardin's recommendation and your own arithmetic! ).
Be sure to work with the vermiculite in a wind-free area; the stuff is very light and fly-away. If you can't find a wind-free area, or if the wind comes up while you're working, tie a handkerchief or scarf around your nose and mouth or wear a surgical mask (a la serious allergies) while working with it. It can make a lot of dust.
What we did was to mix the compost, potting soil, and vermiculite together on a tarp. Rolling the stuff by using the edges of the tarp was quite easy, and everything got thoroughly mixed together. Then we used--yes--our 5-gallon buckets to transfer the mix into Bed #1--the cement block bed. By the end of the process, we were using trowels to fill the buckets, but the whole thing was fairly quick once we got the "tarp-mixing" moving along.
BTW, back-calculating from your total of 6 yd3 of materials (vermiculite + peat + potting soil), it looks as if you plan to make a 4'x4'x6-inch container; correct? My experience in Spring and Summer 2008 with the 6-inch depth was pitiful. My bok choy, chard (!), peas, zukes, tomatoes, leeks, carrots (oh, my, the poor carrots), beets, and parsnips were uniformly un-impressed with 6 inches of "improved" planting medium. Only the lettuce managed to grow to a normal size. Since the newspaper to block off weed development was new, the veggie roots had trouble penetrating it that year at the tender length of 6 inches.
As we "harvested" the very small collection of plants, it became clear that a greater depth was needed for basic root development. I measured the cement blocks again, and confirmed that they could hold 10 inches' worth of planting medium. I added a boatload of compost--couldn't afford vermiculite that fall, and haven't purchased peat again--and mixed it in as plants came out, building up the depth over a few weeks.
The fall/winter plants were much happier: more chard, kale, fava beans, cabbage, broccoli romanesco, and similar veggies. Thus my recommendation for 10 inches minimum.
Even the carrots were happier with 10 inches than 6, but now I plant them in the 12-inch box we have. I have a grand total of 92 square feet in veggies, all of it in raised boxes. There are a few containers (fewer after the house-painting of the last while) with herbs and other veggies; those containers need revamping for the Spring....
Cynthia
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Doing a small Vegtrug which hits 12" in the center.pennsylvania wrote:Hi Cynthia,cynthia_h wrote:Which ingredient is packaged in 4 ft3 bags?
Cynthia
It is the vermiculite. I'm seeing that a 5 gallon bucket is .67 cubic foot. This should mean 3x5 gallon buckets = 2 cubic ft.
Then, since 3.74026 = a half a cubic foot, I'm guessing I could do 3 and 3/4 gallons to measure the rest.
Does this logic makes sense?
Thanks!
Slopes upward to more shallow on the sides.
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/produc ... -farm-kit/