How to Grow 100 Pounds of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet | Apartment Therapy Re-Nest On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes. They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump... According to this article from the Seattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet. All that is required: Lumber Seed potatoes Soil Careful attention to watering The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet is shown below: Plant as early as April or as late as August 1, with an approximated 3 month till harvest turnaround time. Here are some pointers from the article: Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant.
our.windowfarms 1) Translated by: Windowfarms Core Team. Welcome to the Instructions for MAMA! The Windowfarms Version 3.0 Modular Airlift Multicolumn Array (MAMA). Please make sure you have registered on our.windowfarms.org, including having accepted the terms of service for participating in this open design community project. Registering will pass on to you a royalty-free license for you to use this community developed patent pending design for non-commercial purposes. 2) Getting Started: Download and print the Windowfarms v3.0 parts list. 3) Section 1: Bottle Covering Each Windowfarm v3.0 column is made of 5 bottles: 4 plant bottles and 1 bottom reservoir bottle. 4) Part of each bottle must be covered to prevent the plants' roots from being exposed to light. 5) Fill an empty bottle with about 2"(5 cm) of water to weigh it down. 6) Using painter's masking tape, mask 4 of the bottles from the "waist" to the base. 8) Paint bottles with spray paint, providing even coverage.
Moss Graffiti Horticulturist's of the past came up with a brilliant recipe to encourage the growth of moss to age and add interest to their garden designs, this recipe can be used as an an environmentally friendly alternative to spray paint. The success of the recipe itself can be very hit and miss and is very much dependent upon choosing exactly the right location and weather conditions; moss thrives in the damp and can most often be found growing near to a leaky drainpipe or rain-soaked wall. If you have difficulty finding the right climate in which to grow your moss, grow it indoors (where it can be frequently spray-misted with water) and transplant it outdoors as soon as it has begun to grow. This is what I have done in the example shown in this instructable.
16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps By Andy Whiteley Co-Founder of Wake Up World Looking for a healthy way to get more from your garden? Like to know your food is free of the pesticides and other nasties that are often sprayed on commercial crops? There’s nothing like eating your own home- grown vegies, and there are heaps of different foods that will re- grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out or put into your compost bin. It’s fun. Just remember … the quality of the “parent” vegetable scrap will help to determine the quality of the re-growth. Leeks, Scallions, Spring Onions and Fennel You can either use the white root end of a vegetable that you have already cut, or buy a handful of new vegetables to use specifically for growing. Simply place the white root end in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position. Lemongrass Lemongrass grows just like any other grass. Within a week or so, new growth will start to appear. Celery, Bok Choi, Romaine Lettuce & Cabbage Ginger Potatoes Garlic Onions
Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food How to Grow Mushrooms The Process for growing mushrooms is pretty easy. But it does vary depending on the type of mushroom you are growing. With this tutorial I will show you a typical and easy way to grow Pearl Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). You Will need: Some kind of bucket or container - Typically a 5 gallon plastic pail is used. The picture below shows my materials. If it is going to take a while to collect up your coffee grounds you can store them in the freezer so they won't get moldy. Fill your bucket about halfway with coffee grounds. There can be more and I will show you why in a minute. If your coffee grounds are dry you should add some water at this point and let the water drain out. Now break up the mushroom spawn and add it to your bucket. If you have enough spore and coffee grounds fill the bucket up to within an inch of the top. This prevents carbon dioxide from building up on the surface. Cover your bucket with clear plastic and perforate it with a few holes. RESOURCES and MORE
DIY Green Graffiti: Making Moss Murals by LiveOAK Staff on September 8, 2008 I came across a cool article on Environmental Graffiti about Anna Garforth and her Mossenger street art project that involves adorning public walls with green graffiti made from moss. Using the method that Garforth is using, disaffected youth can turn their tagging terra-friendly by making moss murals. The Moss Green Graffiti is completely natural and organic, as opposed to traditional enamel based sprays that are ridden with CFCs, VOCs and a host of other scary acronyms that make mother nature cringe. The best part is it's relatively easy to make... So if you are a Highway Vandal with a conscience or an eco-friendly artist check out these tutorials and recipes to get you started... Instructables Stories From Space About the Author:
An Underground WWII Bomb Shelter in London Has Been Converted Into the World’s Largest Subterranean Hydroponic Farm Over 100 feet below the bustling streets of London is a cavernous, abandoned space. Originally built to serve as a bomb shelter during World War II, it was designed to house and protect the lives of nearly 8,000 people. The space remained abandoned for close to 70 years until entrepreneurs Richard Ballard and Steven Dring decided to turn it into the world’s first subterranean farm called Growing Underground. And surprisingly, where the sun doesn’t shine turns out to be an ideal setting for a garden. The vertically stacked hydroponic beds are best for growing small, leafy greens that have a short growth cycle like watercress, Thai basil and Japanese mizuna. And with a state-of-the-art computer controlling temperature, lighting and nutrients the subterranean farm can deliver consistent produce without sunlight (or pesticides!) With the help of chef Michel Roux, the operation is now partnering with local restaurants to deliver farm-to-table produce in under 4 hours.
How to build My 50 Dollar Greenhouse First off – you really can build this thing very cheaply, but to do so you have to recycle, freecycle, and scrounge. If you just go out and buy new everything it will probably cost over $200 – still not bad all in all.This Article is featured in Jan 2010 issue of Birds and Blooms Magazine!Want to find out if this thing works before you read all this? Read 6 months in the Greenhouse first.Want to see what happens when a few inches of wet snow accumulates on this? Collapse!Building the Greenhouse Doors is addressed in a separate article – isn’t this enough for one weekend? My $50 Greenhouse Welcome Stumbleupon Gardeners! Materials list Construction Steps Hind Sight – What I would do differently The planning is over and construction on my hoop house greenhouse has begun. After some research I’ve decided to build the structure of the hoop house out of 20 ft. joints of three quarter inch PVC plumbing pipe. If your Greenhouse is too Flat it will collapse! How to Build the $50 Hoop House Thusly