Gardening Anyone?

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Gardening Anyone?

Anthony Sulecki
Real Estate Investor · Millsboro, DE · Member since 2008 · 480 posts · 26 votes

Just wondering if anyone does any gardening for food, and what your plans were. It saves me alot of money every year, and this year should be a huge amount of savings. Commercially grown supermarket tomatoes are 5 dollars a pound here, and the local stands aren't much better. I'm taking off today, to till up the ground for my dirt garden(17"W x 35"L), and get my hydroponic setups working for my porches.

Here is an easy hydroponic setup, that can produce a good amount of food, for its space. This is one of my many. Its considered "deep water culture", and the roots grow out of the cups, and bathe in the solution. I'm my experience, plants in this setup grow like crazy, and have generally large yields. It's the easiest as well, and everything can be bought at home & garden stores/walmart/homedepot.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0087.jpg
(setup)
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0088.jpg
(bubbler is bubbling)
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0089.jpg
(a few plants for demo.)
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0090.jpg
(all plants i'm planting. some dirt, some hydro)

Supplies
1 large dark colored container
1 dual outlet air pump
Air tubing
2 air stones (to oxygenate the solution)
solo cups
expanded clay pebbles
epsom salt
general hydroponic solution
utility knife, or drill with hole cutting attachment

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  • Dwayne Buckner
    Real Estate Investor · San Diego , CA · Member since 2008 · 78 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    Thanks for the education Tony! This shows you don't need a big chunk of land to grow your own garden.

    Home grown tomatoes rock!

    :woohoo:

    Dwayne

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  • Anthony Sulecki
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Millsboro, DE · Member since 2008 · 480 posts · 26 votes
    18y

    You don't need dirt, or much space. Save your seeds from tomatoes/peppers you buy, sprout them, plant them, grow them, eat them. One pepper has hundreds of seeds, all potential plants. It took me awhile to realize this, believe it or not.

    I try to use everything I can, and reduce waste as much as possible, also. I have large trashcans covered with screen that I place under my rain gunnels, that catch the rainwater coming from my roof. I put them on cinder blocks, install a faucet type outlet to the bottom, and use it to water my gardens, and fill my hydroponic tanks.

    Soda bottles, large mayo jars, tupperware containers, buckets from bakeries, (free) pretty much anything food grade will work great for hydroponic situations.

    Everyone go green! (im kidding. That phrase actually makes me angry. I've been doing this since I was a kid.)

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  • Jon Holdman
    Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    18y

    Believe it or not, here in the west, catching rainwater like that is usually illegal. Rain is water, and so covered under the complex system of water rights that govern every drop.

    Most of our gardens are more toward the ornamental. But with the increase in food prices, may be time to be more serious about doing food crops again. We almost always have some strawberries and tomatoes. Those are two items that are way better when you grow them yourself.

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  • Anthony Sulecki
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Millsboro, DE · Member since 2008 · 480 posts · 26 votes
    18y

    Yes, the difference is huge. I actually grew 20 strawberry plants on my back porch roof a few years ago, and they did great. I ran out of places with good sun, and the porch roof had plenty.

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  • Account Closed
    OR · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 845 votes
    18y

    I've got assorted fruit trees. It's too cold here for fruit, but I get fruit, anyway, by warming the trees with christmas tree lights as soon as they start to bloom.

    I have 3 raised beds (my knees won't get down on the ground to do weeding) and I grow tomatoes, strawberries, garlic, onions, lettuce, and at least one zucchini.

    In order to get ripe tomatoes, I have pvc hoops over the tomatoes and at the end of the season, I fasten greenhouse film over the hoops and use spotlights and a greenhouse thermostat to keep the plants warm enough to ripen the tomatoes.

    Because I have to use electricity in order to get fruit, it ends up not being cheap. But you can't even buy good fruit for any price, so it is worth it to me to have tree ripened delicate non-shippable varieties that are juicy and delicious-- like the fruit I remeber as a child and that no one has seen since then.

    I also grow raspberries, grapes, and blueberries, but they don't need any extra help.

    I'd love to put a greenhouse over the fruit trees. Not that I don't like the birds, but it is irritating that they must take one bite out of every piece of fruit, instead of finishing the one they started.

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