compost bin / garden waterer

I got this idea, I think from the letters section of Mother Earth News. Someone put a bin out in the garden, poked some holes in the bottom, (flowing outward, not down) filled it with kitchen scraps (over time), and every morning poured a bucket of water in it.

The water would flow out the holes, taking nutrients with it, and it was all the tomatoes (or whatever was planted closely around it) needed. In fact (if I remember correctly) they couldn’t keep up with all the veggies (well, fruit). this idea had the plants hide the container, so it wasn’t so much as eyesore. I already had these 1/2 barrels, and putting an 18 gallon bin from the BORG, fit the bill perfectly. And looks way better.

I took that concept, and added tubing for better reach of the tomatoes in my raised bed. So now it’s placed off to the side, rather than dead center, taking up valuable planting space. It’s convenient to the kitchen, as well as not shading anything. (Yeah, I know the lilacs aren’t helping, but they aren’t hindering too much. Last year I watered by hand (and we had a LOT of rain) so it wasn’t so bad, the rock mulch in the bed at the time helped keep weeds down, but switching to shredded leaves this year is proving to be much better at weed control and will help the soil. That and I won’t worry about anything cooking when it gets really hot in August.

Running the tubes – 1/2 inch foodgrade tubing (the kind used for icemakers) is connected with 3/8 T connectors and is staked down with clipped coat hangers – under the mulch, takes the water directly to the plants that need it. Which will also help with keeping weeds down, and now the lilacs will have to fight for whatever nature provides them.

Our roses are doing splendidly on their own, most things we have do. My kind of garden. I’m only here to keep stuff at bay, to hold it back – like the forsythia or the lawn.

This used to be a flower bed, there still is the errant bulb to not encourage. You can’t eat the flowers, (well, there are nasturtiums in there) Everything else has moved to the edges of the yard This is prime real estate. Almost exclusively the domain of things for the pantry and table. (I didn’t move the lilacs in time, as their space isnt “ready” yet. (I need fill in a few locations to level things off)

One of the three main lines from the barrel needs to be forked and directed at the cherry tomateos (Organic Sweetie) I planted yesterday. Othewise you can see, or rather not see, the tubing that should help simplify my watering chores this season… add this to the self-watering containers I made last year, and soon the garden will be working for me.

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.