Grow Your Own: A Raised Bed and Tower Garden Experiment

Soil or aeroponics?  Why choose?  There are advantages to both.  In Daniel's case he is running an experiment in his front yard to see which one he likes best.  

As spring begins and the planting starts, he has two systems of growing.  One, a raised bed he designed and the other a tower garden that is a pilot system for a school gardening program.  In each system he plans to produce a yield that will provide healthy meals for his family.

Originally, the plan was to build the raised bed in the back yard, high enough off the ground so that he could work standing up.  The direct sunlight was better in the front yard, and because of that we trimmed some hedge and built it by the driveway.  By converting a sprinkler head into a bubbler irrigation system the bed is now watered on a timer.  

Daniel was also gifted a tower garden to experiment with as a pilot project for a local school's gardening program.  This is a perfect opportunity to see side by side how different grow systems work.  The tower garden is a soil-less system.  The nutrients are carried to the plant roots by an oxygenated water system the pumps water to the top of the tower from a storage basin at the bottom.  It is on a 15 min on/off timer.  

Placed side by side in the front yard, these two systems are going to provide an excellent opportunity to measure the success of two different grow styles.  Ventura Cooperative is happy to help Daniel as he endeavors to grow his own food.  Permaculture begins here, front yard gardening!

Learn more about Tower Gardens here.  

https://www.towergarden.com/

For more information contact Ventura Cooperative at:

http://venturacoop.blogspot.com/p/contact-us.html

DIY Rainwater Collection Barrel

This is a great basic design for a economical and efficient rainwater collection system.  In Ventura, as in the rest of California, we are facing serious drought conditions.  You'd be surprised how much water comes off your roof in even the lightest rain.  You're handy?  DIY  You're not?  give us a call and we'll install it for you.  

Art City Winter Solstice Planting

Paul Lindhard from Art City Studios on the westside of Ventura asked us to help organize a community planting on a lot adjacent to the Ventura River Bike Path.  We organized some of the finest permaculture gardeners in the city to come down and help out.

Art City is a stone working art community.  Paul had dozens of pallets of shist.  These large stones we used as borders for raised beds all along the parameter of the lot.  We ordered 15 yards of Agromin's premium compost and Green Thumb donated starts to plant in the beds.  Here is a quick video of us preparing the site for a Solstice planting party.  If you get the chance, go down to Rex and Dubbers and check it out!