Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products (44 page)
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Authors: Sophie Uliano
HOW TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH SOIL YOU’LL NEED FOR YOUR RAISED BED
1.
Measure the width of your raised bed planter box in inches, using a tape measure. Write that number down on a sheet of paper. Your tape measure will give you an exact measurement in inches, requiring you to do no math at all so far.
2.
Measure the length of your planter box in inches. Write this number down.
3.
Measure how deep you want your box to be. Measure from the bottom of the box to the level at which you wish your soil to end up. Measure this in inches as well and write that number down.
4.
Multiply the three numbers you wrote down together on your pocket calculator. Let’s assume the width of your box, like mine, is 48 inches and the length of your box is 48 inches and the depth of your soil is going to be 10 inches. On your calculator multiply 48 x 48 to get 2,304. Now simply multiply 2,304 by 10 for a final total of 23,040. Write that number down. That number is the number of cubic inches of soil you will need to fill your planter.
5.
Now you need to divide 23,040 by 1,728. The reason for this is because soil is sold by the cubic foot and not by the cubic inch, so we need to change your cubic inches into cubic feet. The reason you divide by 1,728 is because 1,728 cubic inches (12 x 12 x 12 = 1,728) is 1 cubic foot. 23,040 divided by 1,728 equals 13.33 cubic feet. In other words, you’ll need around 13 cubic feet of soil to fill a 4x4-foot planter 10 inches deep.
6.
Finally, you’ll need to divide your final number, 13, by 3, to determine how much compost, coir,
*
and vermiculite you need (remember you need equal parts of all 3). So 13 divided by 3 is 4.3 cubic feet. That means you’ll need about 4 cubic feet of each of these ingredients.
MIXING IT UP FOR YOUR RAISED BED
Once you have all your bags ready to fill your raised bed, you can either empty them straight into the bed and mix, or you can find a large tarp on which to mix everything up before sliding it into the bed. This is a job for the girl or guy who doesn’t mind getting dirty. I’m not afraid of a bit of soil—remember, there’s a huge difference between dirt and soil—however, soil can totally ruin your nails. I
always
wear gardening gloves for this task. Either way, you will first need to soak the coir in a large bucket of water and agitate it with your hands (rubber gloves for this step!) until it expands. When you add it to the mix, make sure you tease it out with your hands. Ultimately, all three ingredients must be really well blended.
Cold Frame
If you want to extend your growing season—think eating beautiful baby salad leaves from your garden through the winter—you’ll need to put together a cold frame. It’s like a mini-greenhouse. The best way is to use old windows. If you don’t have any, send an e-mail blast out to all your friends or visit a salvage yard.
YOU WILL NEED
1 old window or doorframe with glass panels- Breeze/cement blocks
*
(the number will depend on the size of your window or door)
HOW TO
1.
Choose an area that is facing south. As this isn’t the most elegant-looking cold frame, you might want to pick a spot that’s out of sight.
2.
Measure your window or door and calculate how many blocks you’ll need for the width and length of your frame. Set out the blocks in a rectangle. Pile up the blocks 3 or 4 deep.
3.
Fill with a stellar soil mix (see “Green Girls Grow!”), plant your seedlings, and cover with your window.
4.
If it gets super-sunny, you’ll need to pull the window over an inch or so to one side to let in a little cool air.
Compost Bin
You can easily make an outdoor compost bin with chicken wire or cement blocks, but these designs are open and I’m not crazy about them, as they tend to attract rodents. They are best used exclusively for garden waste such as leaves and clippings. However, if you are only interested in collecting garden waste for mulching, you don’t really need to build any kind of structure. When I was growing up, my mom had a compost “pile”—all the garden or yard waste got dumped in this sweet-smelling mini-mountain behind a hedge. Layers upon layers of grass clippings, leaves, dead roses, and even veggie scraps weathered all manner of harsh British weather conditions to bring us tons of odorless compost yearly.
I don’t have that kind of space in my urban backyard, and really, I’m more interested in finding a way to compost my kitchen waste. So a closed bin is a must for me if I don’t want to encourage a small, furry nightly gathering. There are many great compost bins on the market. The simplest are the best—but they are expensive, so here’s a way to do it yourself.
When picking out your old plastic bin or container, make sure you find the size that’s right for you. If you live in an apartment and want to compost, you can find a smallish plastic storage box that you can keep on your patio or balcony. If you have a yard, you’ll probably want to look for the largest one you can find. Your bin should produce compost in 4 or 5 months. You can use the compost as an amazing soil enhancer in your yard or on your houseplants. If you live in an apartment, ask the nearest community garden if they want it (they will!).
YOU WILL NEED
- Plastic storage container with a tight-fitting lid (since I want to discourage you from going out to buy plastic, I suggest asking around to see if any of your friends have any old storage containers, or check out Freecyle, www.freecycle.org)
- Drill
- Old newspaper
- Soil
- Sawdust
HOW TO
1.
Drill at least 10 small holes in both long sides of the container and at least 5 small holes on the shorter ends. Drill 8 or 9 small holes into the lid.
2.
Cover the bottom of the container with torn-up newspaper. Fill the container ¼ full with garden dirt. If you live in an apartment, you can buy a small bag of potting soil.
