The big story this week was the flooding and cleaning up from the flooding. The basement took on several inches of water when the city shut down the sewers as an emergency measure during heavy rains. It bubbled up through the floor drains. This setback made it difficult for me to do anything with the basement; the garden chugged along on autopilot mostly. I spent most of my gardening time weeding this weekend. I expect this to become a trend. My nemesis morning glories have made yet another appearance, plus I have several other weeds making inroads on the prairie bed. Elsewhere in the yard, I had to keep waging my war against creeping charlie, lily of the valley and mint.
Garden Update
I put the rhubarb in this weekend as well. I was able to get most of the pots in without issue, but the old rose stump hadn’t degraded enough for me to plant in that area yet. So, I was a bit creative with spacing. Maybe I can use the resulting gap to add horseradish next summer? We’ll see.
Violets and Fuki are in along the side of the house. I’m thinking about making a small journey garden here, with statuary at the end of a path. A narrow walk with a destination makes a great way to leverage an awkward space. Ideally, I can plant more perennial crops along the trail. It needs more research, but I see an opportunity beyond fuki, violets, and ground covers.
The three sisters are all doing well. The plants spent way too much time in their tray; I should have potted them on a month or two ago. I’ll be putting the Fuki and Dahlias into pots tomorrow, and I’ll begin starting up some more plants from seed as well.
Aquaponics Update
I have filled the big basin! This is a huge win. The filter is running, and the water is aging. I’ll be moving the Koi and Shiners in tomorrow. Now, the 55’s are free for me to drain, rearrange, and start a new project. I’m also taking my water chemistry and quarantine procedures much more seriously.
I’ve already started growing “something.” Over the winter, I sewed some African Violet seeds on a lark. It turns out they and Hypoestes do well growing with their feet wet in aquarium water. I’ve started keeping their pots sitting in a shallow tray of water pulled from the koi tank, and it’s working magnificently. I’m beginning to think through scaling this system more generally instead of exclusively deep beds. I can’t grow everything, but it could do well for things that like having their feet wet. Possibly, Disa orchids, Vanda orchids, and Calathea could do well in this type of system.
I’ve finally gotten a shipment of hydroton through the COVID19 chaos after my previous attempt was lost. I can finally start my DWC experiment in the 47 column tank. This week I’ll begin germinating some rainbow chard for it. I think the colored roots could look pretty neat.
Next Projects
I’m getting so fed up with our limited capacity to recycle cardboard that I’ve decided to take action. I’ve been contemplating a worm bed for a while, this time I’ve decided I’ve no choice but to start it. Parts on their way to begin processing the cardboard. I’ll order the red wigglers once it arrives.