Comments on: In the Night Garden

By: Annika

Annika — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:55:24 +0000

Bentley, Thanks for the suggestion! So far, the trench has been undisturbed. 🙂 Though I may try your method for my crucifers. Someone has been a munchin’ 😉

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:46:57 +0000

ANNIKA – this may be a little taboo to mention, but have you ever considered ‘marking your territory’, if you know what I mean (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)? I’m a little embarrassed to admit this openly, but I actually tried this to try and keep rabbits from chomping my corn seedlings this year. Unfortunately we were getting a decent amount of rain at the time so I needed to be a little more creative. I devised a little ‘repellent’ tub – basically an empty cottage cheese tub with a saturated rag inside and holes punched in the sides. Worked like a charm – no more chomps since then, and not affected by the rain.
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JERRY – yes indeedy, I am on a mission to get rid of most of the lawn. It is all potential farm space the way I see it (well aside from having a nice little zone for kids to play in). If I had more space it WOULD be interesting to compare a soil trench to a vermicomposting trench, but even better if I had a bunch of different trenches (soil could be the control) to see how grass clippings compare to food waste, manure etc etc.

By: Jerry Gach

Jerry Gach — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:19:04 +0000

Hey Bentley,

I can’t help notice the lawn area getting smaller and smaller. You sure this isn’t all a ploy to reduce the amount of time spent mowing? 😉

Great work. Have you considered setting up a composting trench garden alongside(Just far enough away) from a trench filled only with dirt?

I would guess the outcome would be like comparing tangerines to grapefruits!

By: Annika

Annika — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:30:37 +0000

I just finished ‘installing’ a vermicomposting trench in one of my raised garden beds that has a few scrawny zucchini plants in it. I live in the woods, so I am a little anxious that some forest critters will find my trenches a banquet table and make a nasty mess. Despite my concerns about the wildlife, it seems that the trench system may be just the thing for my composting needs! I’ll try to report back in a few weeks. Any advice would be appreciated!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:26:01 +0000

CINDY – Haha – I love the trenches, I really do – but I’m not sure that they are the ‘ultimate’ approach for my yard. I will likely be shifting towards raised bed gardens as I expand my grow zones, and I’m not yet convinced that the value of a box trench makes up for the loss of valuable growing space. I’m currently trying out some other vermi-alternatives.
8)

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KIM – thanks! It actually looks a lot nicer than that now as far as vegetation goes, but alas my strawberries seem to have fallen victim to slugs and birds for the most part

By: Kim from Milwaukee

Kim from Milwaukee — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:39:22 +0000

What a beautiful strawberry patch! Great work!

By: Cindy Anthony

Cindy Anthony — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:19:27 +0000

it won’t be long… maybe another 12 months and your entire back yard will be one big trench system. Too bad you can’t get a community garden benefiting from this methodology as well.