# Herb Garden project



## sw2geeks (Jun 11, 2012)

It all started a couple of weekends ago with some $2 clearance plants at Calloways. 
Then I decided I wanted to plant them in a raised bed. 
Then I decided I did not like bending down and elevated the bed. 
Then it turned out some bugs and birds liked some of my plants, so this weekend I built a screened enclosure. 
Next weekend I plan to install a solar powered irrigation system. 
But it was a great deal on the plants!


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## Deckhand (Jun 11, 2012)

Very nice work and herb garden. Makes me want to get some power tools and make a greenhouse.


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 11, 2012)

Kickass. And easy to shade from this Texas sun when the time comes.


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## bikehunter (Jun 11, 2012)

Really nice. I hate people with skill and motivation. I haven't even gotten my basil in the ground yet...tho' my tomatoes are doing well. ;-)


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## JMac (Jun 11, 2012)

Nice setup. Could go all out on the side of the fence and grow all types of stuff. Little green house.


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## Burl Source (Jun 11, 2012)

Very cool set up!
I don't have enough direct sun to put in a regular garden so this year it is herbs and tomatoes in pots strategically placed for the best light.
It was a strange winter here but the plants are really liking the spring.
Tomatoes are shoulder high now and the herbs are doing great.


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## Tristan (Jun 11, 2012)

bikehunter said:


> Really nice. I hate people with skill and motivation. I haven't even gotten my basil in the ground yet...tho' my tomatoes are doing well. ;-)



This. +100. Damm that is a nice job.

I started a herb garden too. In my apartment balcony. It consists of pots... on moveable interlocking decking. Ahem.

I also hate the US. And the fact that I don't live there. Sigh... $2000/sqft for land makes projects like this in my hometown a ridiculous faraway dream.


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## Mike Davis (Jun 11, 2012)

Very awesome project!!! Gave me some ideas for sure!!!!


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## Tristan (Jun 11, 2012)

By the way, am I the only one that thought "hmm, that fence post might make a good knife handle"?

P.S.: Remember to trim your Basil down, looks like it is ready to flower in a week or so, then it'll bolt and (perhaps) taste bitter.


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## GlassEye (Jun 11, 2012)

Tristan said:


> By the way, am I the only one that thought "hmm, that fence post might make a good knife handle"?
> 
> P.S.: Remember to trim your Basil down, looks like it is ready to flower in a week or so, then it'll bolt and (perhaps) taste bitter.



You just reminded me where I have some wood to make saya, scraps from the deck! Project for tomorrow is decided.


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## sw2geeks (Jun 11, 2012)

Tristan said:


> By the way, am I the only one that thought "hmm, that fence post might make a good knife handle"?
> 
> P.S.: Remember to trim your Basil down, looks like it is ready to flower in a week or so, then it'll bolt and (perhaps) taste bitter.



Will do, trimmed it last week, but it grows fast.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Jun 12, 2012)

Excellent work. I would love to have something like this... Hate to purchase a weeks worth of fresh herbs when I just need a tbsp of something as I never use it all before it goes bad.


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## steeley (Jun 12, 2012)

That is really nice i like the whole raised bed type of thing.


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## kalaeb (Jun 12, 2012)

Well done. Definately going to need follow up pics of the solar powered irrigation system.


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## sw2geeks (Jun 16, 2012)

Solar powered irrigation system in, I'll take some pictures in the morning.

I am real surprised how much water the little pump pumps. I set up 12 drip heads, filled up a 5 gallon home depot buck with water and turned it on. It just looked like a little trickle dripping out of the heads so I set it for 30 minutes. Checked back on it before the 30 minutes were up and it looked like it already pumped a gallon of water. It had already totally soaked the bed with water dripping pretty good from the bottom.

Will do test tomorrow, but I am guessing 5 or 10 minutes every 3 hour might work.


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## JMac (Jun 16, 2012)

sounds very interesting. intrigued by your setup.


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## Namaxy (Jun 17, 2012)

Tristan said:


> By the way, am I the only one that thought "hmm, that fence post might make a good knife handle"?
> 
> P.S.: Remember to trim your Basil down, looks like it is ready to flower in a week or so, then it'll bolt and (perhaps) taste bitter.



LOL on the basil....every year I start small...then panic and plant more. By early summer It's basil every night, and by August I'm pushing Pesto on every friend and neighbor I can find....


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## Tristan (Jun 17, 2012)

Intrigued by your solar irrigation system. How do you adjust for the different water requirements? Basil likes it damp, thyme/rosemary likes it to dry out between waterings. The constant dampness in the soil from regular water might cause fungus/root rot? Wondering how you plan to circumvent it.

I manually adjust watering based on some screwball memory of mine across my pots.

Also the best time to water is supposed to be in the very early mornings and/or at dusk. Is your system able to set much longer time blocks?

I'm really curious because it might be a great boon to me to get a similar set up if I plan to do long trips with the Gf.


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Jun 19, 2012)

That is just awesome.


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## knyfeknerd (Jun 19, 2012)

How does pollination work if the screens are closed?


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## sw2geeks (Jun 19, 2012)

Finally got a chance to upload some pictures of the solar watering system I installed
I have a 5 gallon covered home depot bucket for the water supply. The pump actually pumps more water that expected.
I am running it on its next to lowest setting.

Here are some pics.





















I also wrote a hopefully funny story about making this thing including links to the pump I used here.


As for some of the questions I missed:

I figure I can open the screens if I have something that needs pollination, right now I don't think it's anything that needs it.

I really have not thought much about varying the amount of water each plant gets. My main concern was the plants not getting enough considering how hot it is here in Texas. If it becomes a problem I think I can very the number of drip nozzles around the plants so that some gets more than others.


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## Tristan (Jun 19, 2012)

Amazed at how quickly you managed to get thought into action. Will be interested to know how your project goes! How long does that 5 gallon last?

P.S.: Please remember to trim your basil... etc etc etc.  That stuff grows worse than most weeds I know. Thank goodness I have rabbits to feed the excess to.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Jun 19, 2012)

Thanks for the update and pictures Steve.

What a great project!

(Nice writeup too.)


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## sw2geeks (Jun 20, 2012)

Tristan said:


> Amazed at how quickly you managed to get thought into action. Will be interested to know how your project goes! How long does that 5 gallon last?
> 
> P.S.: Please remember to trim your basil... etc etc etc.  That stuff grows worse than most weeds I know. Thank goodness I have rabbits to feed the excess to.



You can grow rabbits?


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## kalaeb (Jun 20, 2012)

Is the box just filled with dirt, or is there a bottom gravel layer and a drain? I think i am going to build one of these. Great idea.


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## sw2geeks (Jun 20, 2012)

Tristan said:


> Amazed at how quickly you managed to get thought into action. Will be interested to know how your project goes! How long does that 5 gallon last?



It depends on the watering settings, on it's highest setting it might last a day, on the lowest maybe 5 days? I have been topping it off in the mornings, so I am not sure, plus I have not run it on its low or high settings for a whole day, so I am just guessing.


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## sw2geeks (Jun 20, 2012)

kalaeb said:


> Is the box just filled with dirt, or is there a bottom gravel layer and a drain? I think i am going to build one of these. Great idea.



The bottom is slated with lots of drainage, it's filled with a gravel layer, then soil.


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## markenki (Jun 20, 2012)

Looks great! I need to get a herb garden going. Been procrastinating. Don't know the first thing about it, so need to do a bit of research first. We have a bunch of critters that come through our yard (deer, rabbit, etc) so I'll need some way to protect the plants.


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## sw2geeks (Jun 20, 2012)

sw2geeks said:


> It depends on the watering settings, on it's highest setting it might last a day, on the lowest maybe 5 days? I have been topping it off in the mornings, so I am not sure, plus I have not run it on its low or high settings for a whole day, so I am just guessing.



When I topped off the bucket this morning it took one of my 2.5 gallon watering cans. I currently have it set for watering 10 minutes every 3 hours. You can set the pump for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes every 3 hours. That was running day and night. You can turn it off at night if you don't want to water then, but no control over the 3 hour interval except for on/off. 

The basil looks like it can use a little more water so I am giving it a little extra water from the watering can, everything is growing like weeds, some of the herbs have grow 6 inches from the photo I posted the other day.


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