Ebony's Pearls

So, it took me nearly 4 hours to do what I'd done in just an hour last spring, when my knees were normal.

Anyway, I did get things done, using shovels and dollies and stools and other tools I didn't need last year.

Here are photos of the two wading pool gardens I just put in. They have both plants and seeds that were just put in. The seeds should be up in a week, pushing their way through the light layer of mulch I put on mostly for looks, since these gardens rarely need weeding.

First, we have the small kiddie wading pools, with drain holes cut near the bottom in case of flooding. I cut one drain hole in every other side panel. Here, in this picture, you can see on of the drain holes. They are about an inch across and an inch to inch and a half above the bottom of the pool.


Here is the pile of soils I bought to fill the pools with. There is more soil here than the pools actually need, since there is soil here also for the potato bags and the other bed I hope to have time to install today. I have 6 bags of 3 cubic feet of vegetable mix soil, 1 bag each of Black Cow manure, mushroom compost, cotton burr compost, and peat moss.


Then I lined the pools with weed cloth to keep the soil from spilling out through the drain holes and to prevent stray weeds from trying to sneak their way in through those holes. Here, I have hte first layer of soil in, 3 cubic feet of vegetable mix soil. Not shown are the layers of compost and peat moss I put in next - thin, lasagne layers of black cow manure, cotton burr compost, and peat moss. This was topped with another 3 cubic feet of vegetable mix soil. Each pool holds 7-8 cubic feet of soil and 1 - 2 cubic feet of mulch.


Here, I’ve planted the live plants I bought: yellow pear tomatoes, green bell peppers, and bee balm in this one. The other pool has a whopper tomato, cucumbers, and pineapple sage.


Here is a shot of both of them filled, planted, and seeded. In addition to the plants, I put in a row of snow peas in both, 3 different basils, carrots, radishes, chamomile, bachelor buttons, and Brussels sprouts.


Here they both are, filled, planted, mulched, and trellised.


Here’s a break down of the cost of planting these if you buy everything:

pools - $6.00 each ($12)
4 bags of pre-mixed vegetable feed soil - $43
1 bag of Black Cow manure (used only half a bag between both pools, the rest is used in other beds) - $3
1 bag of cotton burr compost (same as Black Cow manure) - $3
1 bag of peat moss (split evenly between both pools) - $4
1 bag of cypress mulch - $4
2 square, folding trellises - $11
plants: $16
seeds: $9

Total cost: $100.00

I could have replaced 2 of the basils with lettuces, but I have a bed of mesclun and lettuces already planted from last year (it got top dressed with some mulch and a bit of left over soil mix). Each one of these pools can provide an entire summer’s worth of salad ingredients, so for a $100 investment, you get enough tomatoes to eat fresh and to make (based on last year’s bed) 20 half pints of canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, enough basil to have fresh and make enough pesto to last all year, plus dry enough for seasoning all year, radishes all summer (and around here, clear into December by sowing fresh seeds from the packet every 2 - 3 weeks, carrots enough to eat fresh and to freeze or can for winter use, enough Brussels sprouts for a year, enough bell peppers to eat fresh and chop and freeze for the winter, enough cucumbers to eat fresh and to pickle 3 - 6 pints, and enough snow peas fresh and frozen for a year for one person. That’s a savings of almost $300 for the year, and a greater savings if you buy organic.

All you have to do the rest of the summer is water and harvest. To put these beds to “bed” for the winter, simply remove the annual plants and cover thickly with mulch. If you have a perennial, thick mulch is usually enough except for the occasional ice storm, when you need to place a not cap over it (or a clear heavy mil plastic bag anchored down with lawn staples). Come next spring, pull off the mulch, top dress with compost and worm castings, loosen the soil a bit, replant, re-mulch, and you’re done.

The biggest expense is the initial cost of the soil - almost half the price of the 2 pools was the pre-mixed soil, and add in the 2 trellises which you can use year after year, and that’s more than half the cost. Next year, your wading pool garden will only cost you $10 - $20 each, giving you a tremendous savings.