Katherine Baker

By the way.... I just read that its better to pee right on plants as you start loosing the nitrogen right away. But of course that could be dangerous in the 'burbs. Does anyone know how long I can keep the bucket inside before I better dump it on the plants so as not to loose the nitrogen completely?

yes... I am thinking that these are going to be much better than the same amount of potting soil in a container as having all that mass should keep its temperature and moisture stabilized. Its a FREE resource! might as well use it!

So I just thought I would update that now it is fall I am going to be getting another Bagster and this time I will go ahead and place it on the (very visible to picky neighbors) front driveway. I am fairly confident that I can make the garden look more attractive and more like a conventional raised bed. But I am going to make the following improvements to the design:

Addressing issues:
1) The flop factor and aesthetics:
I am going to use a paper stapler (or perhaps sew with fishing line) to create vertical pockets in the Bagster for three to four 1/2 inch (ten foot long) PVC hoops which will help give the bag structure and create a frame for my row cover/ plastic (in winter) and critter netting (to keep out both deer and stray basketballs, as it will be in the drive way and near the goal) creating a pioneer wagon shape. I will also use the stapler to pinch in some of the excess bag on the top edge to further stabilize (like the swimming pool shape example above). This way I won't need the rebar on the concrete which I had previously used in the back yard.

2) For better breaking down of the leaves:
I just got the STRAW BALE GARDENING book out of the library and I am going to try to apply the same principles in it that he uses to break down and add fertility to a non- fertile growing medium like straw, to break down and add fertility to the leaves. And I am going to take a previous posters advice and line the permeable plastic bag with plenty of corrogated cardboard on the bottom and sides (between the leaves and the plastic) to help maintain moisture levels (while keeping some air flow- as opposed to plastic bags which would block air) which I hope will help the leaves break down all the way out to the edges of the bag (previously they mostly just broke down in the middle of the bag because they dried out too much). Hopefully this will also help to wick the storm run off in the driveway into the bed and maybe catch any dripping fertilizer that I add. I will be layering the leaves with sprinklings of blood meal and Plant Tone and will also be spraying each layer of leaves with water, urine and molasses and a few shovelfuls of garden dirt to hopefully get plenty of microbial action. I am hoping that if I get the leaves to be as fertile as straw bales are after "conditioning," I will be able to use less potting soil on the top layer rather than more as I had posted previously. Also I will be adding a layer of opened up paper leaf bags between the leaf layer and the potting soil layer to help keep the potting soil from shifting and "swallowing" seeds too deep into the leaf layer for germination. Probably I will need to curve this up around the edges of the bag to hold the potting soil and keep it from sliding down the inside of the bag.

I am hoping that putting the Bagster on the driveway will allow me to:
1) catch the rainwater runoff (which was flooding the picky neighbor's house-- and I WILL point this out if the give me a hard time lol)
2) catch the free heat stored in the concrete from the sun and maybe that will cancel out the heat loss that occurs in a raised bed and allow me to grow a winter garden

I have some questions for you:
I will be having a lot of OAK leaves (notorious for their slow decomposition rate) do you have any suggestions or concerns about this?

So please wish me luck, stay tuned for pictures and updates and advise me at will with your suggestions!
Thanks!

I think I will fold the sides inside instead of outside so that the yellow stripes don't show thought the burlap.

This is the new design Bagster garden with 2 foot rebar stakes holding up the sides and pvc hoops over to hold my row cover.

So I thought I would update this post and say that the Bagster garden was in an interesting experiment and I think it works well for:

a disguised place to compost leaves in a urban/suburban setting that is kept moist and dark. Certain plants did better than others -- oddly the eggplant was very happy whereas the other things-- peppers and tomatoes not so much. In the future I will only use the leaves as filler and put in plenty potting soil in the top for the actual growing medium. I found that the leaves in the center broke down nicely but the outside leaves that were the driest did not. I am also looking into additives to the leaves that might help them beak down faster (they are mostly oak).

For structure (they are very floppy) I first made a keyhole shape by pressing two paving stones on end into the center of the long side in this shape ^ to achieve somewhat rigid sides. The resulting shape was a little more unconventional looking and I found that I like my fall redesign better which was simply to use 6- 2 ft length of .35 rebar pounded in around the outside to support the edges in a traditional rectangular shape. Those then became my anchors for 10 ft (1/2 in wide) PVC hoops to support my row cover / plastic for fall and winter growing. They are somewhat move-able even filled with leaves when you first fill them but after a season of absorbing water you can't do much moving. It was quite an effort to just got from keyhole back to rectangle!

I plan to make some more of these gardens on a large concrete driveway. While the keyhole shape works it reduces your growing area and it looks a bit odd. I plan on sewing pockets for the PVC hoops with fishing line (thread will rot) which I think will gather up the excess fabric resulting in more rigid walls (think of those swimming pools that have a larger footprint than opening at the top so the water itself holds it up) and the pvc itself should add some structure (since I will not be able to pound the rebar into the driveway) Hopefully I will be able to add some pictures.

I am also considering putting strawbales around the outside to condition them for use in a strawbale system for next season, as well as to insulate the raised bed over winter under row cover( I am growing greens and winter crops and have heard that raised beds are not so good for this so maybe strawbales will help insulate??)

with a bit of burlap tucked around the outside I think they look nice and I plan on making a whole garden of them by adding one or two each season filled with my leaves and the leaves of my neighbors. Pictures to come

I ordered the "all in one almond" from stark bros.(usa) It matures to 12-15 feet.

thank you! I have a maypop on the way. So, should all prunus family trees be protected from early frosts by shady places and north faces? Will my almond tree also need this or just the peach and cherry? I have east and west walls that I thought about using espaliers on. would those be better for the prunus family? Or are those still problematic (too warm still?). I apologize if these are elementary questions....Google hasn't been very helpful on this.

Ahhh. An annual. Didn't think of putting annuals there. So any late blooming perennial should be ok there? What else is late blooming? I ordered a hardy Chicago fig.I wonder if that is late enough?

Oh.... I forgot to mention that I would be planting IN the top of the wall in a 20 inch crevice that is very deep and wide so the roots will be warmed as well.