I'll be honest, I'm new to this whole gardening thing but LOVE learning how to make my garden BOUNTIFUL!

I primarily use containers for my garden. 
1) I'm obsessed with self watering containers...and when I get obsessed it's a bit OCD!
2) I like using random objects to plant in...there is something gratifying with getting a flower to sprout up in an old rubber boot.

One major lesson I learned with container gardens is to use 'container soil' or 'potting soil'.  Soil from your yard is a big NO NO!  It compacts in containers and doesn't provide your plants with the much needed air and water circulation.  The roots then become water logged and your plants will die. 

So I decided to make my own!!  It simply wasn't gratifying enough to buy a bag at the store...I wanted to do it myself!  And that's the theme these days isn't it...do it yourself.  There were so many choices for potting soil and price ranges.  I could not get a good indication on which one was the best and which ones didn't have any unnecessary additives. 

DO IT YOURSELF container soil:
-(1) 20 qt. bag of mature, high-quality compost.  (hint: make your own, it's free!)
-(1) 20 qt. bag of homemade or ready-made planting mixture consisting of; sphagnum peat (or coir), vermiculite (or perlite), and limestone.

Compost has all the key ingredients for your soil.  The peat/vermiculite/limestone additions are helpful for retaining water, lightening the soil (not too heavy), and assisting with air and water circulation.  I cannot stress how important air and water circulation is to the roots of your plants.   The compost provides all the basic nutrients which are drawn into the roots via the air/water holes created by your planting mixture.

I'm a graphic kinda gal.  So here are images and a little description on the 'ingredients' inside your container soil.

Compost:
"Black Gold"...this stuff is GOOD.  Yum.  Start making it yourself and you'll knock one key ingredient off your shopping list!

Sphagnum Peat:
Peat is great for retaining water and air.  Here is where you make a critical decision.  Peat is partially decomposed remains of centuries old sphagnum moss.  It is typically harvested from ancient bogs in Canada.  It is suggested for use in container gardens because it doesn't hold too much water that your container garden may become water logged.  Peat is also very acidic and the addition of limestone is to counteract the acidic levels of peat.  Peat decays very slowly and adds little nutrition value.  The alternate is Coir (see below), and it is a bit more ecologically sound.  If you have a self watering container, I'd suggest going with peat due to the high chances of coir retaining too much water.

Coir:
Coir is recycled coconut husks.  Used for the same reasons as peat but a bit more ecologically sound since it is harvested from a renewable resource (although slowly renewable).  It comes in compressed bricks which are soaked in warm water.  The other downside to coir is it obviously is not a local resource.

Vermiculite:
Made from mica rock.  The ore is heated, causing it to expand and thus creating small holes in it for air and water.  Great at holding air and water while also providing potassium, calcium and magnesium.  Vermiculite has a neutral PH.

Perlite:
Made from volcanic rock that is crushed and screened, then heated to cause the particles to expand.  Perlite holds water on its surface and keeps the soil light and fluffy.  It adds no nutritional value and is PH neutral.

Limestone (dolomitic or calcitic):
A source of calcium added to the mix to counteract the acidity of peat moss.  In addition to calcium, dolomitic limestone contains magnesium.

I'll put together an organic fertilizer post!  Maybe throw in a worm tea post as well....doubly delicious!

I cannot get enough of this book!  I ordered it from the library and now I have to buy it to add to my collection! 

"Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces"
By: Gayla Trail

(Author of "You Grow Girl"....which I also have!)

I'll post some snippets from the book to get you hooked!  The book discusses everything from making your own containers, perfect soils, starting and planting, harvesting tips and even unique recipes!  I love the gritty, diy vibe I get from the book.  Here is a great idea from the book that will add that special detail to your holiday cooking...

Herb-Infused Salt or Sugar
"Grow Great Grub" page 161

Recipe:
1 Cup (fine or coursely ground) sea salt or evaporated cane juice sugar
1 Cup fresh herb leaves only, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Work some of the herb oils into the salt or sugar by lightly pounding them together in a mortar and pestle.

2. Spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet or baking dish and heat slowly in the oven on the lowest possible temperature until the herbs are dried.  This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the herb and your oven's lowest temperature.

3. Set aside to cool and pour the ingredients into a glass jar to store.

Herbs for salt: Basil, cives, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, tarragon and thyme.

Herbs for sugar: Anise hyssop, lavender, mint, 'cinnamon' basil, lemon basil, anise basil, scented geranium, fruit sage and bronze fennel.

There are a multitude of options out there on how you construct your garden on your Kippen House garden roof coop.  It is essentially a raised garden bed...but on a chicken coop.  There are drain holes constructed with the garden roof, but the placement of these drain holes is determined by the owner.  In general, raised garden beds come with a few characteristics that need to be dealt with.  The soil dries out faster thus they need to be watered often.  You also need good drainage to avoid having the roots in saturated soil (which would rot the roots).  One method that combats all these issues is constructing your garden so you are watering sub soil level...or sub irrigation.

There are two forms of sub irrigation that I am researching.  One I will refer to as sub irrigation planters (SIP's) and one I will call 'Wicking Gardens'.  SIP's and wicking gardens are very similar in that you deliver the water to your plants at the root level versus at the top of the soil.  By watering at the root level you are delivering the water efficiently to where the plant needs it.  Also, you reduce the amount of water evaporation at the top of the soil.  This results in using water very efficiently, therefore you water less often and plants do not experience large fluctuations of water deprivation.  If theory holds true, you will have a bountiful garden!

I am currently testing both types of gardens.  One is a product I found at IKEA that is essentially a wicking garden and the other is a tutorial for creating your own SIP! 

I had previously posted about wicking gardens and found a lot of my precedents coming from Australia, whereas my SIP research seems to be mainly US based.  The difference between the two is how the sub-soil water is distributed (wicked) to the plants.  With a wicking garden, the water is wicked via a horizontal wick.  With the SIP's, the water is wicked via a vertical wick.  (wicking: the best analogy I have heard is picture yourself standing in a shallow pool of water wearing jeans.  If the bottom cuff of your jeans are in the water, over time you will become soaked as the water is wicked up.)

With the SIP concept you allow the soil to dip INTO your water reservoir section and act as your 'wicking' medium or with the 'wicking garden' concept you keep the soil OUT of the water reservoir section and allow a horizontally laid piece of landscape fabric wick the water to be drawn up by the soil.

WICKING GARDEN
My first test is very similar to my previous post about a wicking garden.  I found this container at Ikea!  It separates the water reservoir from the soil section.  There is a rigid plastic piece inside the planter that creates a false bottom for the soil.  Under this false bottom is your water reservoir.  You still water below the soil line via a tube connecting to the water reservoir.  The only oddity about this concept is I do not know how the water 'wicks' to the soil?  The plastic piece inside is slotted, but it's not an absorbant material like the landscape fabric.  There is a guage attached to the watering tube that lets you know if the planter is low on water.  Perhaps this guage allows a bit of water into the soil level and that is how the wicking process works?  I guess I should have checked this out before planting my plant!

This is a diagram of how the layers interact with each other to create the wicking garden.

Sub Irrigation Planter
For the sub irrigation planter I was not lucky enough to find one already constructed.  So I had to make one, which was very easy and actually pretty fun!

I found a very good visual tutorial from Inside Urban Green to help.  I highly suggest reading some posts on this website to help you understand the concept behind SIP's.  It is a bit confusing at first, only because it is a very elementary concept to grasp but it is not how we as a society have understood how to water vegetation.  So you have to look at it with fresh eyes.

I started with a 12 gallon rubbermaid tote.  Lined the bottom of the tote with upside down nursery plant containers.  This is my water reservoir section.

You can use a variety of other products to create your water reservoir section.  Upside down yogurt containers, upside down take-out condiment cups etc.  The key is to use something about 2" high, with holes poked through them to let the water flow freely between the containers. 

Drill two holes into the side of the tote, at the top of the water reservoir level.  (Top of holes align with top of the nursery plant containers)

Cut a small circle out of the top of one nursery plant container.  The circle needs to be large enough to accept the open end of a 16 oz water bottle. 

Insert the water bottle opening into the plant container opening.  Mark the top of the planting container onto the water bottle so you know where to cut the bottom off at.  Cut the bottom off the water bottle.  This water bottle is the funnel that you will use to water at sub soil level.

Fill the tote with soil.  One note about the soil.  Make sure you use potting soil that is suitable for indoor or outdoor planters.  Or you could make your own!  (more on that formula later!)  The soil CANNOT be top soil from your garden/yard.  It needs the special additives that allow it to retain moisture and stay lightweight.  Also, make sure you get the soil into all the valleys created by the upside down plant containers.

Plant your plants.  (I chose to plant a mini-salad bar!)  Pour water into your water bottle funnel until water starts to come out of your overflow drain holes.  (Note:  You could fasten landscape fabric or screening over the holes to prevent soil from washing out if it becomes an issue.)  The water bottle STAYS put.  It is like your gas tank...fill 'er up when you need more water in your container.

Here is a diagram I found on the Inside Urban Green website of how this concept works.

And there you have it!  My two sub irrigation planters.  I'll let you know if anything dies!  In the meantime, if you have any insight or clarification please comment.  I am really excited about this and think it would really help everyone have a slice of gardening.  You don't need a yard to grow healthy produce!