Aeroponic pea experiments, bigger sandpit & magic water routine

I have realised over these last few years how much I love playing with plants. As such I am currently figuring out how to assist my courtyard wall peas on their quest for optimum life.

Those of you following this blog may remember Luna helping me create this plant holder two months ago.

Since then it has been doing its job perfectly and the mange tout peas are looking extremely healthy.

I put stones in the bottom of the bottles to keep the soil in but even this was not enough to stop the little roots from trying to make their way out.

Looking at the roots I started thinking about the possibility of helping them grow further with a fusion of soil & aeroponics.

Aeroponic systems create a misty/humid environment in which the roots are happy to grow in air.

If everything is working as it should, the roots will extend down like this.

While I don't have any of the right kit I am still keen to build something around the roots and see if I can get them to extend into it.

First I pushed the stones aside with a stick and stuffed mud in there, to take the roots right to the edge of the bottles.

Using a little piece of our old trampoline safety net and some string I created something which I imagine will hold the soil in.

Once the string is wet it will help keep the humidity and perhaps even encourage the roots to grow down it?

Esteban suggested at this point that I just fill up the tub with soil and attach it under the bottles, permitting the roots to grow down into it.

I like this idea because it will undoubtedly work! But this doesn't mean I won't first try expanding my knowledge of getting roots to grow in air.

After just two days with the box in place the roots were starting to appear again at the bottom.

So I sealed off all the holes in the box and put a little water at the base to keep the atmosphere humid. Importantly I also open the box multiple times throughout the day to spray a little mist in there with a spray bottle.

Am aware that no matter how many times I spray in there it will never replicate the efficiency of a system which uses a timer but I am still keen to try and see what happens...

Sandpit

I finally got round to enlarging the sandpit to accommodate all the unwanted sand we have in our garden. My first attempt looked like this and it wasn't big enough.

In the end this square with child friendly corners seemed the better size.

My experience as a carpenter is pretty limited but I understand that if something can be a part of the structure and functional too, this is a good thing.

In this case I created little seats in each corner which also served to hold the structure together.

So that's it. One sandpit.

Not gonna say it was easy in the hot sun cutting all that wood without power tools but I got there in the end.

The owner of the land came out at the perfect moment and offered me a cold beer, which was accepted with gratitude.

The following day I brought the children in the morning and they were keen to try it out right away.

Happy with their new play area!

Positioned in the shaded part of the garden.

Eau de source (spring water)

This natural spring, re-discovered in our village one month ago, has been a total godsend!

Most days I fill a 5L bottle because unlike smaller bottles it actually sits there throughout the filling experience without falling over. Which is great! Because this always gives me a moment for contemplation.