 Welcome to the private property farming podcast. My name is Mbali Nwaka and thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Today we're going to be talking about alternative home gardening solutions using a growing system. But before we get into our conversation today I just want to remind you at home that we have a competition running where you can stand a chance to win your very own growing system and all you have to do is go on to our Facebook page on the competition and comment about what type of crop you'd like to grow onto the system and the winner will be announced in the next gardening series episode. So let's get into today's show. I'm joined by none other Cass from Home Growers who will explain to us what a growing solution is. Cass, thank you so much for joining us. Always great to be here and I'm glad that we can present the grow barrel. Absolutely, I'm so excited. So just explain to us what the grow barrel does because the grow barrel is probably the finest growing system that you can get. It's a soil-based solution so that's the one thing that people need to understand. It has an integrated worm form. Now there's a magic around there because what happens is the soil has to be kept in the best condition possible and the only way you're going to do that and you can beat nature is to use worms. So you have red wiggler worms that are inside the barrel. You feed them by taking your kitchen scraps and you put it inside the barrel and they munch away on those scraps and they populate that in the soil with the highest possible nutrients and the plants that are inside here benefit often from those nutrients and the runoff when you water this barrel the runoff runs all the way through and it collects on the lower trough which is re-horvested. You can take it water harvesting process and basically water your vegetables again and the whole cycle continues. So it's highly nutritious, it's very effective, it's water harvesting, it's organic, there are no chemicals, you've got a worm form in there, there is honesty in my opinion, there is nothing better than this. So just to explain on this kitchen scrap, you're saying it's anything from eggshells, teabags, you just slot them in here and where do the worms come from? Yes a very good question and I'm glad you're asking them in that order because when we talk about kitchen scraps we refer to everything that is not acidic. We do not put in meat, we do not put in fish, we do not put in bones, we do not put in citrus, we do not put in onions, we do not put in bread, some people don't and do put in banana skins, I personally don't. They decompose slowly anyway but the worms go and break them down. Now the interesting fact about a red wiggler specifically is they are the most incredible little creatures so what they do is they can pick up the electromagnetic discharge from plants so as soon as they feel that they can sense from the soil and the root system that the plant is no longer producing an electromagnetic charge the red wiggler worm goes up and eats and disposes of the decaying matter and puts it back into the soil as fresh food so that is what's remarkable. So a lot of people get squeamish and they go oh I don't want worms in there, I don't want worms in their food source but you will not get worms, they live beneath the soil, actually shy, you know you can talk and you can go around we'll look at this barrel and I can scratch the surface of the soil and as we scratch you'll see the little red wigglers and what will happen is they will disappear because they don't want to see you, they don't like lats so they're always in the barrel, they are remarkable. And does this barrel come in only blue? Let's say I want an orange you know barrel red looking barrel does it come in various colors? Yes another good question as well the barrel comes in many colors okay but we only work with two colors we work with the blue and we work with the green and the reason being is that the blue and the green barrel are the only two barrels that are considered to be food safe barrels okay in terms of now if you understand the history where the barrel came from in terms of America and Europe those are the first few areas that started recycling barrels in terms of making them into farming growing units that's where the movement started and there are various laws around the world that govern the usage of a green and a blue barrel specifically they are termed as single use barrels you can't use them more than once for transportation okay whereas the other barrels the red the brown the silver gray and the yellow those are used for many other substances hazardous stuff absolutely okay and a lot of people come here and they go oh I'd like a yellow barrel look put you in my garden a red barrel so I say then you must understand when you look at colors okay red and yellow are warning signs that's telling you keep away from me I'm dangerous it's like a robot when you're going in your car and you're driving you're heading towards the traffic lights you change colors yes orange means be careful red means stop yes for that yes the same with the barrels barrels works exactly the same way and the FDA if you go read about it in America the food and drug administration okay they closely monitor and watch in terms of the shipping liners okay in terms of moving of single use barrels being green and blue okay that's why we will only use green and blue and to top it off we only use brand new barrels we don't we don't recycle or upcycle and the reason being is that we need to know that if we are giving you a barrel we know that there's never been anything in it that's toxic absolutely very very important because we're growing our own food which goes into our stomachs you know yeah so that's an empty barrel this is one that's like fully kitted with crops already growing yeah it looks so stunning because I can already see different type of vegetables here so just explain what this barrel has and yeah and just and also the soil I suppose it's potting soil as well right so what we do is we do a mix again only on organic okay do a mix of potting okay mix and composting and by turning it up into this into into a mix before we feed it into the barrel the reason why we're using composting is that is a beautiful blend for those red wigglers to eat as well so once you've thrown the soil etc those guys are eating already okay creating beautiful future nutrients for your soil system and also what you need to understand is when you populate your barrel for the first time with soil gravity also plays an effect okay as you've loaded it's very full yes and after a few weeks you see that the soil is actually dropping and that's only because gravity is pulling it down so you have to top up as well that you've got to do okay in terms of the varieties that we got here I mean we've got different types of mints we've got we've got different basils with a varieties of it we've got lettuces we've got spinach we've got blood sorrel we've got a whole host yeah incredible incredible herbs and vegetables and they honestly just carry on growing they really and truly do what we're still going to do this particular one and as many others that we have at home growers we're going to get them ready for season okay so we're going to get tomato soon you're going to get eggplant you're going to get everything you're going to see an explosion of color and you're not going to see the blue now the one thing in my house I've got a blue barrel and people say to me when they come in they say no I don't want blue I want green so I said you know I'll be honest with you my first choice is a blue a blue barrel and I'll tell you why I like blue okay because when the green is green there's a contrast and it stands out so you see this explosion of absolute beautiful greenery now if it was green on green you don't really see the green which is also very special so but it's a really a remarkable remarkable system so this one here we might be lucky to show you I don't know if we will as I lift this open we might be able to see some worms there's a there's a baby worm that's in there okay you're not really going to see it too well they're probably just sleeping they'll come back later as we throw food in our land up coming through yeah they land up harvesting the food putting it back into the food source and they are happy so a couple of questions right you said the grow barrel takes soil right how many bags of soil or compost would one need to fill up and when you're filling up the bags is there waiting period before you start planting okay so when we set up the grow barrel we take it as an empty unit yeah we remove the cap okay take newspaper but the non glossy newspaper okay you make little balls out of the newspaper and we shove it into the top of the barrel till it's full correct well close to full okay and then only then because inside this part there holds yes I can see that points for the worms to get in and out into the soil baseline so when we pour soil in here we don't want the park to fill up and the reason being we want easy or passage ease of passage for those little worms to get around yeah so that's what but I'll manage the way they love newspapers they really do so we then pour in the soils of the mix that we do and we're talking around about nine bags of potting mix or or potting mixture composting mix solution okay inside this and we just pour it in okay that is that is it and then you stop wanting pour it till it's full to the brim there's newspaper in here and then what happens and then once it's all settled we then start the process of putting in our seedling plugs so we end up putting seedlings in every one of these pockets and that naturally starts taking effect the other thing which is beautiful about the barrel which is really special because it's 365 degrees as a complete circle is you're getting different degrees of heat that hit the barrel at different times of the day so a lot of people say but what happens if i get more shade or less shade doesn't really make a difference because the barrel itself has got different facets of where the light hits it so you can take this one here and you put your hand there it's cool yeah but if i go to the side there and you'll find that that is warm actually it is right so what happens is you get a build up of this magnificent moisture inside the barrel the root systems grow towards it okay that's why certain veg will grow so much better at different parts of the barrel and the root systems find it nature's magnificent we can't teach nature anything nature will teach us just by the worms look off to this entire system same with the way the roots grow it is the most remarkable you'll find that we have mint growing but the mint never ever was never planted in a pocket but a plant on that side and the rooting system found out where to go because the conditions were perfect and all of a sudden you have this magnificent growth the beauty of nature it is absolutely spectacular and the one thing which you would also notice is what you can see and you can sense it where you want on camera unfortunately and in exposure yeah the scent you just rub the leaves and you get this magnificent scent yeah that you get off the the aroma is absolutely incredible what you also have you have a brilliant brilliant ecosystem right before your eyes you'll get your predator insects okay we'll come and eat the insects that cause damage to your plants so for example you're so if we've got like a fair like a fair the ladybugs will rock happen they will end up feasting on the aphids and the cycle continues yeah the whole thing about this beautiful system again is like when I push and talk around anything about home growing keep as far away as you can from chemicals and toxins in terms of pesticides try and let nature do what nature does best and nature's working well here yeah there's no growth hormones and yeah there's no chemicals in here you're not going to get anything better anywhere else than what you have here if you take this and you rub your hands to it and you smell your hands the oils the essential oils that come out of there I mean the aromatherapy that one will derive from oils coming from what you've got in a grow barrel yeah remarkable so I just want to find out how do you maintain the plants so firstly I can see we've got a very lovely looking stand here and with some sprinklers so I suppose this is for watering however can one use a watering can or when we purchase the growing barrel does it come with this just explain to us how we give it some water okay so the grow barrels it doesn't come with a watering system such as this okay this was one of and again so with home growers we have such a great movement all customers who come and see us yeah this was made by one of our customers because he has a grow barrel he loves his grow barrel and he went and made this for us that we can put on display so and it's really you plug your host pop in it and it's got all the spray jets and it basically sprays your your barrel okay for a grow barrel you don't need such an instrument you take your water from a watering can or a host pop and your water and I'll show you on the empty one because it's easier okay water around the sides that's all you do the water around the sides and then you can take a sprayer and spray the pockets because remember the water is going to pull down anyway yes so spraying there's just really going to cool the leaves off but in terms of the nutrients and the hydration and so on it's going to come from the top and then you put a bucket on the ground which comes with it okay full full full of nutrients yeah pull it out and you pour it back in ah so you recycle the water there's total there's total usage of water recycling yeah harvesting of water yeah that's why you know it's a you've got areas where we don't have and we've got issues with water supply and so on this is your solution so where do you keep the growing barrel is it on the patio or do you just have to put it outside in full sunlight like this it really doesn't make a difference I mean it really we got barrels on property which you've seen before where it's in mostly shade yeah it performs incredibly well okay we've got some that are in direct sunshine okay they're performing incredibly well so it really doesn't make a difference because like I said it's a 360 degree system yes it's not going to be in some the entire day yes because you get a canopy as you can see I've got a beautiful canopy that grows so what happens is you've got all these that are getting shade yes so even if it's in direct sun yes these guys that are doing incredibly well they're providing essential shade to those that need the shade wow so it's a very very simple and a very effective system to harvest and grow your own vegetables at home so this is what the the solution offers you great and still on the crops maybe then let's say now I am finished I've plucked so many spinach leaves and I'm tired of spinach now I want to maybe grow lettuce what happens do I just remove the spinach plant and then put in the lettuce or do we have to change the whole system in terms of the soil once again you know how often do we have to reuse the soil before we could put in another plant inside in terms of changing soil there's no need for that okay you may have to top up okay they need to change because as long as your worm farm is healthy yes then there's no need to change because they're keeping it it's like if I look anywhere around and you're looking your gardens or whatever how often you're digging pools out of soil and putting new soil not quite open right because the soil is natural and it's perfect yeah this is the same system it doesn't make a difference so the thinking is identically the same you've got an ecosystem here and you're changing off-edge you can see the lower pockets here we've got these are going to change now for season yes so those are going to be plucked out and put new and new seedlings in so for example if I take and it's I haven't got celery in the front here but the side I don't have on this one either but let's say for example you one was going to harvest you know you would either cut with your scissor yes or at your break off and you would have your fresh fresh uh uh bed that you would get now leaves get about that size and you've got to see the leaves and then full growth yeah and you harvest from there and straight to the kitchen wash it into the into onto the dinner table um but if you're going to start fresh chop this out take a little garden fork stick it in and remove it and start again uh huh so now we're going to take this piece and I'm going to feed it to our little friends because let the most of us oh wow I can help you there yeah let's open that up and we just pop that in and nothing must ever get wasted nothing must ever get wasted get straight in there even if you've got dead dying leaves like you've got a this one here so we'll pluck a few off let it go in so in there it will decompose that's it's beautifully it goes back in so is it safe to say that during the day the worms come out so they fertilize the the soil and this whole entire ecosystem and then they go back into their house when they're hungry they go back up and they eat and then they go back in I mean if I had to brush away some of the soil now we'll actually see the little red wigglers running around yeah you will see them they'll be everywhere if I scratch around here we'll find them this thing has got and the nice thing about that aren't overpopulate which is yeah their population size will be healthy enough for what the barrel can sustain so and what food source is available so that's the other upside which regards to the colony of the red wiggler worms that you have what I like about this grain barrel it's it's quite steady you know the fact that we've got the sand in here we've got the various plants in here but it's still quite steady so it's good I'm sure you can withstand you know very strong winds as well oh this is fantastic so this is what we talk about when you're saying growing your own food in minimal space vertically and again using no pesticides no insecticides you know nothing goes to waste in here yellow leaves we pluck them back into the house and the worms come back absolutely you know make remember something about this grow barrel again is a 67 varieties of vegetables you can grow vegetables or herbs okay the top we would always try and keep for the leafy bigger bushes so ideally like your big tomatoes and whatever if you'd like to put in the top fennel so you get this beautiful canopy beautiful big growth coming out of the top that's what you want to do and the smaller tops let's say smaller tops because your your your spinach is not necessarily small the leaves here that size yes spring onions your your celery leaves are huge so you have all this available which is magnificent we've got cabbages growing in season with the heads of the cabbage or like soccer balls out of a pocket so the reality is you can put anything in there so the ones that we've done before and we've done on that side when you saw earlier your onions go into the top because once an onion grows and it will grow successfully in there but you'll never get it out so the onions you don't want to put in there be true you don't want to put in here you want to put it into the top anything that is a root system that you want to pluck out or even the top not into a pocket because you will not get it out the pocket okay but it's a great system and I think just like once again it's coming into home grows you're buying a fully kitted barrel you you know you've got you've got all the the growing medium the seedlings as well that you want to farm and you're good to go absolutely how often would one need to water the growing barrel so that's a question that people ask all the time and I always say use the finger test just stick your finger in the soil and if it's moist and damp then it's fine and again like you felt earlier yes the temperature remember the humidity and the condensation that you're getting inside the barrel from the shift of temperature is creating its own condensation and moisture inside the barrel so it's never gonna be dry dry dry dry dry dry dry and you'll see that you always be moist always gonna be moisture inside there and it's just one of those fantastic things I just saw this now whilst we were talking and I want to point this out to you so this is an eggplant okay okay and for season that obviously do leaves now yes so now this is back coming back to life and we're gonna have eggplant coming out quite soon yeah so that's amazing that's some lost season this is amazing Cass um sure I'm just so surprised at how easy and efficient it looks like it doesn't take a lot of space but yet you said 67 varieties that could be grown in less than one square meter now you think about it I mean a person doesn't even have to take a measuring tape just close your eyes and just just imagine if you had to take and you had to plant out in your garden or whatever it was and you had to put out 67 and you put out one like space of step at a time yeah four and how much space are you using for 67 varieties a couple of meters I could tell you yeah and the other side is how much work how much work does it take to keep 67 and veg healthy see this is you know you might as well be watching a pot plant you got you got a form with the whole energy and efforts of a pot plant with one person that's what's amazing this is beautiful ah Cass this is fantastic thank you so much for coming on to the show today and explaining this growing barrel we've got a competition running so I'm sure people will just start engaging because now they could physically see that you know we have spinach we have various different lovely looking crops here that could be grown um with ease simple minimal maintenance rather and you know you water it based on how humid the soil is right and I think what I'd like to do is I mean as we start having you know future episodes and that down in the line let's get feedback from viewers and let them see I'd like to see tomatoes growing and we'll take the challenge we'll put tomatoes in and then we'll every third time to time we'll give them a snapshot and say look how well these guys are growing so be part of the journey yeah and as opposed to the person that wins it'll also be nice if they could share their story of the different crops and varieties that they've been planting thank you so much Cass for your time today it was phenomenal having you absolutely brilliant thank you thank you so much for watching this segment of the gardening series as you've heard from Cass this is a growing barrel that can grow 67 different varieties and you just only need one person to manage it water it as and when it needs to by testing the humidity of the soil and come on to home growers because they'll show you how to set up this entire system with the growing medium the potting soil how are we going to get the plants inside and how the worms really work and regenerate the soil that exists inside and you could grow it outside in your home garden or underneath the patch or whichever space you decide to put it in trust me this growing barrel will give you food for a year's supply so a reminder to just please into the competition that we have running because you could win yourself a growing barrel right here from home growers and they will provide you with all the assistance that you need to just get this growing barrel set up and successfully growing your own vegetables in your own home thank you so much for watching this show and tune in for our next episode coming on next week thank you so much