Economic Gardening Pt. 1: Inexpensive Planters
˝Well, it's that time of year again, the migratory birds are starting to show up in our backyards again, the air is starting to smell a little sweeter, the days are longer, and the buds are starting to pop up on the greenery around us.
Winter is shedding its dark brown shadows and letting light come in and color the plants and the ground once again.
With the way the current economy has been, it's more important than ever for us to rely on ourselves. We can't sit back and assume all our needs will be met every time we go to the grocery store. Prices are only going up, and that means we need to find ways of cutting our own costs. It would be easy for me to make this all about the environment; it's easy to see how gardening, and recycling, and all that goes along with personal responsibility that would help the planet, but in times like these people are more concerned with the bottom line, what's in their wallet.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you can hit both of those marks with a single arrow, if you really wish.
Take the time to look around at your garbage and your recycling bins, look at the items you have in there, and the shapes and sizes of some of them. If you want to start a garden this year, the recycling bin is the place to look. You don't need to go out and spend money on expensive seed starting greenhouse systems, or even on terra cotta pots. You can start a garden using everyday garbage items. Here's how:
The next time you finish off a container of juice, milk, or other drink, instead of discarding the container, keep it. If it's plastic or cardboard (with wax lining), cut off the bottom about one-quarter of the way up from the bottom. Rinse and let dry. If it's cardboard, make sure to use cold water, so as not to melt and ruin the wax coating inside. Now, you may need a special knife or even a saw to get through some of the tougher plastics. I wouldn't suggest trying to cut glass bottles unless you've got the right equipment for it. If you're not sure what that equipment is, then you probably don't have it to begin with.
The bottom you just cut off will be the bottom of your planter. Simple, right? Now, you may want to buy some seed starting soil at your local hardware store or garden shop, and that's fine. I'll be doing another installment on composting very soon, which you might also find helpful.
You fill your container bottom almost to the top with planting soil, and sprinkle a few seeds in. You can buy commercially sold seeds, or you can even save the seeds from veggies you buy at the grocery store, just be sure to rinse and dry them lightly. Take your thumb and push into the top of the soil until your first knuckle is even with the top, drop some seeds in (about 3 or 4) and cover the hole. Next, if you cut the top off of any plastic bottles, you are going to take the top, and place it over the area you just planted the seeds, push it into the soil a few inches (not to the very bottom, though!). You can leave the cap off or leave it screwed on very loosely so it still allows some ventillation. The main thing is to make sure your soil never goes completely dry, the idea is to keep a humid climate inside the bottle top.
Voila! Instant seedling greenhouse!
Just make sure to add room temperature water every other day, always making sure the soil is moist but not flooded. You can keep these planters on a piece of aluminum foil by a windowsill, so that the sunlight heats up the air inside the bottle. Within a few days, up to a few weeks, depending on what you're growing, you should start to see sprouts. Once that happens and they've grown about 1-2 inches high remove the bottle top and let the plant breathe freely. After the last frost of the season, begin moving outdoors for a few hours a day, to temper the plant to the weather and sunlight outside. After a week or two of bringing the plant outside during the day and inside at night, it should be all set to plant in the ground, or move to a large planter.
Sit back and enjoy your veggies. Tomatoes are the easiest to start this way, but I've also done it with Cucumber.
Now, when I get to the piece about compost, you may choose to use fresh compost instead of soil, but this is a good start for anyone who wants to start a garden to feed themselves this year, without spending a ton of money on plants that have already been started in a greenhouse for you. Buying plants that are already started and potted is fine if you need to, but this is much cheaper, and it's better for the environment, since you're using some of your own household waste instead of letting it sit in a landfill.
Happy gardening!
-Rob Acocella
Winter is shedding its dark brown shadows and letting light come in and color the plants and the ground once again.
With the way the current economy has been, it's more important than ever for us to rely on ourselves. We can't sit back and assume all our needs will be met every time we go to the grocery store. Prices are only going up, and that means we need to find ways of cutting our own costs. It would be easy for me to make this all about the environment; it's easy to see how gardening, and recycling, and all that goes along with personal responsibility that would help the planet, but in times like these people are more concerned with the bottom line, what's in their wallet.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you can hit both of those marks with a single arrow, if you really wish.
Take the time to look around at your garbage and your recycling bins, look at the items you have in there, and the shapes and sizes of some of them. If you want to start a garden this year, the recycling bin is the place to look. You don't need to go out and spend money on expensive seed starting greenhouse systems, or even on terra cotta pots. You can start a garden using everyday garbage items. Here's how:
The next time you finish off a container of juice, milk, or other drink, instead of discarding the container, keep it. If it's plastic or cardboard (with wax lining), cut off the bottom about one-quarter of the way up from the bottom. Rinse and let dry. If it's cardboard, make sure to use cold water, so as not to melt and ruin the wax coating inside. Now, you may need a special knife or even a saw to get through some of the tougher plastics. I wouldn't suggest trying to cut glass bottles unless you've got the right equipment for it. If you're not sure what that equipment is, then you probably don't have it to begin with.
The bottom you just cut off will be the bottom of your planter. Simple, right? Now, you may want to buy some seed starting soil at your local hardware store or garden shop, and that's fine. I'll be doing another installment on composting very soon, which you might also find helpful.
You fill your container bottom almost to the top with planting soil, and sprinkle a few seeds in. You can buy commercially sold seeds, or you can even save the seeds from veggies you buy at the grocery store, just be sure to rinse and dry them lightly. Take your thumb and push into the top of the soil until your first knuckle is even with the top, drop some seeds in (about 3 or 4) and cover the hole. Next, if you cut the top off of any plastic bottles, you are going to take the top, and place it over the area you just planted the seeds, push it into the soil a few inches (not to the very bottom, though!). You can leave the cap off or leave it screwed on very loosely so it still allows some ventillation. The main thing is to make sure your soil never goes completely dry, the idea is to keep a humid climate inside the bottle top.
Voila! Instant seedling greenhouse!
Just make sure to add room temperature water every other day, always making sure the soil is moist but not flooded. You can keep these planters on a piece of aluminum foil by a windowsill, so that the sunlight heats up the air inside the bottle. Within a few days, up to a few weeks, depending on what you're growing, you should start to see sprouts. Once that happens and they've grown about 1-2 inches high remove the bottle top and let the plant breathe freely. After the last frost of the season, begin moving outdoors for a few hours a day, to temper the plant to the weather and sunlight outside. After a week or two of bringing the plant outside during the day and inside at night, it should be all set to plant in the ground, or move to a large planter.
Sit back and enjoy your veggies. Tomatoes are the easiest to start this way, but I've also done it with Cucumber.
Now, when I get to the piece about compost, you may choose to use fresh compost instead of soil, but this is a good start for anyone who wants to start a garden to feed themselves this year, without spending a ton of money on plants that have already been started in a greenhouse for you. Buying plants that are already started and potted is fine if you need to, but this is much cheaper, and it's better for the environment, since you're using some of your own household waste instead of letting it sit in a landfill.
Happy gardening!
All Photos copyright ParagonEarth, you may not use them without permission.
-Rob Acocella
Posted by ParagonRob at 3/24/2009 12:27 PM 
Categories: economy, permaculture, gardening, spring
Tags: vegetables economic permaculture spring nature gardening
Categories: economy, permaculture, gardening, spring
Tags: vegetables economic permaculture spring nature gardening
I like your style, the fact that your site is a little bit different makes it so interesting, I get fed up of seeing same-old-same-old all of the time. I've just stumbled this page for you
Reply to this