The VICTORY GARDEN Thread
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
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From: Drummonds, TN USA
The VICTORY GARDEN Thread
Every year I try to make my cash stretch by maintaining a garden of some kind on my place. There's nothing like fresh tomato's, peppers, salad greens, and all kinds of things like that, but the price in a grocery store makes them look like luxury goods...
Add to that, all those "fresh" vegetables in a store? Well, first they were harvested in fields far away, then they sat in a big trailer until they could be taken to a commercial market. They were transported from there after the big store chains or whoever bought them and further carried to their own processing facilities. Once they are packaged or boxed in something like tri-walls they are shipped out to the store chains who may or may not be involved in trans-shipping all this produce in their own semi trucks, until at last they finally arrive at the local retailer level...
This is what Walmart, Krogers, A&P, Albertsons, and the rest of the major grocery stores mean by: "FRESH" ...
I wonder how many days that is altogether...
And you still don't know what kind(s) of chemicals were used to grow these things, even if they are supposedly not GMO.
Pesticides, weed inhibitors, chemical fertilizers....
Umm, this is apparently some usage of the term: "nutritious" with which I am unfamiliar...
And a tomato that has been abused in this way is supposedly worth $2.99 a pound. I just don't see it!
Last year I had all the tomato's and Poblano Chilis I wanted fresh off the bush, standing right there, no chems, no modification, and no waiting.
I barely even had to water anything last year too, so they were in a sense pretty much FREE
Hmm, three tomato's in a store nearly ten bucks.
Three or four fresh (and I mean FRESH!!!) toms from out in my side yard - five minutes of my free time.
I VOTE HOME GROWN...
*** Some plants grow better in the cold temperatures of winter. Lettuce, Cabbage, Spinach, Brussels Spouts and many other greens do best long after the local insect populations are long gone or dormant, which means pest problems do not exist! I presently have lettuce growing in a tire that I flipped inside out on its rim so that the rim itself forms the base of a fairly nice looking planter - and the leaves of the sprouts in this planter are bright green and going strong even though we have already had a few overnight frosts in my area.
So, even though we say "The growing season is over" it both is and isn't - now is the time to grow cold weather plants that do best in winter. "ICEBERG" lettuce is named that for a reason, it bunches in a tight leafy ball to shield itself from cold - where in warm weather it will 'bolt', sending up a seed stalk instead of producing leaves.
Q: You have old tires and rims, and you know you will have to pay a disposal fee even if you muscle them off the rims and sell the rims to a salvage yard - what do you do?
ANSWER!!!
It is actually very simple to make one of those - provided you cut the sidewall close to the tread. The farther in from the tread you cut it, the harder it is to flip inside out. Be aware of that when you pick your slice line. A wide sidewall on the bottom also makes a better "APRON" around it
If you paint them with flat white, they look like they are made of concrete. If you paint them with reddish primer paint they look like terra cotta.
The reason for the paint is appearance, and to prevent rust - also to prevent UV damage or rubber rot from attacking the tire. But a tire cast off in the weeds will still be there fifty years from now - an old tire can be the hardest thing on earth to get rid of!
The reverse of that is this: An old tire can be the longest lasting planter that you've ever seen before...
And they not only have good drainage, but you can't beat the price can you?
I've been experimenting with this idea for two or three years now. I actually dragged home a back tire from a front end loader, and use it to grow spices and peppers in.
It is better, I find, to have a large planter raised above ground, with VERY GOOD soil in it, than it is to try to improve ALL THE SOIL in a prospective garden area.
The tire planters not only prevent weeds from getting into them, but you can use a string trimmer or just plain "weed-b-gone" or "Round up" around them, and not worry about damaging either the planter or the soil inside it.
You can station one of these on a place like a gravel driveway, or even a concrete slab - and never ever have to mess with weed control at all.
And to move them to where you want them, well...
They "ROLL"
Add to that, all those "fresh" vegetables in a store? Well, first they were harvested in fields far away, then they sat in a big trailer until they could be taken to a commercial market. They were transported from there after the big store chains or whoever bought them and further carried to their own processing facilities. Once they are packaged or boxed in something like tri-walls they are shipped out to the store chains who may or may not be involved in trans-shipping all this produce in their own semi trucks, until at last they finally arrive at the local retailer level...
This is what Walmart, Krogers, A&P, Albertsons, and the rest of the major grocery stores mean by: "FRESH" ...
I wonder how many days that is altogether...
And you still don't know what kind(s) of chemicals were used to grow these things, even if they are supposedly not GMO.
Pesticides, weed inhibitors, chemical fertilizers....
Umm, this is apparently some usage of the term: "nutritious" with which I am unfamiliar...
And a tomato that has been abused in this way is supposedly worth $2.99 a pound. I just don't see it!
Last year I had all the tomato's and Poblano Chilis I wanted fresh off the bush, standing right there, no chems, no modification, and no waiting.
I barely even had to water anything last year too, so they were in a sense pretty much FREE
Hmm, three tomato's in a store nearly ten bucks.
Three or four fresh (and I mean FRESH!!!) toms from out in my side yard - five minutes of my free time.
I VOTE HOME GROWN...
*** Some plants grow better in the cold temperatures of winter. Lettuce, Cabbage, Spinach, Brussels Spouts and many other greens do best long after the local insect populations are long gone or dormant, which means pest problems do not exist! I presently have lettuce growing in a tire that I flipped inside out on its rim so that the rim itself forms the base of a fairly nice looking planter - and the leaves of the sprouts in this planter are bright green and going strong even though we have already had a few overnight frosts in my area.
So, even though we say "The growing season is over" it both is and isn't - now is the time to grow cold weather plants that do best in winter. "ICEBERG" lettuce is named that for a reason, it bunches in a tight leafy ball to shield itself from cold - where in warm weather it will 'bolt', sending up a seed stalk instead of producing leaves.
Q: You have old tires and rims, and you know you will have to pay a disposal fee even if you muscle them off the rims and sell the rims to a salvage yard - what do you do?
ANSWER!!!
It is actually very simple to make one of those - provided you cut the sidewall close to the tread. The farther in from the tread you cut it, the harder it is to flip inside out. Be aware of that when you pick your slice line. A wide sidewall on the bottom also makes a better "APRON" around it
If you paint them with flat white, they look like they are made of concrete. If you paint them with reddish primer paint they look like terra cotta.
The reason for the paint is appearance, and to prevent rust - also to prevent UV damage or rubber rot from attacking the tire. But a tire cast off in the weeds will still be there fifty years from now - an old tire can be the hardest thing on earth to get rid of!
The reverse of that is this: An old tire can be the longest lasting planter that you've ever seen before...
And they not only have good drainage, but you can't beat the price can you?
I've been experimenting with this idea for two or three years now. I actually dragged home a back tire from a front end loader, and use it to grow spices and peppers in.
It is better, I find, to have a large planter raised above ground, with VERY GOOD soil in it, than it is to try to improve ALL THE SOIL in a prospective garden area.
The tire planters not only prevent weeds from getting into them, but you can use a string trimmer or just plain "weed-b-gone" or "Round up" around them, and not worry about damaging either the planter or the soil inside it.
You can station one of these on a place like a gravel driveway, or even a concrete slab - and never ever have to mess with weed control at all.
And to move them to where you want them, well...
They "ROLL"
Thread Starter
|
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
Something strange, or at least different seems to be happening this year - the weather patterns and warming trends in my area are way out of wack
I look to the native plants to get clued in to when to plant,and so on. All of the signs I see so far point to an early growing season. But as I have discussed elsewhere I dunno how much trust I want to put into that - the middle of winter is way too early to even think of setting most kinds of seeds outdoors. But there are SOME plants that actually do better in cold weather, Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Spinach, Lettuce, and similar items to name a few. Those same plants don't do well in hot weather because of bugs and for other reasons. Most people just give up on their gardens in the winter, but there are many plants that make the growing season other than we might have thought.
There are early spring crops, summer crops, late fall crops, and even things like lettuce that grow very well throughout the winter!
(Bottom picture)
Q: Why is Cilantro sprouting up two days before the statistical coldest day of the winter season in my area?
Look at the top picture, and next to the planter you see small green sprouts of what looks to be clover - clover is helpful as a "COVER CROP" that can be turned into the soil in spring to enrich it, Masanobu Fukuoka refers to it in his books on organic farming as "Green Manure". In addition, beans of various kinds can be grown even if you don't harvest them - to fix nitrogen in the soil. A tall plant like corn can shade out pesty weeds, and corn traditionally is grown in the same plot as beans by Native Americans as a system of mutually beneficial plants. In Native American tradition, Corn, Beans, and Squash are grown together in an arrangement called "The Three Sisters".
The corn provides shade and wind protection, the beans climb the corn and replace nitrogen in the earth, the squash with its big leaves covers the ground beneath and prevents weeds from thriving.
*I think instead of squash, I will plant watermelons in there...
For this year, I have selected a special variety of corn, because I do not generally eat it but I wanted to try it and also see something new in my gardens. The dried ears will not only provide hundreds of seeds to plant in following years and seasons, but can also be sold during the holidays to those who want to make their own very special decorations:
In gardening, just as in crafts and cooking - the only limit to what you can do is your own imagination...
NOTE: To broadcast very small seeds, one thing you can do is mix the seed packet with dry sand, and then spread the sand and seed mixture. The last step is to rake it lightly so as to brush the seeds into the very top layer of soil.
NOTE 2: WE should talk about soil composition and texture. Tightly PACKED soil in my lettuce planter may be why it did less well than I hoped, and is why I am mixing sand into it, pea-gravel will be the next thing I add. There is no substitute for a well blended composted soil
Here is a simple test you can do to evaluate what kind of dirt you've got:
How to Evaluate Soil Texture: Organic Gardening
Gardening is actually simpler than most people realize. Like anything else the more you tinker with it, the more you know, and the better it gets. As soil improves over the seasons, stuff grows better and better - so what happens is that we just begin, and see where it takes us.
Do the words: "FREE FOOD" or "HEALTHIER GROCERIES" interest you at all?
I have eaten very well for the last many years when my budget (to say the least) has been very slim...
Anyone with garden or container space that is not taking advantage of it, is missing a huge opportunity
Since 2004, there is no way I can reckon how many hundreds of dollars worth of food stuffs I have just given away to my neighbors and friends (fact)
I have half an acre. Masanobu Fukuoka had a quarter acre - and look at what HE accomplished
YES, there is hope for your grocery budget. It is called DIRT, but modern farmers (GROWERS) call it soil...
I look to the native plants to get clued in to when to plant,and so on. All of the signs I see so far point to an early growing season. But as I have discussed elsewhere I dunno how much trust I want to put into that - the middle of winter is way too early to even think of setting most kinds of seeds outdoors. But there are SOME plants that actually do better in cold weather, Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Spinach, Lettuce, and similar items to name a few. Those same plants don't do well in hot weather because of bugs and for other reasons. Most people just give up on their gardens in the winter, but there are many plants that make the growing season other than we might have thought.
There are early spring crops, summer crops, late fall crops, and even things like lettuce that grow very well throughout the winter!
(Bottom picture)
Q: Why is Cilantro sprouting up two days before the statistical coldest day of the winter season in my area?
Look at the top picture, and next to the planter you see small green sprouts of what looks to be clover - clover is helpful as a "COVER CROP" that can be turned into the soil in spring to enrich it, Masanobu Fukuoka refers to it in his books on organic farming as "Green Manure". In addition, beans of various kinds can be grown even if you don't harvest them - to fix nitrogen in the soil. A tall plant like corn can shade out pesty weeds, and corn traditionally is grown in the same plot as beans by Native Americans as a system of mutually beneficial plants. In Native American tradition, Corn, Beans, and Squash are grown together in an arrangement called "The Three Sisters".
The corn provides shade and wind protection, the beans climb the corn and replace nitrogen in the earth, the squash with its big leaves covers the ground beneath and prevents weeds from thriving.
*I think instead of squash, I will plant watermelons in there...
For this year, I have selected a special variety of corn, because I do not generally eat it but I wanted to try it and also see something new in my gardens. The dried ears will not only provide hundreds of seeds to plant in following years and seasons, but can also be sold during the holidays to those who want to make their own very special decorations:
In gardening, just as in crafts and cooking - the only limit to what you can do is your own imagination...
NOTE: To broadcast very small seeds, one thing you can do is mix the seed packet with dry sand, and then spread the sand and seed mixture. The last step is to rake it lightly so as to brush the seeds into the very top layer of soil.
NOTE 2: WE should talk about soil composition and texture. Tightly PACKED soil in my lettuce planter may be why it did less well than I hoped, and is why I am mixing sand into it, pea-gravel will be the next thing I add. There is no substitute for a well blended composted soil
Here is a simple test you can do to evaluate what kind of dirt you've got:
How to Evaluate Soil Texture: Organic Gardening
Gardening is actually simpler than most people realize. Like anything else the more you tinker with it, the more you know, and the better it gets. As soil improves over the seasons, stuff grows better and better - so what happens is that we just begin, and see where it takes us.
Do the words: "FREE FOOD" or "HEALTHIER GROCERIES" interest you at all?
I have eaten very well for the last many years when my budget (to say the least) has been very slim...
Anyone with garden or container space that is not taking advantage of it, is missing a huge opportunity
Since 2004, there is no way I can reckon how many hundreds of dollars worth of food stuffs I have just given away to my neighbors and friends (fact)
I have half an acre. Masanobu Fukuoka had a quarter acre - and look at what HE accomplished
YES, there is hope for your grocery budget. It is called DIRT, but modern farmers (GROWERS) call it soil...
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,604
Likes: 3
From: Fort Polk Louisiana
This happened a couple times with our apple orchard back home. Warm winter months felt like spring coming on to the trees, and in the end, we lost a lot of our apples. I do agree though, even an acre or 2 dedicated to growing crops is much cheaper, and with canning being a viable option, preserving your yields will last you through most of the winter.
I have to give you a +1 on using recycled tires as a gardening tool and decoration. Never would have thought about that!
I have to give you a +1 on using recycled tires as a gardening tool and decoration. Never would have thought about that!
Thread Starter
|
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
The prime motive there is that any kind of container is cheaper to make really good soil for, than it is to transform an entire lot. But with cover crop thinking, the land and the plants we seed into it will work the change.
'Thing is, it takes a season or so to make that change, so what to do in the meantime?
Your thoughts parallel mine - this could very simply be a "FALSE SPRING" that could result in more damage than good.
Such a thing is not unheard of, and big farming interests deservedly mistrust such conditions.
Commercial farmers can not afford to waste their seed stores, they may be irreplaceable. The seed they gather at the end of a season must be invested well, it can be a make or break choice as far as when to trust the weather they see.
If farmers get "FAKED OUT", they may have to take out a mortgage to replace the seed that is ruined...
At my level, I will only risk what could reasonably grow in the cold. Some things I grow in planters that can be brought inside if the worst happens, but last year I had a group of citrus trees in my living room, and this year I decided that if they don't make it through the winter outside I just don't need them.
The 'correct' plants to grow in your area or zone make sense. If you have to bring a TREE into your house - it just doesn't belong.
*I did that because I miss orange and lemon trees around me. So far the trees still show green in their branches, but most of the leaves have fallen.
If they survive, I'll spot them to more sheltered areas.
'Thing is, it takes a season or so to make that change, so what to do in the meantime?
Your thoughts parallel mine - this could very simply be a "FALSE SPRING" that could result in more damage than good.
Such a thing is not unheard of, and big farming interests deservedly mistrust such conditions.
Commercial farmers can not afford to waste their seed stores, they may be irreplaceable. The seed they gather at the end of a season must be invested well, it can be a make or break choice as far as when to trust the weather they see.
If farmers get "FAKED OUT", they may have to take out a mortgage to replace the seed that is ruined...
At my level, I will only risk what could reasonably grow in the cold. Some things I grow in planters that can be brought inside if the worst happens, but last year I had a group of citrus trees in my living room, and this year I decided that if they don't make it through the winter outside I just don't need them.
The 'correct' plants to grow in your area or zone make sense. If you have to bring a TREE into your house - it just doesn't belong.
*I did that because I miss orange and lemon trees around me. So far the trees still show green in their branches, but most of the leaves have fallen.
If they survive, I'll spot them to more sheltered areas.
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,604
Likes: 3
From: Fort Polk Louisiana
I think in the small production aspect, if you have an unfinished basement, or space you aren't using that isn't terribly affected by weather hydroponics is a great way to grow crops in the winter months.
Then your zone doesn't mean much in that case.
Then your zone doesn't mean much in that case.
Thread Starter
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
True to an extent - but then you are in the position of growing stuff in a purely chemical environment - which Masanobu San also talked about.
It also gets into the power needed to sustain the plants, and the wavelengths of the light used to nurture them. In the end, the energy that must be consumed is a factor in the growth of those plants - you have to think about what the produce costs, and if it is non-GMO, and non-Chemical in its very nature
*The price of the hardware is another concern, as we get into light fixtures, and the correct light to project onto the plants. It may need a wide array of different light sources to properly nurture green growth from different regions, where the consistency of light from the sun is very differently filtered by the atmosphere and altitude.
*Light bulbs also burn out, and have to replaced with disgusting regularity
~Coffee Bean shrubs, and COTTON grow in very different conditions...
The price of the hydroponic chems themselves is very significant, so the total cost of growing plants in that way is a thing to think carefully about.
You do not simply have a bubbling aquarium full of plants - there are many aspects of it to be considered
Plants grown in a natural environment also uptake macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients of various kinds that come from the soil and local environment itself - which is why some things grown in different areas may have a subtly different flavor
Consider Habanero Peppers for one - they are a plant that grows in a tropical area with high humidity, tropical high temperature - the temperature is moderated by the surrounding water of the islands. In the nearby mainland of south america they may grow in a triple canopy jungle type of area, the ground is thickly composted by old growth that has decayed - it is a RICH soil....
Can a REALLY TRUE habanero be grown in my area? I dunno...
But I have grown some wonderful ones
The only way I can find out if there is a difference is to go where they came from and try a real one...
Everything is different depending on the place where it is grown.
What I WANT TO SAY HERE is that the best plants to choose are those best suited for where you intend to grow them
If you pick a hard plant to grow where you live, it is bound to be a pain in the butt...
Tomatoes grow anywhere, and they get more expensive all the time!
It also gets into the power needed to sustain the plants, and the wavelengths of the light used to nurture them. In the end, the energy that must be consumed is a factor in the growth of those plants - you have to think about what the produce costs, and if it is non-GMO, and non-Chemical in its very nature
*The price of the hardware is another concern, as we get into light fixtures, and the correct light to project onto the plants. It may need a wide array of different light sources to properly nurture green growth from different regions, where the consistency of light from the sun is very differently filtered by the atmosphere and altitude.
*Light bulbs also burn out, and have to replaced with disgusting regularity
~Coffee Bean shrubs, and COTTON grow in very different conditions...
The price of the hydroponic chems themselves is very significant, so the total cost of growing plants in that way is a thing to think carefully about.
You do not simply have a bubbling aquarium full of plants - there are many aspects of it to be considered
Plants grown in a natural environment also uptake macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients of various kinds that come from the soil and local environment itself - which is why some things grown in different areas may have a subtly different flavor
Consider Habanero Peppers for one - they are a plant that grows in a tropical area with high humidity, tropical high temperature - the temperature is moderated by the surrounding water of the islands. In the nearby mainland of south america they may grow in a triple canopy jungle type of area, the ground is thickly composted by old growth that has decayed - it is a RICH soil....
Can a REALLY TRUE habanero be grown in my area? I dunno...
But I have grown some wonderful ones
The only way I can find out if there is a difference is to go where they came from and try a real one...
Everything is different depending on the place where it is grown.
What I WANT TO SAY HERE is that the best plants to choose are those best suited for where you intend to grow them
If you pick a hard plant to grow where you live, it is bound to be a pain in the butt...
Tomatoes grow anywhere, and they get more expensive all the time!
Thread Starter
|
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
Best LARGE planters you could possibly have - and no disposal fees for used rubber!
Cut out the sidewalls, fill them with seriously good compost, and oh yeah!!!
1) Gophers and moles won't even realize they are there - they tunnel right past at ground level.
2) You can set 'em up on a concrete slab, gravel patch, or a clean area with weed preventing mulch around them.
3) They can be emptied and moved if needed.
4) Big enough for the largest plants, these are going to be tomato, pepper, and Malabar Spinach planters. (They have salad greens in them for the winter)
5) They hold reserve water well, but have excellent drainage. Because the sidewall on the bottom curves upward, it forms an internal reservoir.
*The window and siding are on my list of to-do's this year, don't worry about 'em.
I just moved these into position yesterday - the plants in the middle tire are the Grand Rapids Leaf lettuce from the brown planter in a picture a few posts up from here. When I looked at the soil I had in that planter, I realized it was not good enough and no wonder the plants did poorly. These are all three filled with a blend of compost, peat moss, sand, and potting soil.
The white planters are going to be expensive - I want to get some asparagus crowns going, and that means no skimping on the soil for them at all!
The brown "Trumpet" planters will each have a Rosemary bush in them.
Cut out the sidewalls, fill them with seriously good compost, and oh yeah!!!
1) Gophers and moles won't even realize they are there - they tunnel right past at ground level.
2) You can set 'em up on a concrete slab, gravel patch, or a clean area with weed preventing mulch around them.
3) They can be emptied and moved if needed.
4) Big enough for the largest plants, these are going to be tomato, pepper, and Malabar Spinach planters. (They have salad greens in them for the winter)
5) They hold reserve water well, but have excellent drainage. Because the sidewall on the bottom curves upward, it forms an internal reservoir.
*The window and siding are on my list of to-do's this year, don't worry about 'em.
I just moved these into position yesterday - the plants in the middle tire are the Grand Rapids Leaf lettuce from the brown planter in a picture a few posts up from here. When I looked at the soil I had in that planter, I realized it was not good enough and no wonder the plants did poorly. These are all three filled with a blend of compost, peat moss, sand, and potting soil.
The white planters are going to be expensive - I want to get some asparagus crowns going, and that means no skimping on the soil for them at all!
The brown "Trumpet" planters will each have a Rosemary bush in them.
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Senior User
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 269
Likes: 2
From: Abingdon. VA
I had to go from a larger garden to a set of raised beds inside of our picket fence because of a problem with deer eating and destroying so much of the garden. Tough to do a lot of work and not get anything out of the old garden. It actually worked out better since old age and physical limitations caused me to not be able to keep up the upper property garden anyway. Just do tomato, pepper, cukes, etc now, but they sure are nice once the season comes around. Seems I can actually get more per square foot in the good soil raised beds. Going to try some apple gourds (nice flower also) this year and run them along the fence.
Bruce
Bruce
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Thread Starter
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
I thought about stacking some tires to make planters that were waist height - no bending!
There are some kind of blue plastic barrels that I think are leftover pool supply containers I'd like to collect a few of also, they would work. You see them at rodeos being used for different things, they average about 55 gallons or so. Unlike oil barrels though - they don't rust.
There are some kind of blue plastic barrels that I think are leftover pool supply containers I'd like to collect a few of also, they would work. You see them at rodeos being used for different things, they average about 55 gallons or so. Unlike oil barrels though - they don't rust.
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,604
Likes: 3
From: Fort Polk Louisiana
Planters would be a nice touch! I wonder though, could you fabricate something to hold a single tire up in the air, perhaps a steel sheet inside the tire rim, with holes in it for drainage? Maybe weld up a support structure from scrap metal, and paint it. Wouldn't have to look pretty, as long as it is functional right? Instead of using multiple tires for one planter, you could have several planters, and still utilize one tire.
I'm sure I've seen those blue drums at orschelans or other farm/aggro supply stores. Used in holding water for livestock and horses.
This is what you are talking about right? Found them for 59$ shipped on ebay. They are white, but I'm sure you could always paint them. Not a bad deal, I'm sure you might be able to find them on CL or locally, but for how much more? I could see it used to recycle rain water from the gutter, into a gravity fed watering tank to the planters.
I think a great personal touch would be adding some flame-thrower wielding lawn gnomes. Just to keep the deer and smaller rodents away.
EDIT: here are some more, they are all over ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-gallon-ba...-/330937445749
I'm sure I've seen those blue drums at orschelans or other farm/aggro supply stores. Used in holding water for livestock and horses.
This is what you are talking about right? Found them for 59$ shipped on ebay. They are white, but I'm sure you could always paint them. Not a bad deal, I'm sure you might be able to find them on CL or locally, but for how much more? I could see it used to recycle rain water from the gutter, into a gravity fed watering tank to the planters.
I think a great personal touch would be adding some flame-thrower wielding lawn gnomes. Just to keep the deer and smaller rodents away.
EDIT: here are some more, they are all over ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-gallon-ba...-/330937445749
Thread Starter
|
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
Funny - theres a fella out there who wants over fifty bucks for used plastic barrels he scrounged from somewhere.
Not this guy, sorry!
For brand new ones I could maybe see it, but they are often found discarded or there are people who just want to get rid of a bunch of them that they are stuck with.
I've got an all steel one in my garage that I got for free from a tire and racing shop down the road from me. I was using it for a tear-down stand for VW engines but I'm not doing air cooled bugs anymore. (You drill 1/4 inch holes in the top for oil to drain down into them without losing any washers or screws)
Oh well - my hands still have itchy spots from handling poison ivy so I'm not doing anything much except kickin' back while I get over that.
I have sent for a hazmat suit to wear when I go out to finish that mess up, full coveralls with hood, rubber boots, and long gloves. I can't afford to get anymore of that junk on me if I am finally reacting to it after all this time.
Not this guy, sorry!
For brand new ones I could maybe see it, but they are often found discarded or there are people who just want to get rid of a bunch of them that they are stuck with.
I've got an all steel one in my garage that I got for free from a tire and racing shop down the road from me. I was using it for a tear-down stand for VW engines but I'm not doing air cooled bugs anymore. (You drill 1/4 inch holes in the top for oil to drain down into them without losing any washers or screws)
Oh well - my hands still have itchy spots from handling poison ivy so I'm not doing anything much except kickin' back while I get over that.
I have sent for a hazmat suit to wear when I go out to finish that mess up, full coveralls with hood, rubber boots, and long gloves. I can't afford to get anymore of that junk on me if I am finally reacting to it after all this time.
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,604
Likes: 3
From: Fort Polk Louisiana
Did you try vinegar and lemon juice to kill the ivy? If you drastically change the PH of the soil around it, it will kill it off pretty quick. At least it will for most hard to kill plants. It's the deeper roots you gotta cut the bulb off, or it will eventually regrow.
I'm sure they are around for less.. Just takes a little digging, and maybe a little travel!
I'm sure they are around for less.. Just takes a little digging, and maybe a little travel!
Thread Starter
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 29,941
Likes: 46
From: Drummonds, TN USA
I've heard that vinegar is a good way to kill unwanted plants, because it "PICKLES" the roots after being absorbed by the green parts and travelling down into the base of the plants.
It's better than using rock salt (which leaches away over time because it is water soluable)
I don't necessarily want to create a wasteland or desert around my house - but I will if I have to!
Anything is better than POISONOUS plants, even if it means things don't grow until it all washes away
I'd use AGENT ORANGE if I could get it! (F) the local ecology - the local plants are what harmed me!!!
Make no mistake - I can do without ground cover for years if what covered it to begin with was harmful...
It's better than using rock salt (which leaches away over time because it is water soluable)
I don't necessarily want to create a wasteland or desert around my house - but I will if I have to!
Anything is better than POISONOUS plants, even if it means things don't grow until it all washes away
I'd use AGENT ORANGE if I could get it! (F) the local ecology - the local plants are what harmed me!!!
Make no mistake - I can do without ground cover for years if what covered it to begin with was harmful...