Cool! I like anything that provides plenty of produce without having to spend all my time weeding and battling pests.
grow-100-lbs-of-potatoes-in-4-square-feet
Comments
04/13/2009 - 23:19
Square Foot Gardening
I can't recommend this book heartily enough: The All New Square Foot Gardening
It looks like this potato setup is basically a variation on the square foot garden idea.
04/14/2009 - 14:31
grow boxes
I just yesterday read an online article on this survivalist website that suggested that laundry baskets that you can buy at the store make great planters for vegetables. You line them with newspaper and then put your dirt in. They are also deep enough for root vegetables and you won't have to break out the saw or water proof glue.
Frances
04/17/2009 - 10:05
I was gonna hold off on
I was gonna hold off on posting this until I'd tried it out but since this thread is going back to growing in containers... ;) Found this idea linked from the link in your first post, ponyboy. Thanks!
http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm
http://crazybillionaire.com/2008/05/earthtainer.html
Now I got to thinking, how can I do this without buying a bunch of those plastic tubs? Oh, I know! buckets! How do I get cheap or free buckets? Ask at your grocery. A lot of icing and flour is shipped in bulk- 3-5 gallon buckets. I did a little searching on youtube and found this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZUCxBHeq04
I think someone had posted it before, but it didn't click in my head at the time.
Or if you want to buy something already made:
http://www.earthbox.com/
Careful though, the boxes have good reviews but the company has bad reviews for customer service...
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/1754/
Edit. I've had thoughts too that having an open access to a reservoir of water might attract mosquitos, so some of these sprinkled in should help:
http://www.arbico-organics.com/1211102.html
Or, a little netting taped over the fill and drain holes should do.
04/20/2009 - 06:20
ollas
OLLAS are unglazed pottery jugs that can be “planted” alongside your veggies or flowers, then filled with water from a hose when the weather heats up.
It uses capillary action and wicks water through the porous clay to the soil.
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2009/03/05/ollas-o-yeah/
05/13/2009 - 22:17
trying it out
Reminds me of the old tire potato growing stacks. Of course, who knows the chemical content there!?
We went ahead and built two of them. Growing some yukon golds and some purples (don't remember which kind). Only took a few boards, so might as well see.
Catherine
SAH mother of 4 under 6 - loving homeschool!
Birth Doula and student midwife
Class of 9/2-3/2006
08/04/2010 - 20:52
Box Gardening is a Good Way to go
We are in our second year of box gardening. I found a bunch of FREE 2 feet long x 1 foot wide x 1 foot deep plastic storage bins. I built 16 planting boxes with a plenum in the bottom to serve as a water reservoir. I drilled a ton of holes through the top of the plenum and placed 2A modified gravel down with wed cloth. This prevents the soil from falling into the plenum. I have one pipe passing down from the top of each planter, through the soil and into the plenum so I can add water, and another pipe that passes through the bottom of the planter but only extends up into the plenum. This pipe is an overflow and tells me when I have filled the plenum with water. I can normally go 4-6 days between waterings.
The 16 planter boxes are supported about 2 ½ feet off the ground by a rack built using wood from FREE crates. We have had more than enough veggies – carrots, peas, beans, tomatoes and potatoes. Something kept eating our broccoli and cauliflower.
Our boxes are too small for squash, pumpkin, zucchini and cucumber. We didn’t get these to do well in the planters so we dug up a 20 foot x 10 foot area of the side yard and put chicken wire around it. Worked great! We have to give half of what we row away to neighbors and my Son’s family. I would guess that vine plants might do OK in a 4 x 4 foot box. But if potatoes do good in a 2 x 1 foot box, you can bet they will do great in a 4x4 foot box.
This looks like something you could without having to dig up your backyard. :-)
http://lifehacker.com/5202849/grow-100-lbs-of-potatoes-in-4-square-feet
When I die I want to die in my sleep like my Grandfather.
Not screaming and yelling like his passengers.