10 replies to this topic

[Mt_Rider]

I am SO excited! Thru Jeeper's post in Nature's Bounty forum about vertical gardening http://mrssurvival.c...showtopic=45485 , I bounced from site to site until 3am recently. But I came up with three very viable NEW ideas for DH and I on our rocky, windy, arid mountain. I've heard of many of these but having some explained visually on YouTube made me finally grasp the hope that might make gardening here doable again. And...considering our food prices...availability issues that might yet happen...this is

Anyone who wants to have a Plan B, C, and D for growing their own food should to watch at least a few of these videos. There are some possibilities with gardening that might eliminate 1) OLD AGE disadvantages {ow!}.....2) No-soil problems...3) Rodent/bunnie/moles and mebbe deer problems ....4) Helps with the moisture and cold problems {tho ya might have to tweak these to make it work on your particular bit of real estate!



1) This is about growing taters vertically in wire baskets. Expense of the stakes and chicken wire (unless you can salvage materials) but otherwise - whoohooo! I've always wanted to try this method cuz everyone has concluded that digging taters is just-flat out of the question any more.



2) This one is just purely interesting. Inner city large greenhouses that have plants, fish, worms all in a cycling system. I've seen this Permaculture before and would love to have a large enough space for this. But some minor ideas we might incorporate.




3 ) This is a good look at STRAW bale gardening....which I'm VERY excited about. Look how they are putting the seed in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3adakfU9bCY&feature=endscreen


4) This shows a straw bale garden already growing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvYJlcJbI8&feature=related



5) THIS IS THE ONE! This is a video of a HAY bale gardening presentation from a woman with disabilities that discovered this method 2 years ago. It's long but well worth looking at. Answers lots of questions. Is the only one I found that uses HAY instead of straw but for good reasons - the main ones are better nutrient for the plants as the bale decomposes and better WATER RETENTION which is a heads-up for us in CO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWz6AmzH_c&feature=related


6) Now here is where a ....um, 'collector' like me gets justified. Watch what people are doing with soda bottles. We've seen some of these before but these all have some potential for many of us! Even apt. dwellers. Save space. Can do this inside...and take outside later? Low tech and recycling FREE stuff! I like 'recycle' well enough but I LOVE the word 'free'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FqmCeOymc&feature=related

6-B ) and this is the finished product in use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugc71yhAfV0&feature=fvwrel



7) This is one that uses hydroponics with water bottles:

http://www.windowfar...rg/buildyourown


8) This one is a variation on this idea. Excellent HowTo pics! I'm going to try this for sure! This guy is very experienced in subsistence gardens globally if you look at any other videos by him. [this is the one in Jeeper's post]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDbjZ9roEQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gxmU3YAh6c&feature=related



9) How about a greenhouse made from walls of 2 liter bottles? I've got an idea for using this to combat our wind and later, for season extension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyKUnPecRi8&feature=related



10) Another concept that might work in a greenhouse or whatever. Several type of containers [plastic if you heat it and make pockets, etc] will work for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIVJj_yajrU&feature=related


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When you view any of these, the side bar will have other videos on basically the same topic so I've watched many of those too. Some are stuttering or long-winded. But these are a sampling of some good ideas. Good ideas since 'sustainable survival' up here in my mountains is....not a good prospect unless we get some new methods!

This also reflects on the topic of aging that Annarchy brought up in another RURR post recently. We've just begun setting up the potato towers. DH is very excited about the prospect of NOT digging taters outta 'concrete' soil. We're prepping the hay and straw bales which I decided to put inside a 10X20' chainlink fencing to keep deer out. Haven't made any soda bottle tubes yet. These methods require no getting up from the ground and THAT is a big energy savings!!!! It cuts watering down to reasonable too.


MtRider

Edited by Mt_Rider, 24 April 2012 - 01:02 PM.

[mom2one]

With just the couple of videos I watched - I'm hooked! Thanks for sharing Mt_Rider

[arby]

I think I will use one of the few 2 liter soda bottles i still have for a mini worm farm inside for my fishing worms but I have been looking at lots of articles folks are posting on these gardening methods and if I had a place to have an outside garden, hay bales sound very helpful for a raised garden. Great idea and it is removeable so renters might be able to use that idea. I think the hanging gutter and soda bottle gardens I am seeing can work for many and great for at least kitchen herbs , plus they keep them up away from pets generally speaking and certainly conserve water.
I think they can be arranged with a little class as well if you are worried about aesthetics and appeal.

I think recycling things to use in gardening is a great re-use of these common articles.......

I just pretty much quit drinking soda already and would have to buy more if I decided to do an inside sort of thing but that can be done if I do get a set up with some grow lights that don't cost an arm and a leg and can do some kind of shelving that is easy to manage or get a small mini greenhouse shelving unit as they do sell those at my drug store actually or can order it on amazon.

Definitely on my mind these days, that is for sure.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Thanks..................
Now you are going to have me up until 3 am waiting for the videos to load!

[arby]

I looked at the stacked bottles video by that guy , very nice. I think I could work one or two narrowly done ones with a supporting board now that I have seen it for my living room windows. Might just work for me for a few things and some herbs and cilantro.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

some of them 'might' be a good way "to hiide a garden" if and you wanted food for yourself and not have the people around you 'seeing' a garden out back and coming in the middle of the night to help themselves

[Mt_Rider]

Somebody [2-legs, not 4-legs] has already pilfered some of our rhubarb. We have it to spare but it's the IDEA of stealing without asking. Good thing our 'garden' looks so bad this year.... or, maybe not.

MtRider

[Midnightmom]

Growing in the SNOW!

[Jeepers]

Nice video. Wish I had a sunroom on my house where I could have tomato, cukes and onions etc. year around. Those sunrooms that have a bowed glass roof and walls. Dream on Jeepers.

[Mt_Rider]

Me too, Jeepers.

And a library for our One Thousand books, and lotsa closet space and ....big barn...

MtRider [...the dreams of a Dream House..]

[CrabGrassAcres]

I saw a neat way for an apt dweller to grow stuff. Can't remember where though. It was a rack with window boxes that hung outside the window to catch the sun, but could be pulled vertical with ropes and pulleys on either side and the boxes would stay level no matter what position the rack was in.