More fun with SWP's

Beets planted in my new SWP.

You know how much I love making different SWP/SIP Planters. My favorite is the one where I take the top off a 5 gallon water bucket in place of a second bucket. But that leads me to ponder… What to do with the bottom part I cut off.

They make most excellent buckets to hold water ( I use one to catch my warm up water in the shower) and when weeding the garden. But I figured out a new way to use them… make a second SWP. Totally by accident, I found that the Five gallon water bucket does not fit all the way into the outer bucket. Soooo that means I could saw a hole in the bottom of the water bucket to fit a strainer basket or seedling pot with holes in it (or you can use a yogurt container or a small can). And with some shifty planning and drilling I can shove the water pipe down the handle to fill the reservoir.

The other thing one could do with it is turn it upside down to make an ad hoc green house or cloche for the fall and winter to keep plants warm!

Farmer's Daughter Homesteading Link Up

I used strips of T-Shirt from my latest shopping bag experiment as water wicks. Very little gets wasted around here!

RE-POST: SWP's 2.0

This week I am re-posting my favorite way to make self watering or SIP's- Self Irrigating Planters!

Perusing the global buckets webpage, I saw an idea to make one out of 1 bucket and the top from a 5 gallon water bottle. So I had to to try one.

Take an ordinary water bucket-cut the top, drill a bunch of holes, put a rage over the pour spout, make sure to drill or cut a hole for a 1" or larger piece of tubing to go into - this is how you are going to add water to your planter!


Shove it in the 5 gallon bucket- pour side to the bottom

Fill with water up to the pour spout, fill with dirt and plant! I put a cayenne pepper in this one- now it goes into the green house for warmth!
Note- You may want to add a few "overflow" holes in the bucket... just put them beneath the level of the water bucket top (where you cut it off), and above the spout! Save the bottom of the water bottle for a bucket, or re-use as a planter!

My name is Rob, and I am a food container recycling addict

LOL Reading Inside Urban Green yesterday, I found a post that read Yes, There is a cure for Food Container Recycling addiction. I have been spotted around town fishing used coffee cups out of the trash, as well as Big Gulp containers. I have no shame.
My name is Rob, and I am a food container recycling addict -

No That is not Rob- I am not that young, good looking, slim and I do not "play with my junk" as much as this guy!

Maybe after reading it I will attack some of the mountains of Food Containers around this house. See- all it needs is a 12 step program!

Improving SIP's

Very exciting- A few years ago there was almost no news on SIP's- now people are coming up with improvements seems like every day. Larry Hall is one of those folks- he came up with a watering method that doesn't use a bucket, (Saving more buckets for growing!) The cool thing about this design is I could see using it straight from one of my rain barrels to the gutter for irrigating. And since I will probably replace the plastic rain gutters on the garage this year, gives me an idea what to do with the old plastic rain gutters!

Here is what you need to build Larry Hall's self filling Rain Gutter Grow System! 
2- 10 ft treated 2x4's
1- 10 ft rain gutter and 2 end caps.
a mini float valve to regulate water
3 inch net cups (they are cheap!)
roofing screws

Read More on Larry's Rain Gutter system at INSIDE URBAN GREEN.com

2 Litre Sub Irrigated Planters

My friends over at Green Roof Growers came up with a way to make SIP's out of a 2 litre pop bottle- big enough for a lettuce plant or a small cherry tomato- and they shared this knowledge with a group of school kids!

TEDx MANHATTAN: HOW TO CULTIVATE A LOGO

Found this on Green Roof Growers- Best information video on making SIP's I have seen! Enjoy and Grow~
TEDxManhattan: How to Cultivate a Logo from Sybil Dessau on Vimeo.

Links:
Slippery Slope Farm 
Inside Urban Green
Real Food Campaign

BUCKET BROTHERS DO IT AGAIN!!!

Photo Courtesy Global Buckets.org

Those two great guys, Grant and Max, Whom I like to call the "Bucket Brothers" have come up with another great idea. You have read here about there SIP's (Self Irrigating Planters) a pattern I generously steal and teach, but now they are taking those reusable shopping bags and using them as grow bags. These two come up with some of the best ideas. If they had a facebook page, I would definetly be a "fan". Anyway take a trip over to the Global Buckets website and read more about their cheap "Grow Bags" solution.