Number two son drilled me some drainage holes in half a old plastic heating oil tank.
Once again I will practice the German Hugelkultur gardening method and half fill it with shrub prunings and fresh fym. Then I will fill the top half with well rotten fym, compost and topsoil.
Soon they will be raised beds like the ones below.
Old IBC tanks cut in half and planted with leeks. We love our homegrown potato and leek soup.
Old plastic baths repurposed and used for growing vegetables.
More cut in half heating oil tanks and a bath.
Raised beds are great for drainage and the soil is at least at knee height. Some are at waist height. This is very good for people with bad backs and none of us are getting any younger are we?
Once again may I add that my repurposed raised beds are suitable for anywhere. You could even grow vegetables on concrete. Don't worry about not having a garden or allotment. Get yourself some repurposed oil tanks and old plastic baths.
I've been working my flower beds here for 16 years, we have heavy clay soil, I can get most things to grow, but it was a long hard battle. Building my raised veg beds were much easier.
ReplyDeleteYes we have a lot of clay here in West Cork Marlene. Incorporating organic materials like homemade compost and fym helps. You can also mulch with bark and add grit for drainage. Clay soil is full of nutrients and anything will grow in it when the soil warms up. Raised beds are definitely a big help to us older gardeners and suffer from heavy soils and poor drainage.
DeleteIt is good to repurpose things that would otherwise be landfill and poison the green and pleasant land. P used to do that all the time in our old garden.
ReplyDeleteWe are not allowed to have anything visible here that would be determined " a nuisance to the neighbours" under the terms of the covenant on the land when it was sold by the Church. I expect Mr Snoopy would have something to say about us using old plastic tubs and baths, the old meanie.
Mr Snoopy sounds a bit of a busy body JayCee. You can buy aesthetically pleasing wood raised beds. Mine cost me nothing except for the hard labour filling them. I have at least twenty five raised beds and room for more of them.
ReplyDeleteFollowing your advice, I got my tools out ready to rip our bath out of the bathroom but unfortunately the missus asked what I was about to do and raised serious objections - even though I assured her we could have grown some prize leeks in the bath.
ReplyDeleteI think I would repurpose baths and oil tanks that you see in recycling centres and builders skips YP. I know someone who's found me some more of them for free.
ReplyDeleteJust the sort of things we use too. Hot water tanks cut in half and old wine barrels are K favourites. He uses the hot water boilers to make BBQs too
ReplyDeleteK sounds very resourceful Linda. I have seen raised vegetable beds made with old concrete blocks and stones.
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