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Urban Agriculture: A Guide to Container Gardens. A Guide to Container Gardens With inexpensive containers and suitable soil mix,you can create an urban garden virtually anywhere - on roof tops,vacant city lots, borwn fields, and unused portion of parking lots Job S.

Urban Agriculture: A Guide to Container Gardens

Ebenezer, Ph.D.President, Technology for the Poor, 877 PELHAM COURT, WESTERVILLE, OHIO - It is estimated that by 2030 AD nearly 50% of the world’s population may live in urban areas. As a consequence of this many millions of acres of productive farmland are expected to be lost to housing and other usage. Due to the recent terrorist attacks, food security and safety are seriously compromised. Migration from rural areas also brings into the urban areas many persons with very little formal education. Urban agriculture has the potential for creating micro-enterprises that can be owned and operated by the community members without too much of initial capital.

Urban farming is not new. Wading pools should be set on a level ground. Soda Bottle Carrots. Seventeen days after I planted carrots in a sawed-off soda bottle, young carrot tops had sprouted on the windowsill in my basement.

Soda Bottle Carrots

I encourage people who have little space that they can still grow small kitchen gardens. To that end, on May 1st I cut the top off of a two-liter soda bottle, filled the bottle with soil, and planted carrots in it. I described this project in a post titled Small Kitchen Garden Carrots in Containers. I mentioned my container carrots again on May 18, and again on June 17. It has been an interesting project, and I encourage you to try it. Mature Container Carrots After three months of growing, a carrot of nearly any variety should be mature. Building a bottle tower for container gardening. Container and Self Watering. One Glassy Garden: Growing Herbs in Mason Jars.

Forget the usual terracotta and (ugh!)

One Glassy Garden: Growing Herbs in Mason Jars

Plastic pots for container gardening. When you grow herbs in mason jars, you can have garden fresh ingredients on hand and also add some style to a sunny windowsill. Picture a row of mason jars filled with different herbs—basil, chives, parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary—dressing up your kitchen. Pretty, right? The clear glass allows you to see the herbs’ rich root structure growing through the soil. With the right conditions—ample light and proper drainage—most herbs are extremely easy to grow, and growing them in mason jars is no different. 1. 2. 3.

Finally, add some labels so you won’t forget what you planted! You diy, recycling junkies could also use pasta jars, pickle jars or whatever other glass container you come across for this project. image: B_Zedan. Container Gardening Vegetable - Lettuce is the Perfect Container Gardening Vegetable. I love growing lettuce.

Container Gardening Vegetable - Lettuce is the Perfect Container Gardening Vegetable

It's fast, easy and is the perfect container gardening vegetable. One advantage of growing lettuce in a container garden is that it easier to protect it from pests. I've had too many lettuce plants devoured before I get a chance to eat them. I put my lettuce container gardens up on tables or chairs to protect them from the legions of woodchucks, squirrels and bunnies that love to feast on my lettuce. You can grow lettuce in almost any container, as long as it has good drainage. You do have to be careful with any metal container, in the blistering hot sun because they can get hot and cook your plants root system. Here's what you need to make a lettuce container garden in a colander: SunColanderPotting soilPlastic window screeningFertilizerLettuce seed or seedlings.

GROWING PLANTS IN BAGS OR SACKS - PART 2. GROWING PLANTS IN CRATES. Vegetable Gardening in Containers. If you don't have space for a vegetable garden, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers. A windowsill, patio, balcony, or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden. Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes, or poor soil can also be overcome by switching to container gardening. Grow vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes, and lettuce, or crops that bear fruits over a period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers, for best use of space and containers. Dwarf or miniature varieties often mature and bear fruit earlier, but most do not produce as well overall as standard varieties.

With increasing interest in container gardening, plant breeders and seed companies are working on vegetables specifically bred for container culture. The amount of sunlight your container garden receives determines what crops can be grown. Container gardening lends itself to attractive plantscaping. Containers Planting Watering. Strawberry Pallet Planter. Over the past year I've come across scores of diy pallet projects, some of them intriguing and others not quite there yet but still having potential.

Strawberry Pallet Planter

One that I see time and again is the idea of using a single wooden pallet as a strawberry planter. Filled with soil and with plants inserted in the gaps they're usually leaned up against a wall but sometimes bolted on to keep from tumbling over. It's a clever idea but I've steered away from trying it myself because I suspect that they'll require constant watering and erosion control and also because I'm not convinced that they'll work long term. Almost every image I've found of pallet planters look to be newly planted rather than a tried and tested design.

Still I was interested in the idea and with the gift of eight pristine wooden pallets, I started scouring the internet looking for alternative tutorials. First of all, choosing pallets for diy projects involves a bit of know-how. You will need the following materials: Optional: GROWING PLANTS IN BOXES. GROWING PLANTS IN CANS AND TINS. Examples of Container Gardening, Raised Bed Garden, Vertical Tower Garden at the Great Park. Urban Agriculture: A Guide to Container Gardens.