So, on a mission was I for some sort of alternative....and I found it through Green Roof Growers. They have a fab-o web site that delivers good information about crafting your own earth box type of thingy. I highly recommend them, they are wonderful.
Follow the link here and you'll end at their site.
The following photos will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of how to's:
materials:
Two five gallon buckets or two 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs. Procedure is basically the same for both.
A 1/2" drill bit.
A 1" circular drill bit.
A door knob drill bit for the smaller baskets.
A utility knife.
Ridiculous amounts of zip ties.
1" PVC pipe or drinking safe water hose (which I will use for all SIPS next season...PVC, while rigid, is the pits in terms of leaching nastiness into your hard won veggies...) cut to about three feet each. I will make the pipe longer next year.
Landscape fabric.
Scissors to cut fabric.
Potting MIX, not potting SOIL. Huge important.
Various organic fertilizers. I use Cynthia Sandberg's of Love Apple Farm's concoction of potting mixes in the soil. She is wonderful. Check her out on line. If you are ever in Santa Cruz, you have to take a class or, if the farm is open, stop in and scope out her fabulous operation. I learned more from her in six hours than I've learned in six years elsewhere. In fact, I'm signed up for two more of her wonderful classes!
Um, yes, back to bizznessss....
I think that covers supplies. The most expensive things here, assuming you have all drill bits, is the SOIL and FERTILIZERS you intend to put into the mix. I know the earthbox site will tell you it only needs a strip of fertilizer at the top and dolomite in the soil, but I am here to say, it ain't enough. I mixed a ton of other goodies into the soil and it's paid off. The only thing I'm still wrestling with is calcium deficiency. But our weather here is a drag this summer, so...ah well....
Onward!
This is the operation: Two large five gallon buckets. I got mine from Home Depot. I also crafted these same doohickies from two Rubbermaid tubs.
You also need a 1" drill bit. That's the white thingy. And a doo
r knob driller bit. I suppose you'll also need a drill. Oy....
You also need a pond basket. For the smaller five gallon numbers, I used two small 3" basket which I picked up at my local very cool hydroponic store. For the Rubbermaid tubs, I
used two 5" baskets. Super easy to locate at HD or any hardware store that sells pool or pond supplies.
So, next step was drilling the living daylights out of one of the bottoms of the buckets. I used a half inch drill bit for the job. I'd for sure pick up something that has oodles of power and ability to gnaw through pvc for this one.
The following photos more or less show the process:
Now drill the hell out of the bottom with the 1/2" bit. I set it all up in the garage and made an assembly line. This will aerate soil later on. Yay!
So, I drilled some holes around the openings and then zip tied the pond baskets to the bucket. Worked well. No problems....just kinda tedious. Yawn.
Next step. Grab the other bucket and drill a 1/2" hole about four inches up into the side of the bucket. This will be your overflow hole.
Then cut your pipe to be a few inches taller than the bucket. Some sites will tell you to cut the pipe on an angle to allow for flow of water. Me, I have no hack saw, ergo, I drilled the PVC with several holes instead.
Next step is to put the pipe through the smaller hole. I ended up drilling a couple holes next to the sides of the pipe and zip tying, because I cannot get enough of zip ties, the pipe to the inside bucket.
Plants. Finally.
Potting mix. MUST BE MIX. If potting SOIL is used, it won't wick up through the pond basket.
So, now we come to it: The planting. Lord. Thank heaven. I though it'd never happen! Put one bucket inside the other....baskets into the largely un-drilled bits.
So, whatcha do here is, you mix up a bit of potting mix with water, then cram it into the baskets. It should be about the consistency of mud pies. Yes. Mud pies.
Then add more potting mix, and at this point, the bucket should be half full. I added dolomite here, as well as several other goodies in the fertilizer department, and I watered the dirt.
Next, I filled the bucket with more soil, and dampened it again. At the top, I placed about a cup and half of slow release 4-6-4 fertilizer on top of the dirt.
I then cut a length of landscape fabric to go over the top of the dirt, and zip tied, (be still my heart---zip ties!) the fabric to the bucket. FYI: it takes nine large zip ties to go around the bucket. I'm just telling you this so that, unlike me, you can avoid having to figure it out each time!
I then cut an X where I wanted the plant to go, pulled the plant out and VOILA! Planted. Imagine that!
The final piece looks like this:
or if you are using Rubbermaids, (a process I will not explain..basically the same as the buckets but for inverting the other Rubbermaid and drilling holes in the bottom of the tote....I'm tired. Give me a break, o.k?)
I will let ya'll know how it all turns out.
I just love a good garden experiment!
