HWJ
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Mobile Gardening Ideas
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decodancer
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I really love some of the ideas shown. maybe I could build a planter box into my leaky roof vent. It will get plenty of water.
compassrose
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While most of the "ideas" are more suited to decor and non-edible plants, a few are actually useable for more than starting seeds. I prefer to use ebuckets (or earth buckets) for portable plants. If I'm going to mess with growing tomatoes or potatoes then I want a yield not just a plant.
We have an "urban garden" box at home depot right now. Nice idea for the season but a pita to move when full. The buckets I just heft up (or use the folding dolly) and put in the shower stall if it gets too cold like it did a few nights ago. But my two table grape vines are leafing out nicely (Red Flame apparently leafs out later than Thompson). By the time we get to TX next year, they will be old enough to start really bearing and I will start taking cuttings from them to plant on our base camp. I might start this year if they get going really well.
We have an "urban garden" box at home depot right now. Nice idea for the season but a pita to move when full. The buckets I just heft up (or use the folding dolly) and put in the shower stall if it gets too cold like it did a few nights ago. But my two table grape vines are leafing out nicely (Red Flame apparently leafs out later than Thompson). By the time we get to TX next year, they will be old enough to start really bearing and I will start taking cuttings from them to plant on our base camp. I might start this year if they get going really well.
flying kurbmaster
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I think the biggest issue with a mobile garden, once you figure out a place to put it on your rig, is the earth being vibrated into liquefaction. The women who made the bike garden may have the answer with wrapping it tightly with cloth and seeding through it. maybe burlap bags filled with earth, in a small bucket attached to your bumpers somehow, would work.
Starlight
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I am considering a grow bag idea -- there are various ideas --
a mobile garden
how to make with the gardening cloth
basically, it is polypropylene gardening cloth that is cut and sewn or hot-glued to form a box or bowl... filled with potting soil that contains coconut husks, peat moss, or hay which allows the wicking of water through the bag.
The versions I'm seeing are larger than my idea, which is a small grow bag that can set in a small dish of shallow water (or for a quantity of bags, a tub of water) which allows the air to circulate around the bag, pruning the roots so they don't form root balls. Plants draw water as they need it, I take it. (Bonsai trims both roots and branches to keep them small... which I want to experiment with to see how something will fruit.)
I have seen potatoes grown solely in a bale of hay, so my idea is to try a larger bag that contains a lot of hay in the mix, to reduce the weight. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc of the bush variety can be pruned so that they don't become unwieldy to pack back into the van. I might possibly have a couple yards of fencing to wrap around them at camp to support them in wind. I'd only have one of each kind, and smaller salad garden bags.
The general idea is... when it is time to leave a spot, I give the bags a day without any water to reduce the water weight... pack them tightly for the next trip (they will survive a day or two) -- and unpack, allow them to air, and water them when they are out in the sun again. It may look like a garden but it is food... fresh food that does not need refrigeration. They would be in the sun during the day, and on my front seats at night... away from patrolling animals.
I forgot the other part of my idea -- the olla pot -- which is an ancient watering technique that reduces the evaporation of water, but allows the plant to draw water as it needs it. The roots actually adhere to the pot in the ground and suck water from the pot. There are various ways of monitoring the level of water in the pot, by a stick attached to a piece of styrofoam in the pot that will sink when the water level is down.
a guy making the pots
You don't need two clay pots, only a pot and its clay saucer, especially if the grow bag is not very large. Large clay pots would work best for an in-ground garden, where you would plant around the pot. The clay pots you need are those fired at low heat, and they will be cheaper. If it has been fired at high heat, it will not seep water.
Both the olla pots and the "wicking" technique are ways of preserving the water by preventing evaporation. The plants only draw the water as they need it, and it is not left to evaporate. Watering plants from the top does not provide the water properly, and you can over-water or under-water.
a mobile garden
how to make with the gardening cloth
basically, it is polypropylene gardening cloth that is cut and sewn or hot-glued to form a box or bowl... filled with potting soil that contains coconut husks, peat moss, or hay which allows the wicking of water through the bag.
The versions I'm seeing are larger than my idea, which is a small grow bag that can set in a small dish of shallow water (or for a quantity of bags, a tub of water) which allows the air to circulate around the bag, pruning the roots so they don't form root balls. Plants draw water as they need it, I take it. (Bonsai trims both roots and branches to keep them small... which I want to experiment with to see how something will fruit.)
I have seen potatoes grown solely in a bale of hay, so my idea is to try a larger bag that contains a lot of hay in the mix, to reduce the weight. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc of the bush variety can be pruned so that they don't become unwieldy to pack back into the van. I might possibly have a couple yards of fencing to wrap around them at camp to support them in wind. I'd only have one of each kind, and smaller salad garden bags.
The general idea is... when it is time to leave a spot, I give the bags a day without any water to reduce the water weight... pack them tightly for the next trip (they will survive a day or two) -- and unpack, allow them to air, and water them when they are out in the sun again. It may look like a garden but it is food... fresh food that does not need refrigeration. They would be in the sun during the day, and on my front seats at night... away from patrolling animals.
I forgot the other part of my idea -- the olla pot -- which is an ancient watering technique that reduces the evaporation of water, but allows the plant to draw water as it needs it. The roots actually adhere to the pot in the ground and suck water from the pot. There are various ways of monitoring the level of water in the pot, by a stick attached to a piece of styrofoam in the pot that will sink when the water level is down.
a guy making the pots
You don't need two clay pots, only a pot and its clay saucer, especially if the grow bag is not very large. Large clay pots would work best for an in-ground garden, where you would plant around the pot. The clay pots you need are those fired at low heat, and they will be cheaper. If it has been fired at high heat, it will not seep water.
Both the olla pots and the "wicking" technique are ways of preserving the water by preventing evaporation. The plants only draw the water as they need it, and it is not left to evaporate. Watering plants from the top does not provide the water properly, and you can over-water or under-water.
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