Facing the Shift | Just another WordPress site My plastic bottle greenhouse First off I bought the "plastic fantastic" booklet from Earthship Fyfe (see link below). I then set about collecting the parts together, namely : Fenceposts, reasonably thick wire, and of course empty 2 litre plastic bottles. For this I turned to Freegle, and after 6 months I had a garage full of bin liners of plastic bottles, some fence posts, and I bought some garden wire from ebay and Wilkos. Whilst I was still collecting bottles I started to process what I had, which involved taking the labels off the bottles, cutting off the bottoms and stacking them together. I stacked most them in 3's initially as they then fitted back into the bin liners nicely, but some went on bamboo canes in my garden to see how they would fare over the winter. The actual construction started once the really cold weather stopped and I was happy to be working outside.
Gardening Tips & Ideas Spider mites are among one of the most frustrating plant pests. Most people try to kill them with insecticides, which do nothing to them. Spider mites are mites and must be treated with special chemicals to treat mites. They are related to spiders and ticks, not insects. Before discussing specific control techniques, it is important to understand the spider mite’s life cycle and habits. Spider mites are 1/20th of an inch big. Adults mites are like spiders and have eight legs. Spider mites reproduce like rabbits in hot weather and are worse between June and September. When the plants they are on begin to die as a result of the spider mite infestation, the females spin a silk filament and catch wind currents to a new plant, just as baby spiders do. Mites are sucking creatures and cause their damage by sucking the juices from the leaves of plants. Spider mites may be treated by releasing predatory mites onto your plants to eat the spider mites. Using pesticides on mites often fails.
Top Ten Most Nutritious Vegetables and How to Grow Them in Your Garden A perfectly ripe, juicy tomato, still warm from the sun. Sweet carrots, pulled from the garden minutes (or even seconds!) before they're eaten. Broccoli is high in calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as vitamins A, B6, and C. How to grow broccoliGrow broccoli in containers: One broccoli plant per pot, pots should be 12 to 16 inches deep.What to watch out for: Cabbage worm. 2. There is nothing like peas grown right in your own garden — the tender sweetness of a snap pea just plucked from the vine is unlike anything you can buy in at a store. How to grow peasGrow peas in containers: Sow peas approximately 2 inches apart in a pot that is at least 10 inches deep. 3. While snap beans (green beans/wax beans) are a great addition to any garden, it's the beans we grow as dried beans that are real nutritional powerhouses. How to grow beansGrow beans in containers: Bush beans are your best option for growing in containers. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. OK, I cheated here.
Report exposes fracking's effects on animals A new report has found dozens of cases of illness, death and reproductive issues in cows, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and other wildlife, and humans. It says these conditions could be the result of exposure to gas drilling operations. Hydraulic fracturing, popularly called hydrofracking, is a process for extracting natural gas from shale using chemicals and water. The paper's authors, Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, and veterinarian Michelle Bamberger, DVM '85, interviewed animal owners in six states -- Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas -- and cited 24 cases where animals were potentially affected by gas drilling. "We have a number of case studies -- they don't tell us about the prevalence of problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, but they do tell us how things can happen," said Oswald. Some of the case studies include:
Make Your Own Plastic Bottle Greenhouse - Making Your Own Author: Lucy Debenham BA (hons) - Updated: 30 November 2012| Comment So why on earth would you want to make your own greenhouse out of plastic bottles? Well, we all know that the British weather can be less than reliable. There's also the issue of the environmental cost of manufacturing and producing a greenhouse kit. So the perfect frugal solution is making your own plastic bottle greenhouse. Children can be involved in the collection of bottles, and will then be able to see their materials put into 'action' to create something entirely new. Making Your Own Plastic Bottle Greenhouse First Step - Collecting Materials What You'll Need: Around 1500 plastic bottles. Once you've collected all the bottles, they'll need washing in warm soapy water to remove the labels (vital for letting as much light into the greenhouse as possible). It may take a while to collect enough bottles to make the greenhouse. Next Step - Making the Frame Corners Sides Using the 2"x2" timber, create two side panels. Roof
recycled upside down planters well it’s the middle of april, and i must have springtime on the brain, because all i want to do is look at plants all day. i have had my eye on the sky planters by boskke since christmas time; something about upside down plants really strikes me as beautiful and intriguing. but i am low on funds, so i decided to try making my own with leftover containers from the various food items that make their way through my kitchen. surprisingly, there are a lot of container options for these nifty planters! the best are tins cans with plastic lids (items that usually come in these include coffee, instant cocoa mix, fiber drink mix, basically anything powdered or loose…yum!) CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! cost: soil/plants: $10 duct tape: $5 containers: free, on hand time: 2-3 hours instructions: for can planter: 1. peel labels off the can, then wash and dry the can thoroughly. 2. use a can opener to remove the bottom of the can. for the bottle planter: 1. clean, wash, and dry the bottle.
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. It is estimated that by 2030 AD nearly 50% of the world’s population may live in urban areas. 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. A few decades ago ECHO (Education Concerns for Hunger Organization) in Fort Myers, Florida, has introduced container garden techniques for impoverished counties like Haiti. There are several reasons why urban gardens using containers are effective: Wading pools should be set on a level ground.
New Scientific Data Forces Government to Reverse Its Stance on Fluoride in the Water Supply Why are some states simply ignoring the latest studies, and passing new laws that will hurt your teeth and harm your health? Action Alert! Water fluoridation was introduced to the United States in the 1940s as a way to use waste product from the manufacture of aluminum, a waste product that was expensive to dispose of and which was harming cattle and farmland. Since then, the federal government has taken the stance that the fluoridation of drinking water, which conveniently disposed of the waste, is vitally important to help prevent tooth decay; the CDC called it one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century. The data indicates that dental fluorosis—damage to the teeth from fluoride, ranging from lacy white markings or spots on the enamel to staining and pitting of the tooth surface—happens when fluoride levels are too high. Moreover, fluoride can combine with other chemicals in the water to make them even more harmful.
Recycled plastic bottle sheds If you're really keen to go down the green shed route, here's an ambitious project for you - build it out of recycled plastic bottles. Above is an example belonging to Crafty People's Sister C at the historic St Anns Allotments. Built around a timber frame, the bottles were collected from friends and family before being cut to size (there's a good explanation of how that's done on her site). Alternatively, try doing one without any timber at all like Jane Burt's installation below. Her ‘Green Green House’ was made with more than 1,000 recycled plastic bottles collected from friends and the local recycling centre. The roof is self-supporting and the bottle bases were sewn together to make a stained glass window over the front door plus bead curtain for the entrance. "The green house has a wonderful fluidity and luminosity whilst creating a harmonious link to its natural surroundings.