Session # X
Found Container Gardening
Date:
Time: 1.5 hours
Location:
Facilitator:
Overview: In order to encourage gardening where space and water are an issue, this session seeks to show volunteers methods for small-scale gardening using recycled containers that are readily available in their communities.
Materials: Tires, Black Sheet Plastic, Plastic Containers (Water Bottles, Oil Cans, Old Buckets, etc.), Rice Sacks, Concrete Blocks, Scissors or knife, dirt, gravel, manure, peanut shells, plant seedlings, mulching materials (leaves, grass, old fabric, etc.), handouts.
Objectives: Agriculture PCTs will select containers for gardening, prepare them for use, choose appropriate species for the container, and then put the technologies to work while employing water saving technologies.
Activities:
1) Why do container gardening?(10min)
PCTs will brainstorm as to the benefits and drawbacks of gardening in containers and other unconventional vessels.
2) Preparing the containers(30min)
PCTs will cut the tires and place plastic in the bottom, cut longitudinally the plastic containers, and then wash out any oil or other contaminant. At 2 cm from the bottom of plastic containers, PCTs will punch a finger-sized hole for drainage. For the tires, this hole must be placed into the plastic liner at the same height. Rice sacks can be cut at multiple locations to accommodate seedlings, and a PVC pipe placed with holes punched at every 5 cm on each side and capped at the end.
3) Prepare the substratum(15 min)
PCTs will collect dirt, manure, gravel, peanut shells, mix them together, and fill the containers with the mixed substratum.
4) Transplant into the containers(10 min)
Keeping in mind the recommendations for spacing of each crop, PCTs will select the appropriate type of container and planting density needed for each species.
5) Mulching the containers(10 min)
Using one of the materials available, PCTs will apply a layer of mulch as a water-saving technique. When using grass, leaves, wood chips, the thickness of the mulch should be 2 cm (such that the underlying soil is not visible).
6) Watering(10 min)
Roughly 2.5 L of water are needed per square meter per day, but when mulch is used, this watering can be done every other day. Containers can also be used for watering when a gentle flow of water is necessary, as in nurseries or newly-transplanted seedlings. Punching holes into a 1.5 L water bottle turns it into a functional watering can.
Evaluation:(5 min)