We bought 8 metal gutters attached them to our fence, drilled holes every few inches in the bottom so they would drain well, and added Miracle Grow, and planted 100 strawberry plants in (4) 10 foot long metal gutters.
I ordered 50 Honeyoe June bearing Strawberries and 50 Eversweet Strawberries.
I planted the Honeyoye on March 17, they are looking really healthy as of today.
My EverSweet I planted today.
I put them on the fence that gets sunlight most of the day.
I also planted some dwarf carrots and spinach, I will get the radishes, green onions, and some herbs planted this week.
If this works I have really doubled my gardening space.
The cost of this project - the gutters were about $6 a piece, and you need the end pieces, I think they were about a $1.20 each, but it was the brackets that were really pricey about $12 for 4. I put 5 brackets on each gutter this may have been a bit over kill but the weekend we planted the first group of strawberries we had a snow storm and I had about 6 inches of snow sitting on top of my gutter, and they didn't budge. I also bought (2) 50 pound bags of Miracle Grow.
This weekend I am hoping to get my other garden rota-tilled. Hopefully all this work will amount to lots of veggies and fruit this summer.
Mom,
ReplyDeletewe need to work on how you are posting your pictures because they are not showing up
Chase
How did the berries turn out? This looks like such a great idea!
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteWe did have berries! Unfortunately we could not keep them watered enough in the heat of the Utah summer. So we lost them. However, after speaking with some experts we found out that we should have not just used 'bags of Miracle Grow' we needed to add vermiculite and some clay to the soil as well to hold in moisture longer. We will try again and I will blog to let you know.
would be interested to see if the survived the winter
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteI will be trying again with the strawberries, we learned the hard way that we needed to add some other ingredients to our soil to help with keeping in the moisture. We are trying again this year. Stay tuned :)
Put diapers in the bottom of the gutters to retain moisture.
ReplyDeletediapers have chemicals in them that can leach. Those little gel dots that form after a heavy wetters 12 hour nights? Those are nasty chemicals. I doubt you want your food growing from that.
DeleteBurlap bags would work too.
You shouldn't use diapers....they suck up the moisture.
DeleteI would think cloth diapers would work well, they are all cotton, so would break down over time, and keep the soil moist!
DeleteDiapers is such a great idea, I think I will try that. This idea is awesome and a great space saver. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI bet plastic gutters would be better rather than metal in the heat.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is such a brilliant idea. I particularly love the idea of recycling and repurposing old gutters especially that we are currently running out of rainforests and greens in this planet, and not to mention problems with space. I think this is a great solution to remedy those issues and helping our case towards a greener planet.
ReplyDeleteTom Koval
did you ever notice that the brackets for the gutters are supposed to go under the gutter on the outside and then the top support goes on the inside???? great idea though
ReplyDeleteI've been doing this successfully with lettuce for 3 years. This year I'm trying container radishes. I would think strawberries would be too confined. Nice, neat cheap way of gardening. And no bending!
ReplyDeleteYou got a really useful blog I have been here reading for about half an hour. I am a newbie and your post is valuable for me.
ReplyDeleteGutter Installation Seattle
instead of diapers, put old newspapers in the bottom of your pots to retain moisture. They still allow the water to drain (especially is you shred it first), but they keep the potting soil in the tub. And, newpapers are biodegradable.
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Great idea for us older folks...also for keeping things out of reach from kids and pets!!
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This article has great reference value, thank you very much for sharing, I would like to reproduced your article, so that more people would see it.
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Really nice! My Bf use rain gutter to grow lots of kind of veggies, herbs and strawberries!! Go check is account on instagram/fb- THE PLANT CHARMER-.He could tell u how to make them produce like crazy!! We do it att home and it does really work well!
ReplyDeletewhat about putting in a leak pipe to water the plants? (a hosepipe you lay at the bottom of the guttering before you plant the plants, which has v small holes made in it every so often - up to you how often - and then you connect one end to the water supply and the water leaks out of the hosepipe). You could even set it up on a timer to do it when you're not there.
ReplyDeleteYou could water with a rain barrel too, using a duel facet attached to drip hose for the double layer "gutter" garden;)
ReplyDeleteGutter and water play encourages creativity and exploration, much like the blade runner 2049 trench coat which combines functionality with style. Just as the coat protects its wearer in the futuristic world of the film, water play provides a hands-on way to engage with nature and develop practical skills.
ReplyDelete