Once , after a successful cookout , I was pouring the dregs from glasses of beer and wine down the kitchen drain . From a stint in local government I knew that the nutrients in these dregs would wind up in someone ’s drinking water reservoir and could lead to algae blooms and fish kill .
Why was I pouring utterly honorable nutrients down the drain ? Why not pour them in a pitcher , leave behind them out for a day or two so the intoxicant could vaporise , then adulterate with H2O and water my container garden plants with this free , liquid flora plant food ? That ’s what chance now at our house with any liquids that used to go down the drain such as remnant coffee bean or pasta water . The amount of nutrient may be less than found in a commercial limpid fertilizer , but it ’s free . And it does n’t take up a drinking body of water reservoir or infected tank .
Creating commercial-grade limpid fertilizer for the garden requiresusing fossil fuel . And that put more carbondioxide into the air , which put up to climate disruption : hot summers , long droughts , harsh winters , etc . The weather is already a challenging enough element of garden without us sway the climatological boat .
But most important , my container plants seem to like these kitchen dregs . Just be sure to let the inebriant vaporise . You do n’t want any potty plants make for mayhem in the house !
Potting Media
When it ’s metre to repot plant life , we could grease one’s palms a bag of potting spiritualist . But that intend that someone had to mine ancient peat moss . Those peat bogs are unchanging carbon sinks . So when we stick it in pots , it finally breaks down and adds more C dioxide to the ambiance which impart to climate disruption .
Some folks like to debate this issue , but eventhe U.S. war machine has been focused on address clime disruptionfor almost a decennium . And who want to be on the wrong side of the U.S. military machine ? I do n’t .
Besides there ’s a better backyard source for potting media : compost . It absorbs urine better thanpeat moss , it has elbow room more nutrient thanpeat moss , and if you ’re any kind of gardener , youprobably have some in the backyard . So there ’s no need to function to the garden - supply shop .
you could make compost go a short further by diluting it 10 percentage with sandy territory that you may have on your property . And you may dilute it another 10 percent with tear up Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree leaves . Save up your spent coffee grounds and unify them in for another 10 percent .
If you have any wood ash from your fireplace orwoodstove , palpate barren to add any chunks of natural oxford grey up to about 5 pct of your compost / pot spiritualist . The hollow spaces in your woodstove charcoal create home for beneficial microbes . So , the more materials there are , the merrier .
A wider range of nutrient will be available for your garden works . And those plant life are mostly made of body of water and , uh , atomic number 6 dioxide . Each plant is a carbon - sink for as long as it lives . you’re able to leave the peat moss in their bogs to remain as permanent atomic number 6 sinks . And grow more flora that link up up carbon copy dioxide .
Repurposed Garden Containers
I could have had my old pair of leather work the boot sole , but they did n’t fit me that well any longer . confuse them out just did n’t seem right either . So I filled them up with my backyard compost potting media , found succulents in them and parked them by the front steps . A duo of kid ’s cowpuncher boots with holes in the sol that had been sitting on a neighbor ’s curb for over a week got the same treatment and earned a place in the garden .
A banged up cooking pot that my wife wanted to get rid of became a home for sedums . The cooking pot did n’t have a drain yap , but sedums are the variety of plant life that can come through drouth as well as drowning .
So they ’re glad regardless of how much pelting they get .
I also reuse a few big , black , plastic , nursery pots . Landscapers sometimes have these potsleft over from projects . I practice 20 - gallon pots to growdelicious , eatable plants that I do n’t want to seespread in my garden . I have handsome mass of Japaneseknotweed , native basis fruitcake and Jerusalem artichoke .
To keep their roots from err throughthe drain holes and colonise the soil , Iline the interior of the pots with landscape painting textile . The pots can still drain out excess water system , but the incursive base remain contained in the potbelly . And these free pots are plenty swelled enough to let me produce harvestable quantities of these otherwise invasive flora .
We also use detached burlap sacks from our local coffee roaster for our windowpane baskets . They were designed to be lined with expensive , imported coir , a cloth from coconut shells . But coir live only a couple eld and then has to be substitute , using money that I would rather spend on a nice dinner party out with my wife .
But the gunny bag that coffee berry noggin come in end up in the landfill if gardener do n’t use them . So once a year , I swing by during working hours ( maybe your local roaster will identify them where gardeners can snag them on weekend and after work ) and plunk up a few dozen travelling bag .
My wife cuts the bags to make a duple stratum that fit inside the window basketful . She then tops it up with our compost / potting media and flora bright colored annuals that we can see from inside the mansion . These loose bags last just as long as the expensive coconut meat coir .
And sometimes we talk about that over dinner at a restaurant .
Container Mulches
Ifmulchis a good thought for garden beds , why is n’t it more vulgar for pots ? Is there a law against it ? Looking at commercial pots and planter , one would think so .
The amount of time I spend watering pots decease down by more than half when I made a habit of mulch pots . For big pots like my dwarf citrus trees , I ’ve been using Mexican beach pebble , rounded river crushed rock , florist moss , acorn loving cup , Spanish moss and vino corks .
Cork Screws Make Mulchfor the Container Garden
As you ’re popping corks from wine bottle , do n’t thrust them by . They ’re organic and can be repurposed . Corks are actually a renewable resource . Farmers reap a layer of bark from cork oaks in Portugal and Spain about every 9 to 10 year . The trees regrow their barque so granger can reap from each tree many metre over its life . And the acorns from the oak tree feed free - array pigs that make some of the world - famous ham actor of the Iberian Peninsula .
So the move toward plastic corks could cave one of the most sustainable agricultural systems on the planet .
Just tossing corks into a raft wo n’t ferment very well . It depend like you ’re in the house of someone who drinks right smart too much . Plus , the corks drift around when you irrigate them .
good practice is to make trusted there ’s way for the bobber . Is there an inch or two of clearance between the potting soil surface and the top of the pot ? Then slip a piece of Ellen Price Wood about an inch thick under the side of the sess face you . commence standing the corks up at the back of the pot — so they do n’t come over — and work your way of life to the front .
The corks should be stick out shoulder - to - berm like so many soldiers .
Once the jackpot is completely covered , start squeezing corks into any gaps until it wo n’t hold up any more . When all the corks are snug you wo n’t have to vex about them floating away when you water the peck . If you ’re not a full-grown juicer , the next meter you ’re at a eatery — expend the money you saved by freecycling for your container plant — ask the bartender to economize cork for you .
