Today in the garden, we have a fun project. It is really easy and we are going to be growing
strawberries and planting in a sustainable container.
You ready? Yes!
Okay. First, let us lay out a newspaper, and then
I am going to show you everything you need. First, it would be really cool if you can
find this at a resale shop like I did. It is an old light holder that would go in
a bathroom. Okay.
And I also found three old lamp shades. So that is the next ingredient.
Then we have base paint, and top coat paint. A shovel, for when we plant, and my Organic
Mechanics Soil. And last, but not least, a brush and the strawberries.
So that is all you need to put together our whole project, and it cost me all of, you
know because I am using old stuff, six bucks. What a deal!
Well, we are going to cut off the back of this and then we are going to show you how
to transform it into a pot. Next, what we need to do is cut off all the
wire on the bottom of this light fixture. So, we are cutting off the wire.
There you go. And at the bottom of a light fixture, is a
ridge that is supportive. This ridge is really going to be the base
and hold the entire container together. The next step is, we have to paint it.
So we want to paint it with a base coat first. And shake this sucker up.
Okay. And then we start painting.
So the next step is, covering the whole thing with the base coat.
And then of course letting that dry. You do not have to be fancy here, because
when it is on the bottom, it does not make a difference, no one is going to see it and
it will be covered by a brighter color of paint later on.
And I am even going to do the centers of the two that will be uncovered.
Since we will just paint over it. We are ready for the next step!
Which is to do the top coat. What do you think?
Yup. Want to do it for me?
Yes. Alright.
She is going to hop in and do the top coat. And while she is starting the top coat, I
want to tell you about the paint. Use low or no VOC paint.
It is really important for the environment and it does not have any fumes that come off
of it. So it is much much better to use and certainly
much safer outdoors in your garden. Now the next step is something special.
We are going to add the tops, which are really lamp shades.
And I got them at a resale shop for one dollar. You can not beat the price.
Now, ta-da! Everything is reused.
We did not get anything brand new, except my Corona trowel.
Ok, we got that new. So what I am going to have you do is take
the soil. We have Organic Mechanic Soil that we are
using, because it is all natural, it is organic, there is no chemicals added.
And we are going to put them in the different containers.
And why I chose Organic Mechanic Soil is because there is worm castings in the soil, which
is very good. The tribute strawberries are sold from Stark
Bros. Okay, now here is the thing, this does not
look like a strawberry. But it is.
It is really cute. Hello!
It is bare-roots. There is no soil on it.
And what we are going to do is plant the strawberries in the soil, in these recycled canisters and
we are going to grow us some strawberries. One of the good things about these containers
is we are not locking them on the bottom. We are just going to set them on a flat surface.
So there is a little drainage. It is not sealed.
And I prefer it that way, so the strawberries have plenty of drainage.
We spread the roots all out, dig a little hole, just like this, and cover it with soil.
Now, some strawberries take longer than one year to actually produce strawberries.
So this is an experiment, so we are going to see.
Is this going to produce a strawberry this season?
Or is it not? Ta-da!
Recycled, sustainable strawberry planters by me and Katie.