http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3INoLKg555w

THE ADVANTAGES OF USING SELF-WATERING GARDEN CONTAINERS

1. The supreme advantage of using self-watering garden containers as opposed to using a watering can is that during hot weather, different vegetables need drastically different amounts of water and self-watering garden containers allow the plants growing in them the choice to absorb as much water as they want to. For example, I found that during hot weather, tomato plants consume about 5 liters of water every 2 days whereas strawberry plants only consume a fraction of that. This means that if you watered your tomato plants with a watering can, it is extremely likely that you will not give them enough water despite the top soil appearing to be moist.

2. Another advantage of using self-watering containers is that if you forget to water your plants for a couple of days or even a week, as I indeed did with my self- watering garden containers on more than one occasion, the vegetable plants will not wilt. Why? The reason is because at the bottom of the garden container a thick layer of mud forms which has water in it. If the roots sense that there is no water, they will grow deeper to reach this muddy layer.

STORAGE BOXES AND PLANTERS THAT I BOUGHT FROM WILKINSONS

1

In the above photo, you can see 2 white Wham Storage Boxes and 5 Black Stewart Smithy Tubs. I first used 5 litre plastic containers as water storage containers but I later found that cutting the blue plastic containers (that you can see in photo 1), in half made better water storage containers for they held more water and were not squashed by the weight of wet soil.

I found that the dimensions of large plastic storage boxes and large planters that were listed on the Wilkinsons Plus website were incorrect. Always double check the dimensions at the Wilkinsons store for the values shown on their website are incorrect as you can see from the examples below.

Example 1. Wham Storage Box and Lid 80ltr for £8.77. It comes in a cheerful red colour, which looks like the container that the American lady used in the youtube video.

The Wilkinsons website listed the following dimensions for this container: Depth:  40cm    Height:  42cm    Width:  59.5cm  but this is wrong data.

My own measurement was:  29 cms deep x 40 cms high x 48 cms wide. This makes the volume = 55.68 liters and not 80 liters.

Surface Area of soil at the top is a bit over 1392 squared cms due to the sides slanting outwards.

Example 2. Stewart Smithy Tub Black 50cm  £9.78

Gunmetal smithy tub. Colour: Black Colour: Black Type: Round.

The Wilkionsons website listed the following dimensions for this container: Diameter = 50 cms. Height: 39cm but this is wrong data.

My own measurement at the store was:  Diameter = 48.5 cms and Height  = 37 cms and the bottom is roughly the same diameter as the top.

Volume of Black Smithy tub = 68.3 liters which means it has 12.6 liters MORE than the storage box above PLUS the plastic is half a centimeter thick which is thicker than that of the storage box. The Smithy tub is designed for outdoor use unlike the storage box, does not have any holes already drilled in it which means you can use it as a self-watering container. Surface Area of soil at the top is 1847 squared cms which means that you can plant more than you could in the Wham storage box.

For this reason the majority of my 19 containers are Stewart Smith Tubs in black colour. I am also glad to say that after having snowed for many weeks, none of the containers have shown any cracks.

HOW I CONNECTED WATER STORAGE CONTAINERS INSIDE THE GARDEN CONTAINERS TO THE SURFACE

2                                                                    3

The blue plastic containers in Photo 1 are cut in half using a sharp saw. A 34 mm diameter hole is made using a soldering iron and a black tube is placed in the hole as shown in Photo 2. Small 3 mm diameter holes are made at the bottom edge of the cut container using the soldering iron as well as shown in Photo 3. The completed product is seen in Photo 2. It is placed at the bottom of an empty garden container ensuring the black tube is near the perimeter of the garden container. The garden container is then filled up with soil compost mix. I cover the black tube opening with duck tape so that soil will not end up going inside the water storage container. It is necessary to connect these to the surface with some kind of tube so that you can place a funnel in the tube and pour liters of water at a time as seen in Photo 1.

I found that using just one 5 liter container for water storage in the Wilkos Smithy tub was too small for during hot weather, the plants needed watering every other day except the strawberries. I found that the best size water storage containers to use with the Wilkos Smithy tubs were plastic containers of 7.5 liter capacity. I actually used a sharp saw to cut 15 liter plastic containers in half. I used a soldering iron to cut a 34 mm diameter hole in the water storage container at the top and to make tiny holes about 5 cms apart all along the bottom of the water storage container.

I also found that using a 34 mm diameter plumbers’ plastic tube was much better than using the flimsy pop bottles that the American lady used, in order to connect the water storage container to the surface.

DRAINAGE HOLES THAT NEED TO BE DRILLED ON THE SIDE OF THE GARDEN CONTAINER

4

In the above Photo 4, the drainage hole can be seen by the toothpick I inserted in the hole, in order to make it just visible in the photo.

The drainage hole in a self-watering garden container cannot be placed at the bottom as with ordinary garden containers but at the side of the container. The reason is that water needs to flood the bottom for it to go upwards to the top by capillary action. Placing a drainage hole at the side of the container ensures that the top soil does not get flooded thereby killing the plants.

So far I have found that the drainage hole for any tub can be calculated as follows:

Measure the full height of the tub in centimeters. Divide by 2. This will give the location of the drainage hole from the bottom of the container. This has given me fairly good results so far for both rectangular and round containers and even smaller containers which I have used for growing basil indoors. e.g. The drainage hole for the Black smithy tub is drilled at 18.5 cms from the inside bottom. I used a power drill to drill the drainage hole. Only use a soldering iron if there is no wet soil in the container, otherwise use a power drill.

SOIL MIX THAT I USED

I mixed equal volumes of New Horizon peat free best buy compost and soil with an ordinary spade on my concrete patio. My tips are:

- Do not use sandy soil. It cannot retain minerals and water at the upper layers of the soil as well. You will know the soil you have is sandy because it will easily be dispersed by wind and will pour like powder when you tip a cup of it from a height. If you have sandy soil, dig up clay with a hammer and chisel, then use hammer and spade to pulverize it and then add it to the sandy soil. Sprinkle with water to allow the clay to combine with the soil. Add enough to make it lose that powdery texture. You then add the compost.

- Be sure to fill up the garden container completely with soil. You will find that when the soil becomes saturated with water, the soil level drops by about 3 cms.

- Be sure to check out what the best buy garden container compost to buy is at the Which Online website for it will make a great difference. You will also be able to get excellent gardening information there. Their website is  http://www.which.co.uk/

THE LESSONS THAT I LEARNT

After you fill the gardening container completely with soil, it is a very good idea to completely drench the top of the soil with water since this will make it easier for all the soil to be saturated with water. You can then fill the water storage container with water and watch for water coming out of the drainage hole so that if it does, you stop adding water to the water container. It requires about 3 days for the water to rise up by capillary action to the top soil. So long as the soil is crumbly and moist at the surface which it usually is, you can sow the seeds or transplant seedlings in the next few days. The soil should NOT feel muddy to the touch but moist and crumbly when sowing seeds or planting seedlings. My tips are:

- Do not give more than 2 storage containerfuls of water for the large tubs for the very first watering otherwise this could make the soil soggy. If using small containers, do not give more than 1 storage containerful for the very first watering. If the soil is not so moist the next day or the next few days, be very careful not to pour in too much water because once the top soil becomes water logged, seeds won’t be able to grow for lack of air and even established plants won’t be able to grow for lack of air where their roots are. If the soil is soggy, you will have to dig out the top 15 cms of soil and replace it with dry soil in order to rectify the situation.

- Do not plant seeds or transplant seedlings UNTIL you have watered down the soil in the container. This is important just in case the soil in a new container becomes water logged by too much water being poured in. Water logged means that the soil becomes like sticky mud with no air inside it. This will kill sprouting seeds and adult plants for it will deny oxygen to the seeds or roots of the plants and also bring about rotting diseases. It requires about 3 days for the water to rise up by capillary action to the top soil.

- Bear in mind that when you sow seeds in containers you will have to use a watering can to pour water on the actual soil where the seeds are germinating, twice a day i.e. once in the morning and once in the evening, until they grow into a good sized seedling. This is because the water from the storage container will not be adequate to keep the seeds moist enough, especially during the summer. When I first sowed seeds in my garden containers, I made the mistake of pouring in too much water into the storage container in an attempt to keep the top soil wet enough for the seeds. But this resulted in the top soil becoming  water logged so that there was no air in the top soil for the seeds to breathe. I found that for about a month after sowing seeds or transplanting seedlings, it was necessary to use a watering can to water the sowed seeds or seedlings until they had developed a good root system.

- Do not place the water storage containers horizontally i.e. on their longer side flat on the bottom because I found that the weight of the wet soil above them flattens them. The result is that they will not be able to hold as much water as they could. For example, when I first used a 5 liter container for water storage, I placed it horizontally at the bottom. I subsequently found that it would only take about 2 liters of water before water started to overflow from the connecting tube. However, I found that I was able to pour 5 liters of water in the tubs that had the 5 liter containers placed vertically without water pouring out of the tube at the surface.

- Do not place the water storage container pipe at the center of the container but always at the edge of the container. Otherwise you will damage the growing plants when you place a funnel inside the connecting tube at the center, every time you need to fill the water storage container.

In the first few weeks of planting, I performed the soil test, to see when to water them with a watering can or even fill the water storage container with water. A soil test is performed by placing some top soil between your fingers and sensing how moist it is. If it feels dry you water the plant otherwise you do not. But once the vegetable plants became established in the container, I never bothered perform a soil test. Instead I stuck a meter long dry dowel inside the connecting tube until it touched the bottom as seen in Photo 5. When I removed it, it left a wet patch on the dowel and this enabled me to check when the water storage container was empty. When nearly empty I would fill it with water until water flowed out of the connecting tube.

5

I successfully grew lots of Moneymaker tomatoes, green bell peppers, lettuces, rocket, basil, strawberries. And this was my very first attempt at gardening.

The only mystery problem that I experienced was that the leaves of several tomato plants became yellow. At first I thought this was due to the fact that I planted 3 tomato plants instead of 2 per Wilkos smith tub. My information at the moment indicates that it was LACK OF TRACE MINERALS that led to this and not due to lack of fertilizer as I originally thought. I now pour dried seaweed powder into the water storage container and this should supply all required trace minerals. But someone told me you must not overdose the plant with too much seaweed powder. This year I have also been using 1 part by volume human urine diluted with 9 parts by volume of water as organic fertilizer with good results. I have found that using human urine is so much easier than making organic fertilizer by setting up a wormery because it saves having to pay considerable attention even after you establish the wormery.

I also suspect that one other reason for tomato leaves turning yellow was due to my not filling the water storage container every day or every other day. Sometimes I forgot. I found to my astonishment that 3 tomato plants in a large Wilko Smithy tub with a 5 liter water storage container drank 5 liters of water every day approximately. If I forgot to fill up the water storage tank every other day, their leaves would turn yellow or very light green. On the other hand, I found that 3 tomato plants in tubs with a 7.5 liter water storage container did not have their leaves turn yellow because they had more water available to them. However, this may only be only part of the reason why some tomato leaves turned yellow. It is likely that other reasons like lack of trace minerals and the right soil pH may have contributed as well.

WHAT I LIKED MOST ABOUT GROWING MY OWN VEGETABLES

Visualize waking up on a sunny Summer’s morning and stepping out in your garden and cutting a few Romaine lettuce leaves and rocket leaves and a few tomatoes which you will have for breakfast. Well, that is what I did amost every day during the Summer. What amazed me most was the speed at which both the lettuce and the rocket leaves grew. Even though I was harvesting the leaves every day, they kept on growing. I knew that what I was eating was organic without any carcinogenic pesticides in it and that made me relish it even more. Last but not least, you cannot beat the taste of a salad made from freshly picked lettuce and rocket leaves and tomatoes.

]]> http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/2011/07/14/self-watering-garden-containers-makes-watering-plants-much-easier/feed/ 0 http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/2010/08/30/introduction-to-permaculture/ http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/2010/08/30/introduction-to-permaculture/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:43:27 +0000 admin http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/?p=692 Clare Davies Permaculture Designer, will be leading this exciting new course on behalf of the Nottingham WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) Area 6.

The course begins at BANCA on Thursday 23^rd September 2010 at 10am.  Make sure that you register your interest now by calling Caroline on 0115 985 8203.

We will be accepting enrolments from the beginning of August.

More information:
http://nottinghamwea.com/2010/06/30/introduction-to-permaculture/

More about Clare Davies:
http://nottinghamwea.com/meet-the-tutor/clare-davies/

The aim of the event was to create and hold a wonderful space where people could meet, learn, share information and have a really good time.

I will concentrate on the Transition element in this article. Relating the aims of the event to the Transition Principles the event focused on four of them in particular:

• Inclusion and Openness
• Enable Sharing and Networking
• Inner and Outer
• Positive Visioning

 The idea grew out of working out how to broaden the reach of Transition, so creating an attractive opportunity for people on the edges of Transition to engage with Transition, and also from those within transition to meet each other. In permaculture terms looking to ‘use edges and value the marginal’.

The basis of the event was a loose temporary team of self selecting groups delivering what they wanted to do which included a Transition Tales area where individuals and groups came to share their story; we also had a rolling programme of films.

 It was a great weekend with about 300 coming – Saturday was very buzzy and busy, Sunday calm and relaxed. It was really interesting to meet Transitioners and fellow travellers in the Transition Tales area – all local groups were represented (we think) plus some out-of-towners  – Keyworth, Bingham, Newark (and others we think too) and also further a-field; Waltham Forest, Leytonstone and Chepstow and we also had information sent in from Totnes, Clitheroe, Chester, North Howe and Hackney.

 It was really good to have conversations with those on the edges of Transition, learning of their perceptions and also with who felt excluded from Transition groups and so a great opportunity to talk and learn and understand; as well as those just wanting some like minds to share with - not forgetting those bouncing and beaming

There were some great and really positive conversations, including those on a deeper level. Some people felt a real need to have a safe place to share some negative experiences as well without censure, valuing ‘heart and soul’, again both within and outside Transition.

 These conversations could take place because people felt free to talk at their own pace, be heard and listened too. Having the chance to make and create the display (just like we did at the annual Transition Conference last May) was part of opening up the opportunity for the conversations to take place.

 Here are some comments from people who came to the weekend:
“An awesome space, put a smile on my face to share ideas, of a future without fears”

“Yurtastic!”

“We can grow!”

“Community, Unity, Inspiration, Celebration”

“Explorative, Exploration, Evolvement, Encouragement”

“Lovely Atmosphere! Awesome weekend Thank you!”

“It’s like an indoor festival, colourful, fun, informative, lively, sharing food and music… there has been time for me to listen and learn and also to express myself…the mix of people from all walks of life has been an eye opener…I want to be in this kind of gathering often…Space for Life – that’s a good name for it! Thank you”

 We had a great time! Nic has created a fantastic video which is posted up on YouTube which gives a flavour of the all aspects of the weekend, and further details of the event are on the Land Roots website: www.landroots.org – and yes we plan to do something similar at sometime in the future – ideas always welcome.YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwPrY02ShMY

 Iain, Sharon and Mike on behalf of the ‘Space For Life’ Temporary Event Team

 Ps Further info on the Transition concepts and principles are on the new website: www.transitionnetwork.org

Organised by East Midlands School for Social Entrepreneurs (EMSSE) in partnership with the Development Trusts Association (DTA) and bringing together some of the leading organisations and practitioners in their field, this event promises to be a day of action, not words – including workshops, plenty of practical support and stalls by transition town groups, social enterprises and groups involved in developing renewable energy, community transport, local food etc.

Visit www.smartse.org.uk/etransition to find out more and to download the event programme and booking form.

Thursday April 1^st 10am to 4pm Old Market Square

• PLANT SWAP – bring a plant and take a new one home!
• Gardening advice
• Hardy Plant Society stall
• demonstrations
• FREE activities
• Giveaways
• enter the garden competition
• MEET THE GRASS LION!

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/bloom

For more information please call 0115 915 2745

Download a Poster

Would you like to learn to speak in a way that helps people feel good about themselves while expressing what you need?

Non-Violent Communication Workshop

An effective way of dealing with conflict situations or anger

A language of the heart

An experiential weekend exploring the skills and principles of compassionate communication, through dialogue, reflection, group work and play.

Suitable for complete beginners and experienced practitioners.

Some of the topics we will cover:

•  The Heart of Compassionate Communication.
•  The basic model; observation, feelings, needs and requests.
•  The difference between the essence and the form.
•  The beauty behind NO!
•  Listening deeply – Empathy for ourselves and others
•  Neutrality – the heart of conflict resolution
•  Hearing criticism creatively
•  Speaking with honesty and kindness
• Expressing appreciation, gratitude and love

Jayaraja, a member of the Western Buddhist Order for 16 years, has been learning and sharing Non Violent Communication for 9 years and is trained in Gestalt psychotherapy and group work.

Venue:
Uplands Infants School, Melbourne Road, Leicester, LE2 0DR

Cost:
£30/£45/£60 unwaged/low waged/waged (normally £160!) contact us if costs could prevent you attending.

Bookings:
 contact Doug Golding: Tel: 0116 2103637, email: info@transitionleicester.org.uk

Poster
Non-Violent Communication flyer Transition Leicester

All of the workshops will be FREE and will last between 30 mins to an hour or two. They will be promoted before the date to give people the opportunity to book their place.

We want to find out what skills people would be interested in learning and which skills people have that they’d like to share…

Skills could range from basic DIY, graphic design, setting up a blog, pottery, learning a language, growing your own food, knitting, relaxation techniques, bike maintenance, DJing… you decide!

If there is something you would like to see on offer, or if you’d like to share a skill with other members of your community, then please come along to our open meeting at Café Sneinton (Sneinton Hermitage Community Centre, Sneinton Boulevard) on Saturday 27^th February at 1pm. (Consultation about the Sneinton Community Centres will also be taking place at the Sneinton Hermitage Community Centre on this date from 11-4pm, alongside Salsa classes, hop skip and jump play sessions and more!)

Or, get in touch…

Contact: Rachel on 0115 9112345/ 07909 942163 or

 e-mail: Rachel@renewaltrust.org.uk

 Many thanks, Rachel

Why a new website? 

In order for Transition nottingham to communicate more effectively we thought a snazy, sparkling briliant new website would be just the ticket. Nichola Musgrove the diamond of web design said “effective communication is essential for everyone to work together for Transition, and the internet is just one (but very quick and effective) way of enabling that”.

So there you have it
-enjoy (and get involved it’s YOUR website)

What’s on the website

Well, not a lot at the moment, and here’s where you come in, we need content. Any news or interesting articles, events you maybe running, comments and projects.

Submit events

The site has a new events system where by users can submit their events for inclusion on the site listing.
http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/events/submit-an-event/

Articles and news

Users can submit any relevant news or articles for inclusion on the site. Let people know what’s going on in your Transition group or your views on Transition issues.

Projects

There is a project section where each Transition or related project (it doesn’t have to be Transition). Each project included will have it’s own page with a desciption of the project and contact detaills.

Local groups

All of the local groups have their own page which users can post information and can act as a message board for that group for people to get in touch. Don’t forget the good old phone is still a good method of communication.

Resources

Coming soon…but will have links to other sites, documents, video and photos.

Members area

Once you register on the website and become a member you have accesss to more content on the website. This will build up over time to give access to more downloads and content especially for TN members.

Psst…

You can even send a private messages to other members.

How you can help

We need help with the new website to make it vibrant and information rich, with debate and comment. Can you help with:

• Reviewing news and articles. Ideally the articles should be written by local people.
• Search for relevant local news and articles.
• Write articles, blog, post etc.
• input events on to the website and search for relevant local events.

and anything else which you feel would be good to see on the website.

Many thanks for reading this email,
Transition Nottingham team,

Contact: Nichola Musgrove website support:
http://www.transitionnottingham.org.uk/contact-us/

This last week in the build up to Copenhagen there has been so much “it’s not us” flying about the media that it would be really easy to feel depressed, angry and despondent. Yes there is global warming but humans didn’t cause it with burning of fossil fuels and basically trashing the place like a load of teenagers. No we didn’t cause the greenhouse effect, rising sea levels, melting ice caps and that poor little drowning polar bear. We didn’t do it, it’s all Natural! It wasn’t me. There has been so much reinterpretation of the facts and figures; there was a mini ice age in medieval times followed by a period of warming. The same thing is happening now don’t you know; in the 1970’s the earth cooled and now there is a natural period of warming. Simple. There have been all sorts of reasoning being reasoned, one of my favourites is that we haven’t been keeping records that long so how can we build up a true picture of history of climatic shifts.

All this of course is the foundations for the main argument which is we don’t have to do anything. As global warming is a natural phenomena there is Nothing we can do about it. We are as helpless babes and Mother Nature is just having her time of the millennium. After feeling completely gobsmacked by this take on planetary problems, I started shouting at the numptys on the telly, (who it had to be said, had taken to shouting over the sound of incredulousness) and then after all this shouting, I did a little bit of thinking and what I thought was that this denial doesn’t matter. All this wasn’t me business when so obliviously caught in the act; well let them think like that if it makes them feel better for now. Because pretty soon we are all going to be savaged by a rabid beast called peak oil and seems as though we are the only species on the planet that use oil, there can be no cry of it wasn’t me.

What is happening at the moment is quite interesting if we don’t act on carbon emission reduction to help reduce the warming effects of greenhouse gasses, then the earth is just going to shut off our supply of the black stuff. Different problems climate change and peak oil but the endgame is the same; a reduction in the burning and use of fossil fuels. The difference is reduction through choice with climate change or reduction through no options left, peak oil. Of course one is a lot more painful than the other and there would be not a lot left of our beautiful home which Nature has provided for us. We are being presented with a carrot or a stick and I know which one I prefer.

We have been given the perfect double whammy with climate change and peak oil and sooner or later they are going to hit us hard. The good news is that we have been given loads of warning to prepare, train, and cue Rocky music. The bad news is that we don’t have much time.  This is why movements like Transition are so important, because we can “do something” ourselves and not have to be at the mercy of the deniers. We have a whole gym of ideas to train in but like all gyms there is the first excitement of joining and then the love affair dies off and all that is left is a flabby body and wasted money for the membership.  It doesn’t matter what happens at Copenhagen, whatever happens there it will not be enough to really affect changes that are needed. What does matter is the choices that you and I take, the support that we give to each other and the preparation that we do in Transition Gym.

Clare Davies