Even though it goes against 100's of years of Irish tradition we did plant some spuds in old tyres this year! It's sort of an experiment because we'll have some in the ground soon too so we'll be able to see the difference in yield, if any. So heres my simple growing in tyres DIY, hope you like it :)
Two of the tiers came from our car, we had to get new ones so instead of being charged £1 per tyre for them to be disposed off, we took them home in the boot. The others were picked up from a pile of dumped ones down the road.
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| Filling in the first tyres |
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| We had to mix sand into our heavy clay soil then add half rich mulch type soil. |
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| Lots of mixing. |
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| Spuds ready to plant :) |
We don't use seed spuds, just leave our favorite variety from the supermarket till they sprout and they work a treat - saves a few pounds too!
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| I dug right down, about 20cm from the bottom then covered it up |
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| All done, with our signature cat deterrers! |
Once the plants grow up about to the height of the top of the tyre we'll fill them up again with more soil, just leaving a bit showing, add a tyre and repeat till it starts flowering - I wonder how high they'll end up, 3 maybe 4 high?
Apart from this, other things are slow in our garden. The first round of mizuna lettuce we planted is providing us about 2 sandwiches worth a week... The other lettuces are coming up, broccoli is up too and will need planted out soon, peas are coming up in the greenhouse but only a few in the outside bed are showing. I think it might be because of the odd weather we've had here, cold then lots of sun then cold again but I think we're definitely into the spring/summer now so hopefully things will pick up a bit of pace outside - myself included lol!
I also use tyres as planters for carrots. I've never been brave enough to try growing carrots in our really heavy clay soil up the allotment, so we've also made use of old tyres filled with compost. Ours are 3 high, which also gives some protection from carrot fly. It's also a nice height for our 6yo to stand and sow seeds himself and I've found that when kids grow vegetables themselves, they're more inclined to eat them too.
ReplyDeleteUgh isn't clay soil a pain! I never thought of the protection from carrot fly, good point, our raised bed is about 2 and a bit tyres high so that might be why our carrots did so well last year :)
DeleteIt's nice that you encourage your son to garden with you, I do it at our pre school and you've never seen so many 3 year olds eating peas! The parents love it!
I do know what you mean by things being slow in the garden. They do say a watched pot never boils and i do feel that it's true. I have been in my little green house everyday hoping to see signs of life, i do feel like getting a magnifying glass so that i can see whats going on. As for using the tyres for growing potatoes it sounds like a great idea. I will be growing mine in the front garden.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact your growing in the FRONT garden, I think it says something really positive about a household, too many people are worried what the neighbours think! I hope your greenhouse is showing signs of life after those nice few days :)
DeleteWe planted some potatoes in our raised beds today!
ReplyDeleteAnd my purple basil is proper-gating on our kitchen window sill nicely.
Sft x
Oh brilliant :) my basil is coming up nicely in our greenhouse too, slowly but nicely lol
DeleteI hope I have enough basil to make pesto this year, fingers crossed!
Hi, you're doing well there -
ReplyDeleteI also never buy seed potato's, but you can make your ready -chitted spuds go further, you don't need to plant a whole one, cut it up just so that each piece has some root on it and plant the pieces, they will all grow into plants - very frugal.
I've chucked potato peelings into the compost bin, when they've just started sprouting and they've given me a crop ! no effort required.
Wean I did see that on another blog and was really impressed, when we have the space to do a proper few 'drills' of spuds then I'll try that out for sure, with the space we have we can only plant about 15 in the ground and a whole bag sprouted on us so we had no need to stretch them this time.
DeleteI love hassle free gardening like those surprise spuds of yours, shows that we fuss far to much over our crops sometimes lol
Fantastic! I bet you can't wait till you're pulling up earthy, fresh potatoes. Love the idea of tyres, I want some to use at my allotment as herb planters, bunnies are a problem with anything low growing.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos too!
I really can wait! the shoots are poking through already - so exciting!
DeleteThanks for the compliment about the photos, I'm working on my picture taking skills, your photos are always absolutely stunning your really talented!
Thank you so much for showing us how to do a raised bed in tires, great idea! I will be on the look out to get some, might paint them though. It's a little too late for a spring planting, but I can use them in the fall.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea, I have long ago had my husband to turn tires inside out & cut into points, I put AZALEAS in then & painted the tires WHITE, What a show place for my fbushes
ReplyDeleteWould you really want to grow edibles in tyres?
ReplyDeleteTypical chemicals in a tyre
Due to commercial secrecy, it's difficult to find out the exact ingredients of a tyre, and there are lots of different types. The list below is from a 'typical tyre':
Natural rubber
Synthetic rubber compounds, including Butadiene – known carcinogen
Solvents: Benzene – known carcinogen, Styrene – anticipated to be carcinogenic, Toluene – has negative health effects, Xylene – irritant, & Petroleum naphtha
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Phenols – some are endocrine-disruptive, Benzo(a)pyrene – linked to cancer
Heavy metals: zinc, chromium, nickel, lead, copper & cadmium
Carbon black – possibly carcinogenic
Vulcanising agents: Sulphur & Zinc oxide
Polychlorinated biphenyls – known carcinogen
Other synthetic chemicals