{"id":4471,"date":"2009-05-04T09:27:04","date_gmt":"2009-05-04T15:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2017-09-19T19:44:13","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T23:44:13","slug":"5-diy-gardening-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/5-diy-gardening-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"5 DIY Gardening Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2009\/05\/square-foot-garden.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4472\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2009\/05\/square-foot-garden.jpg\" alt=\"square foot garden\" width=\"300\" height=\"274\" \/><\/a><strong>This year, I&#8217;ve undertaken a new endeavor: I&#8217;ve started a vegetable garden. <\/strong>It&#8217;s an ongoing process &#8212; no harvest yet, of course &#8212; but I&#8217;m already looking forward to fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and beans that will be transported about 15 feet from garden to kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>In the process, I&#8217;ve come across a number of intriguing DIY projects for growing your own food. Here are five that can help make gardening easier and, maybe, more productive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The raised bed planter: <\/strong>This project is at the heart of the method I&#8217;m using for my garden &#8212; Mel Bartholomew&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/square-foot-gardening-plans-layouts-tips\/\">Square Foot Gardening<\/a> system. I used leftover bricks for mine, but there are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diynetwork.com\/diy\/fv_maintenance\/article\/0,,diy_13825_2276558,00.htm\">lots<\/a> of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.videojug.com\/film\/how-to-build-a-raised-planter-bed\">different <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/answers.yahoo.com\/question\/index?qid=20080303174848AAp3fpX\">materials<\/a> you could (re)use to build a garden space (and avoid the digging!). <a href=\"http:\/\/kellibestoliver.greenoptions.com\/2007\/03\/21\/weekly-diy-planter-box\/\">GO&#8217;s Kelli Best-Oliver contributed one great plan for this<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The upside-down planter:<\/strong> Yes, I&#8217;m fascinated with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B0001WYNP0?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=subl20-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0001WYNP0\">Topsy Turvy<\/a>, but am going to try <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/Go_Green_Upside_Down_Hanging_Planters\/\">making my own out of reused 2-litre soda bottles<\/a>. I&#8217;ve found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.curbly.com\/DIY-Maven\/posts\/1620-how-to-make-an-upside-down-tomato-planter\">a number<\/a> of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.survivalistboards.com\/showthread.php?t=48885\">different plans<\/a> available online that make use of a variety of containers.<\/li>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<li><strong>The cold frame:<\/strong> I won&#8217;t need one of these until the end of the year, but if frost is still an issue for you, check out these <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diynetwork.com\/diy\/ic_planters_pots_boxes\/article\/0,,diy_13967_2276876,00.html\">various<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diynetwork.com\/diy\/cr_garden_patio\/article\/0,,DIY_13757_5069785,00.html\">plans<\/a> (including one from <a href=\"http:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/2007\/03\/14\/weekly-diy-cold-frame\/\">Green Options&#8217; Philip Proefrock<\/a>) for keeping your seedlings warm.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The compost bin:<\/strong> Yep, I&#8217;m growing my vegetables organically. I bought one of those black recycled plastic bins, but you can easily find <a href=\"http:\/\/www.groovygreen.com\/groove\/?p=564\">plans<\/a> for <a href=\"http:\/\/crumleydotorg.chattablogs.com\/archives\/038047.html\">bins<\/a> you can make from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diylife.com\/2007\/10\/15\/blog-action-make-a-compost-bin-from-shipping-pallets\/\">reused materials<\/a>. If you want to compost indoors, here&#8217;s a plan I found for a <a href=\"http:\/\/jeffmcintirestrasburg.greenoptions.com\/2007\/02\/21\/weekly-diy-build-your-own-worm-composting-bin\/\">DIY worm bin<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The rain barrel:<\/strong> Plants love rainwater, but commercially-available barrels are a bit pricey. Recently, the <a href=\"http:\/\/green.thefuntimesguide.com\/\">Fun Times Guide to Living Green<\/a> ran <a href=\"http:\/\/green.thefuntimesguide.com\/2009\/03\/pretty_rain_barrels_cheap.php\">a great series<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/green.thefuntimesguide.com\/2009\/03\/cheap_diy_wooden_rain_barrel.php\">DIY rain barrels<\/a>&#8230; and there are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/Need-Free-Water%3F--Build-a-Rain-Barrel\/\">many<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diynetwork.com\/diy\/gr_structures_ornaments\/article\/0,2029,DIY_13859_4603813,00.html\">other<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/greenterrafirma.com\/DIY_Rain_Barrel.html\">plans<\/a> available as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What&#8217;s your favorite DIY gardening project (other than planting, of course). Share it in the comments.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking for ideas on what to grow in your garden? <\/strong>Check out MNN&#8217;s guide on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mnn.com\/food\/organic-farming\/stories\/how-to-grow-carrots\">how to grow carrots<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Image credit:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/serenejournal\/2056094542\/\">serenejournal at Flickr<\/a> under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\">Creative Commons license<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year, I&#8217;ve undertaken a new endeavor: I&#8217;ve started a vegetable garden. It&#8217;s an ongoing process &#8212; no harvest yet, of course &#8212; but I&#8217;m already looking forward to fresh&nbsp;[ &hellip; ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":4472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3248,3249,4,23,3250,3251,2865],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>DIY Gardening Projects<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"No need to spend tons of money on equipment; these DIY gardening projects show you how to make helpful items yourself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/5-diy-gardening-projects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DIY Gardening Projects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No need to spend tons of money on equipment; 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