The buzzword to recycle and re-use is fashionable once again. A phrase most of us gladly embrace and something most rural land owners have done for years. Don’t throw it out! Give it a second life.
The average person generates about 4.5 pounds of trash daily which adds up to 1.5 tons of solid waste per year. The EPA estimates that only 30% of solid waste is recycle. http://www.greenwaste.com/recycling-stats
I don’t know about you but when I am faced with statistics like that, I feel downright wasteful.
Here on the farm, we have a number of pieces of equipment that require new tires. One of the tractors recently got a new set of threads so what to do with the old ones. My husband being the ultimate recycler of old equipment decided to expand out car tire strawberry bed to a larger one last fall.
We prepped the area to eliminate weeds and facilitate drainage by preparing a gravel base. Using landscaping cloth underneath your containers helps prevent weed growth as well.
Using the tractor, we moved the tires into the desired position and filled them with a combination of topsoil and compost. Splitting the runners from the original plants, we planted into the new beds and covered with compost and straw to over winter. Uncovering the beds this Spring, I was happy to find many of the plants were green despite the severe winter.
We continually enjoy the fruits of our labor throughout the early summer months.
Tires aren’t the only re-usable. Wheels make great planters. Just ask these pepper plants. Re-cycling these products not only makes practical sense but give perfectly useful objects a second life and you a sense of doing something for the enviroment.
One of my favorite links to great gardening ideas is:
If you are interested in learning to start a garden using recycled materials, please check out my post:
https://www.bee-queen.com/jumpstart-your-spring-garden-using-recycled-plastics/
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Have a Bee-rrific Day!
