In one of her comments on this blog, Wildside mentioned tire planters and that she doesn't know how they're made. Here's a link on how to make one kind anyway:
http://suite101.com/files/topics/75/files/felderstireplanter.html ...I found this link through the Pathway to Freedom web page. There is a page there that gives links to lots of DIY sites:
http://www.pathtofreedom.com/diy/index.shtml
In the past I've used tires for planting flowers or tomatos in, but I just stuffed dirt/soil inside the tire, then filled the hole with dirt and did my planting. It worked well enough, but still looked like a tire laying on the ground with a plant in it, and when the plants are dead it just looks like a tire cluttering up the yard. The ones at the above site are much fancier, haha.
Wildside also mentioned using the tires for growing tomatoes... I'm not sure how to do that. I can give it a good guess and I think I'd come pretty close, who knows, lol... maybe Wildside will share some info in a future comment.
I have also heard of using tires for planting potatoes. You plant the seed potatoe in the soil in a tire. When it grows you add a tire on and fill it with more soil, leaving just a small amount of the stalk sticking out. Then when it grows more you add another tire, etc. I guess you just keep doing this as long as it grows, or maybe until the stack gets too high for you to add another (if you're short this may not take too long). Anyway, the "spuds" grow in the dirt inside the tires as they would in the ground. To harvest potatoes from the ground you of course have to dig them up, but with the tires you just remove a tire and brush away the soil every time you want more spuds, then at the end of the season you remove all tires and soil and get your crop. Pretty cool, huh. "New" potatoes... mmmm, with fresh from the vine tomatoes. Thank God summer will soon be here. I'm looking forward to the proceeds of my first garden.
So far we have a tire retaining wall and different tire planters... anyone have any other ideas for using old tires? Get your "recycling mind" moving and share your ideas in the comments section!
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3 comments:
Hi again, Pathfinder -- er, Alice!
About growing tomatoes in old tires, all I really meant was that in areas with short growing seasons, and where it is prone to be cool at night, the tires help as the sun heats up the rubber in the daytime and then the tire retains that heat to radiate to keep the tomatoes warm at night. On our farm, we also would cover the tomatoes with 5 gallon buckets for frost protection at night.
When I saw your tire stash and said "hey!" -- where she lives in the country that isn't junk, that's a resource -- she could probably make good use of those. Since I live in a special section of town, this idea wouldn't be acceptable for me to use. And city boy hubby wouldn't go for it anyway...
As to other uses for your tires? I've come up with a few -- for your fiber addiction perhaps! You could somehow make a rather cool, waterproof knapsack or purse. You could also rip them into shreds and weave to make a belt, a door mat or floor mats for your truck, or even a very cool pair of gardening shoes!!!
Ideas for tyres? I'm not sure if the link below will work, but these "swan tyres" were popular in New Zealand in the 60s and can still be seen around a few holiday homes or farm gates! Not really my thing...but an innovative use for tyres allt he same. (Sorry! Can't bring myself to spell tyres the American way!! :>))
http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_SM2/0024-0410-1406-4211_SM2.jpg
I copy/pasted the link from Kiwi and had a look at these "swan tires/tyres", wow... definately "unique". Thanks Kiwi. I must admit the NZ spelling looks "weird" to me, but still gets the same meaning across. :o)
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