Grumpy cat is how I feel right now. I’m about a week behind where I want to be with my garden project, but the weather and other forces are conspiring against me. And my little girly arms. I think after I get this done, I’m going to start pumping some iron.
But! I’ve got an update, and a car load of stuff. I’m down to the final couple of steps of the planter project (see Time to grow!) I’ve got a car load of soil, and I just need to put a hole in for the drainage and feeding pipe.
Before I go into pretty pictures though, my two cents worth on this whole project:
- If you’re using one of those really, really thick EPDM pond liners like I did, be prepared to spend some time finagling to get it to lay in the corners smoothly. It is heavier than you would believe.
- Make good friends with someone who has a truck.
This project has also turned out to be a bit more costly than I was expecting. I spent about $240 on wood (mostly in the cedar), and that was OK. But then the liner was about $130. And the various constituents of the potting mix and slow release fertilizer came to be about $130. I know this seems to be a lot for dirt, but everyone agrees, you can’t put regular potting mix in a self-watering container. Also, the interior dimensions are about 6′ x 3′ x 16″, less the volume of the drainage pipe inside. By my calculations, I need about 110 gallons of mix by volume.
So I’m a little bit discouraged, because even at supermarket prices I could buy a lot of organic for $500. Still, the saving money isn’t the whole point of the exercise either… I’m learning technical skills in the bargain, and I will have a nice planter that will survive many years. If my attempts this year are fruitful (badum ching) it won’t take very long to recoup. Someone far more skilled at gardening than I could probably break even in a year by succession planting.
But… if you have the space to put stuff in the ground, it’s definitely cheaper that way!