Monday 3 August 2009

Big gardening plans, small budget






























Most guerrilla gardeners have a miniscule budget. Thankfully, that helpful bunch of people known as the general public regularly assist us by leaving all manner of litter which we can use in our battle.

Larger containers are a positive gift to the guerrilla gardener as they easily be turned into a birdbath or planter.

A plastic bottle can be used as a raincatcher, underground reservoir, cloche, watering can, bird feeders or a humane mole deterrents (placed a little way in soil with lid removed - wind makes a sound moles don't like).

The ubiquitous inside-out umbrella can be stripped of its fabric and the metal frame used as a support for climbers.

It's important to clear any litter from a site that could potential harm wildlife and that especially applies to carrier bags. Don't discard them though...even torn bags can be washed and fused together (by ironing them between two pieces of cardboard). The melted polythene then becomes a tough, sewable fabric useful for windbreaks, weedmats or polytunnels.

The biggest stumbling block we currently face on the Portobello site is funding - or rather, lack of it.



We have utilised whatever happened to be on site (strawberry anyone?) and hope to use the strange metal cage thingy as a cloche.

Lucy managed to get some free pallets from B&Q where she bought nails, posts, hinges etc, to make them into compost bins. (However, the prospect of secure storage looks a long way off unless the gardening fairy drops off a shed.)

If you are looking for ideas, take a look at Instructables or get inspiration from Earthship Fife who run Creative Waste Workshops.

If you can donate your time, expertise or equipment (or just want to say hello), we would love to hear from you.


The 'Sprout a Couch' photo is courtesy of ReadyMade

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