Renting and gardening… what are you supposed to do? Pour all your love (and hours of work) into the garden, only to leave it all behind when the lease ends? Or, you can get creative! Make a portable and productive garden (even in a courtyard) that provides loads of herbs, salad and vegies… with leftover space for a prolific compost system.
That’s what Steve and Rabea North from Melbourne did, but with the added innovation of a water-saving collection of up-cycled, DIY wicking buckets and tubs.
The criteria for their garden was simple – sustainable, portable, cost-effective and productive – so it was off to the local Indian takeaway for some alternatives to store-bought pots. “They had loads of 10 litre food grade buckets and polystyrene broccoli boxes that were destined for landfill, so we bought as many of those home as we could” Steve says. This is where the next level of innovation and ideas comes in. “Where appropriate for the plants, these have been converted into mini wicking beds” says Steve. Rabea explains that “A wicking bed is a self-watering container, and any renter can build these simple, portable wicking beds for $5-$10 each. They’re perfect for growing fruit and vegies using half the water (and effort) when compared to conventional pots”.
Check out http://smartrenting.org/portable-composting/ for all Steve and Rabea’s composting tips, as well as lots of info about how to reduce your carbon footprint as a renter.
04:04 Portable Wicking Bed
Materials:
A recycled polystyrene container or food grade bucket (10-20 litres, depending on the plant size)
1m x 25mm poly pipe
25mm poly elbow joiner
Drill & 8mm drill bit
One square metre of geo textile weed mat
A bag of scoria
Some good quality soil mixed in with compost.
Pea straw or an alternative organic mulch.
Method:
Measure and cut a poly pipe so that it sits 3 above lip of the container
Attach elbow joiner to bottom of poly pipe
Measure and cut a piece of poly pipe from the elbow joiner to extend two thirds of the way across the wicking box or bucket and attach to elbow joiner
Heating the polypipe ends in hot water can make it easier to attach to the joiner
Drill a hole each inch of the poly pipe at the bottom of the box
Drill or force a 23mm hole about two inches from the base of the bed, and insert a 5cm length of polypipe
This will become the overflow/drainage hole
Fill base of the bed with scoria, to the level of the drainage hole
Place square of geotextile over the scoria, so that it lines the entire bed
Fill the bed a mix of 2 parts soil to one-part compost, plant out and mulch
Water lightly from the top, and then fill the reservoir with water
The top watering is a one-off, to initiate the wicking process
02:50 Portable Compost System
Materials
5 recycled food grade 20 litre buckets with lids (for outside)
2 recycled 10 litre food grade buckets (for the kitchen)
Measuring cup
1 x compost screw
Drill, 8mm drill bit and 2mm drill bit
Instructions
Drill four drain holes on the side at the very bottom of each of the 20L outdoor buckets
This is small enough to stop rodents from getting in but will allow worms access to help the composting process along.
Drill lots of ventilation holes in each lid (~20) using a small drill bit (2-3mm).
Store large compost buckets outdoors and undercover, and the two smaller buckets in the kitchen
They can leach a little, so sit them on soil, or plastic mat to prevent staining
To Use
Fill one of your kitchen buckets with a mixture of a carbon source (sawdust, shredded newspaper, leaves, etc.) and some dirt or finished compost for microbes.
Fill your other kitchen bucket with food scraps as you produce them. When you have a layer of food waste, add a few cups of your carbon source to cover your food waste and then add a half cup of water.
Continue this layering process for a week (max), or until the bucket is full
Empty the kitchen bucket into the outdoor compost bucket with the newest compost or start a new bucket if the others are full.
Give your compost a turn with the compost screw each week.
This system has worked beautifully for Steve and Rabea, with Rabea saying “Once properly set up, the above composting system is a set and forget system that can produce half a ton of compost a year or more for just 15 minutes of your time each week and should cut the amount of waste your household sends to landfill in half”.
For most Australians, renting can be made to feel like you’re putting your dreams on hold, but as Steve and Rabea have shown, renting doesn’t need to be a barrier to good growing and great gardening.
Subscribe: http://ab.co/GardeningYouTube
41 Comments
In the netherlands its 30 -40% buyers. And the rest are renters. Glad to see other Dutch people on your show. Lovely.
Is this bucket compost system the same as any other larger system or do they need to do certain things to make it successful? Would love to have a go!
As usual brilliant show 😍🥰
Not bad. I do kratky tomatoes in 100L totes as well as various plants in soil containers. I will have to give a wicking bucket a try. Renting sucks for gardening
Wow! Would have loved to see more on the compost system. I have one open bucket on my balcony that relies on black fly larva, it works but his looks better!
Love the shirt Costa! Great garden too!
Fantastic lovely and impressive presentation Friend obrigado
From India
Fantastic idea! And I would also love to see or hear more on the compost system please
The host has mastered no-till tool-free grooming. 🤣
This is so cool! 😍😍😍
Details of the composting system:
https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/resourceful-renter/12155080
Great Baby Bump !!!!
Congratulations from San Diego
Amazing. Keep shining!
I too would like to know more about this compost method. It seems they might have tons of green waste, (40 buckets of weeding and trimming plus kitchen waste) how is it managed? Thanks!
This is fantastic, we rent and grow everything in pots to take with us, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Can you please more explain with material name how he make the portable container .
👍
Love this thankyou for sharing ❤️🍇🍉
I have a reasonably big back yard and I am making my front garden into a veggie patch too so this is very inspirational ❤❤❤
she is pregnant, congrats to her !!
Really nice
This worldly system is evil and DISGUSTING. Its a shame a house has to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even this pregnant women doesnt have a permanent roof over her head. And we have to eat gmo foods and pay bills. Man will not live like this forever its not natural and not the way god intended many to live. The problem is the people are sleeping spiritually. Now wiyh covid restrictions.. the masses are even more easily controlled. I speak the truth.
Wow! This is amezing. And the fact that the containers are pretty much self watering makes everything easier.
Thanks for sharing.
❤🙏
their backyard is similar to mine. just a tiny courtyard. I use some large pots, plus some small raised garden beds on legs from Bunnings. I can, if I ever decide to move just pack them all up and take them with me. a great way to do it in a limited space.
Look up “Dutch buckets” I use them everywhere and you can get them at hydroponic store quite cheaply
I just started gardening and plant vegetables this year in pots. This is the hard part when you move out, go to new places and rent new house, especially when you live here in Australia it will take more space in the moving truck and its very Expensive! 😭😭😢😢 sigh
Love this episode!
Thanks for introducing to great concept, I have a question
How often we need to pour water into to pipe?
As it said watering on top is one off.
Amazing, exactly what I have to do 🌱🌸🌱👍
I tried an el-cheapo version of the wicking bucket. Instead of rocks, I used thick bits of wood. Instead of agricultural material, I used my old shirt. It worked really well in growing my cucumbers, but unfortunately every time I water the bucket, water would overflow out of the spout, and it would smell absolutely horrible.
We were renting on 2 different houses before we finally bought in 2020. I put my fruit trees and veggies in containers and portable raised beds. Moved twice with them, was great effort to haul all those life plants. Now we settled in our own house and finally able to out everything in the ground. I put all my 18 fruit trees along the side fence, created rosemary, roses, lavender and flower garden on the front yard and pool area and finally I have my own veggie garden patch at the backyard with worm farm. So so so happy!!
This is amazing! I’m new to gardening & this will be my first season – am learning so much & my 5 year old & I are loving listening to gardening buds 🌸
😳Such lush growth🎅 Which fertiliser/manure does the anchor use 😂😂😂
My container veggie garden was stolen when I was moving. Had to move them to my carport before the carpets got professionally cleaned and friend with ute turned up. While I was inside for short time around 2 dozen of containers disappeared. We door knocked neighbours in the complex incase someone mistakenly claimed them. I was heart broken.
What a beautiful couple. Love what they’ve created.
So inspiring
Great idea! Reckon how many buckets they have by now?
it looks very good, I am just worried about one thing. The plants are very close to the house and with termite problem in Australia it could be a problem for the house.
In some of their pots they have lining, does anyone of you guys have lining recommendations for buckets that isn't plastic fabric that'll shed microplastics?:)
Thank you
i love the energy and the ideas here❗