Growing in Builder's bags

[Glutton4...]

OK people, hauling the conversation back to the Ton Bags/Bulk Bags/Whatever-you-wanna-call-'em bags My Dad left one laying around, with a small amount of sand in. I built my Chook pen round it, it was too heavy to 're-locate' and the Chooks had a fantastic time digging in it. The Geese ate some, too. Well, lots, actually. Eventually, nearly three years later, most of the sand had gone. The bag was still there. A little worse for wear, and not really useable, but it was still there.

I think they are a fantastic idea for a raised bed allotment. VC, you're just being a miserable moo! I would fold the sides down, outward, about half-way, and 'go with the flow!' If you site several in a row, they will hold each other square, and if not, what does it matter?

Don't be so negative, Hon - it's a great idea!








The opinions expressed above, are the opinion of the poster, not necessarily the whole forum.

[veggiechicken]

Love it G4
You don't know the local politics though. There was a petition to stop us using land that the council had offered on the playing fields for allotments as they would look "unsightly" and spoil the view. If these bags look awful, it will be another nail in the coffin of the allotment group - as the objectors will say "I told you so". They're the miserable gits, I'm just a realist

[Glutton4...]

Hello from a fellow realist - if only there were more of us! Seriously, I do sympathise - some folk will object to anything. Not in my back yard, an' all that.

I say, be resourceful, grow where you can. I put Cranesbills or Alchemilla in my Hubby's old work-boots when they've died. If you wanna grow Veg. in supermarket Flowertubs, Dustbins, or Builders' bulk bags, go for it!

[veggiechicken]

I grow wherever I can, but on my own land. Its the people without garden space who are desperate for somewhere and this is such a steep little village that most houses don't have any flat land, or even much space to call their own. So the problem is not so much growing in containers but space to put those containers.
This potential building site alongside the railway station is flat and open but a real eyesore. But the owner/builder will not do anything to improve it visually as he wants to develop it. The Council will let him build, but only if it includes affordable housing and he wants to build more expensive houses. So its stalemate - but he's happy for us to use the land for our market and for growing, as long as nothing is permanent.
Any red wine left?

[bearded bloke]

The opinions expressed above, are the opinion of the poster, not necessarily the whole forum.

Love it

[snohare]

I didn't just imply that G4 was a baglady, did I ? Or did she...
Well, one way or another, it sounds like your project is going to be almost... station-ary for the moment.
I must say, the whole willow-screen idea strikes me as a wonderful one. Better than any of mine !

[horticultural_hobbit]

Thank you, VC, for starting this thread; on perusal it has answered some questions that I had. I have one builders bag at the moment that has leaf mold cooking in it. I hypothesise getting some more, and filling with leaves again over the winter. However, they could also be additional raised beds. I know leaf mold takes a whole to cook, so they wouldn't be used immediately, but could have compost added to them if they were to be. I will then have a mixture of wooden raised beds and bags. Is very enthusing!

[veggiechicken]

I'm tempted to have a few of these bags myself, HH, in my garden, for leaf mould and compostmaking, as my pallet bins have disintegrated. Hope they work for you
As for the Village growing project, it may be all change as we have again been offered a former residential centre and surrounding land at a peppercorn rent and some of the land could be used for allotments. I think I have off-loaded this onto a Project Group for the time being - I had too many sleepless nights about it last time.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Have just seen some on am**on. So I'm giving this some serious thought! Might even have a go at painting flowers onto the sides, should I find myself with spare time in my hands. Think it's a quirky idea, one of those why not ones.

Can't wait til the lotment neighbours see it happen ^_^

[veggiechicken]

Find yourself a builder's yard or a building site. You can get them for nothing then - they're not reused!

[horticultural_hobbit]

Good point, VC. Have already asked the fella doing our works ^_^

[Lisamcflisa]

my friend gave me one of these about 3 yrs ago, the year i started growing and every year i put my used compost in to mix up for the following year, its withstood -10 temps of frozen soil, being dug by the dog and its still going, they certainly last forever, i've actually got one in a mini raised bed i made from pallets, its great for letting the water go thru but stopping the weeds, so maybe like you said initially VC you could put a wooden framework round the outer edge of some. sounds a good idea, if a little dodgy looking

[veggiechicken]

Thanks Lisa! Its good to hear that they last forever (I think!).