Dean Fowler

Eric Hanson wrote:Hi Dean,

For a non-plastic option, have you thought about lining with wood?  I would think it would work a well as plastic, and you can drill little holes for drainage.

Just a thought.

Eric

thanks for the reply Eric, ive edited my original post so it now contains a bonus question.

to answer, i would line it with wood if i could, but i really am not much of a carpenter and i lack tools to shape and cut the wood to length for the bottoms and sides. it would be quite some task in itself. also unless i used very thick wood itd probably rot through in not that much time and start leaking my precious soil. im planning on using a no dig approach as much as possible so i want to avoid that.

hi there

Im planning on growing some things using a shopping trolley i found and filling it with compost.
the plan is to use some sort of plastic to line it with punctured with many small holes on the bottom, then wood scraps and sticks to fill out the bottom to middle of it and then finally compost on top. my question is do you think black heavy duty bin liners is a suitable plastic for the job?
or im considering i might try getting some industrial strength clear plastic from like a builders yard or something. any thoughts?
im living in ireland so its not exactly warm for much of the year, maybe black plastic would attract more warmth?
wish there was some non plastic viable alternative but i dont think there is in a shopping trolley.

one other thing, when i was even more of a noob than i am now i made a compost heap partly using a lot of soil from the garden, far too much for a compost pile, it now has a lot of food scraps mixed in with it. one thing though is that its from the garden which has for many years been used as a dogs toilet. i was considering using this possibly tainted muck to line the bottom of a proper deep raised bed i am hoping to get in a month or two, my instinct says no its probably full of pathogens and parasite eggs but at the same time if its got a layer of logs and on top of that a thick layer of compost then maybe it wont do any harm?

Cheers guys.

im from navan, im very new to this though so i may be of very limited help.

Well hi guys and gals.

im completely green as a pickle with all this. I've recently become interested in learning to live off of the land after scaring myself silly learning about climate change and all the many uncertainties were likely to face going forward.
I have a very young daughter and its for her sake i want to learn. it would be irresponsible for me to not know more about self sufficiency.
I am also enjoying having this new found hobby and the learning process.

so far the scope of what i have done is to have two household bins with holes drilled and filled with things to make compost. ive a lot of questions even on that first small step so yeah there is a lot, a heck of a lot still to learn.
my back garden isn't huge by any means and it probably is a bit lacking in sun as there are a lot of trees close by.
on top of this i am also learning about edibles to be found out in the wilderness.

well anyway, my introduction is a bit rambling i know but then again so am i so it is fitting.

Cheers everyone.
Dean.