Hanging Gardens #1

by Andre | June 7th, 2013 | Comments | Share

Tags : garden chains vegetables

"It just tastes different!" is the standard comment I get when people eat fresh vegetables out of our garden. It is true! They just taste better and have better flavors.

It is not difficult to grow vegetables, including in Winter. This year I have a fantastic winter garden, but more on a winter garden in another blog post.

If you don't have much space for a vegetable garden, consider putting in a hanging garden. You can hang it against any wall or suspend it under anything that can hold the two chains up. On a wall, we place two brackets to hold the chains that hold the gutters.

I used plastic gutters that clip together. There are all types of attachments, including end caps and brackets for attaching to a wall. I prefer my chain system as I can change the height and angle of each gutter.

My first system used bolts and nuts to attach the chains to the gutter. I threaded a long bold through the bottom chain, then through the gutter and ended with a large washer and nut. I used two nuts on the top of the bolt o connect the next chain. The downfall I found out is that you can't adjust the chains easily.

Version 2 of the system has two plastic guides attached to the gutter, made from 22mm electrical conduit connectors and a short piece of PVC pipe. The chain can move up and own through the pipe and held in position using a split pin. This makes it easy to move the gutters up and down, changing the height or the angle.

Once all assembled I filled the bottom of the gutter with silica sand to assist with drainage. I then filled the gutter with a mixture of sand and compost. The one end of the gutter is filled with silica sand for about 10cm for watering, while the bottom of the other side has a few holes drilled in to allow the water to drip to the next level. The water only wets the bottom half of the soil, promoting root growth to he bottom of the gutter. It is necessary to water new or outer plants until the roots reach home bottom of the gutter.

In the middle of winter I planted strawberries on one level, lettuces on the next and peas on the bottom. The peas will hopefully hang over the edge creating a curtain of green!

It is important to water the vegetables daily. There is not much ground to hold the water. I find 3 gutters absorb about 5 liters of water a day! It is important to add plant food as well.

• 

  Hanging Gardens

  The completed hanging gardens. Water runs from the one level to the next and finally into the herb garden.

• 

  Sand for Watering

  The silica sand trap for watering. Each level has one where you pour in the water.

• 

  Chain Connections

  How the chains are connected to each other in version one of the hanging gardens.