Grow a gutter garden!

Suzanne Forsling, a transplanted Iowan and avid gardener, found
that the environment in her new Alaskan home didn't lend
itself to gardening. Suzanne didn't give up; instead, she
solved the problem in a new way - gutter gardening! Here are
the main tips I've gleaned from her
article:

• Gutter gardens need to be planted on the sunny side of
  your home. If you don't have an area of your home with wood
  siding to mount the gutters, deck railings work just as well.
  Decide where best to locate your garden and measure so you will
  know how many feet of gutters you will need.

• Purchase plastic rain gutters and proper mounting
  hardware at your local hardware stores. Suzanne's were
  purchased at Home Depot.


• Drill small holes in the gutters for drainage and mount.
  Suzanne filled the gutters halfway full with Miracle Grow
  Soil, added a layer of extra nutrients since constant watering
  would cause the soil to lose the nutrients, then filled the rest of
  the gutters with soil. Since the gutters aren't deep enough to
  allow for much soil, pack the soil as tightly as you
  can.
  

• Plant seeds & water well. If any soil has accumulated
  behind the gutters, next to your wood siding, flush that soil out
  with water now. For future watering, Suzanne controlled the water
  flow by using a water wand.


• Suzanne planted Simpson lettuce, variety
  lettuce, French breakfast radish, Swiss chard, beets and turnips.
  She re-rooted store bought green onions.

In a very few weeks, the Forsling family was eating fresh garden
salads and boiling hearty turnips. She plans to add a second and
even a third crop. This diy project really got my
attention because it certainly is the best of Hearthside Economics
philosophy - something to share that might help one another during
this terrible economy. We don't have small children; but
if we did, wouldn't it be a wonderful project that little ones
could help with? I'm talking to my husband right
now and hoping he would be willing to try this - on the back side of the garage.
Would it work for
you?

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