As part of the organic garden project in Suarez, the volunteers have begun to make vertical gardens. This new development has come primarily out of the disastrous soil situation in the barrio. Due to its location close to a waste disposal site, Suarez has had to deal with problems of contaminated soil. Therefore, the new initiative of creating vertical gardens is a way to cultivate plants without being hindered by unproductive soil.
For people with green thumbs without green spaces, here are some helpful tips on how to construct a garden in different places:
- You’ll need to start by collecting plastic bottles, preferably all the same size (2 litres) and the same brand so that the garden is uniform.
- Get together the other tools you’ll need in order to construct your garden – scissors or box cutters, a marker pen, screws, measuring tape, wire, soil, sand, rocks, and seeds.
- From the cap of the first bottle, measure lengthways 5-7cm and mark a line with the marker. Do the same 20cm later (which should be 5-7cm from the other end of the bottle).
- Cut down the lines with you scissors and box cutters and then cut across to join the lines so that you cut out a rectangle shape.
- Repeat this with the other bottles.
- Now it’s time to connect the bottles together. Take a pin and make 4 holes in your first bottle (two and the top and two at the bottom). Thread one piece of wire through one side of the bottle and another piece of wire through the other and fasten in place with the screws.
- Repeat the steps for as many bottles as you would like in your vertical garden, but space them 12-17 cm apart.
- Fill the bottles with first a thin layer of fine sand, followed by a layer of small rocks and then a layer of soil and plant your seeds.
- You have now made your very own vertical garden! Don’t forget to put it in a place where it will have good access to sunlight!
If you liked this article, you might be interested in the following link: http://blog.voluntarioglobal.org/world-environment-day-new-project-launched-suarez/
