Yes, the bottom bucket is the reservoir, and there is a cup with holes in it that fits down from the top bucket to wick water up. They use about 80% less water than a standard planter. The plans are at
http://www.globalbuckets.org Totally ingenius. For the buckets lining the rock wall in the picture... for everything but the hottest months when the plants were biggest, we watered these completely by setting a 5-gallon bucket in the shower to catch the family's warmup water, then distributing that through the watering tubes in the planters.
I really, really recommend these for anyone who doesn't have a lot of traditional ground space for gardening. Since it has the bottom reservoir, it's not going to leak all over your deck. And those potatoes there were started in April, then brought inside when temps dipped below freezing. A bit of manual labor, but for us it was worth it to have food so early.
But start collecting your buckets soon, before the bucket war begins! You can go to Whole Foods, or go up the supermarket delis and ask if they have extras. Sometimes the deli or bakery manager will save them just for you.
Vegans won't even eat honey or wear wool, even though no animals were harmed. I read an article once that claimed that oysters were vegan-safe, since it's a reflex-based animal that doesn't feel pain, operating like a venus flytrap would. But I didn't see any other vegans jumping on the oyster bandwagon.
It's interesting how following one specific way of eating opens you up to so many others. The same packaging that says "gluten free" will also market to raw foodies, vegans, halaal, etc. I have a wonderful vegetarian cookbook that has articles that explains all of this. It's fabulous. Some vegetarians will eat fish but still consider themselves vegetarians because fish is a much simpler creature, less sentient.
I have so many people treat me like I'm an idiot because I make my kids go gluten-free and limit my husband's meat intake. Especially the gluten thing.
I mean... how can you possibly have a reaction to such a widespread American food??? You know... like eggs, nuts, milk, shellfish? (sarcastic font.) When people really get in my face about it, they shut up really fast when I tell them they're welcome to give my kids a piece of cake, but they have to keep the kids for the next 2 days.
So I figure, with all the controversy we all have to face about whatever we're eating, who are we to ridicule someone else's choices?
