Ok fellow gardeners who like to experiment.....I have a challenge for you! I was thinking yesterday about building a self-watering strawberry tower. I started doing some YouTube searches today and came across this kid building a strawberry tower from an old rain barrel.
Anyway, his use of compost got me thinking. A self-watering tower could be difficult in a vertical space because of gravity in this type of arrangement because the strawberries at the bottom will be wetter than those at the top so I was racking my brain trying to figure out a way to have uniform moisture from top to bottom. My answer? Hügelkultur.... The idea behind this gardening technique is that the logs/wood acts like a sponge. The soil wicks the water from the wood. Soooo.....I was wondering if maybe I could build it like this....
Use an old plastic rain barrel like the boy did to stagger holes all the way around for the strawberry plants. Inside the barrel, I'd place a circular "basket" of hardware cloth. Inside the basket, I'd fill it with logs, wood chips, etc. The basket serves to hold the wood in place in the center of the barrel. Then I'd put soil/compost in the "donut" area. Watering the tower would consist of wetting down the wood in the inner basket really well.
Thoughts? Opinions? Did I explain it well enough? I just have to figure out where to get an old plastic barrel like that....
