Self-Watering Veggie Table

Dear DG members,

I am so proud to be able to tell you all first, that I finished my first design and plan of a self-watering veggie table! Since I was inspired by the EB's that I grew in all last season thanks to you all, I wanted to let you all know about my project. For easy reading, I made it into an instructable. You can find more photos, directions, etc here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Watering-Veggie-Table/

Yes, the girl in the photos is me, and yes, it's the same username on that site as well. I will keep you all updated on the progress of this table, and if it goes well, I will be building more for myself!

Please let me know if anything is confusing, or misleading in any way, and I'll be happy to fix it.

Thanks for all the inspiration and being able to share my gardening worries, questions, and successes with all of you over the past year.

Hugs!
Kindlekat
aka
Kristen

That's pretty cool Kristen. Job well done! (off the top of my head) Looks perfect for strawberries, lettuce, herbs and bush beans. What you gonna try first in it?

If it goes well, you could try a version 2 and have a large tote(36 gallon) underneath that collects and pumps water upwards to a drip system. The only worry I have is....after a year's worth of weather that it might start to sag in the middle. Easily fixed though if it starts to happen.

WOW!!! That is impressive.....off to read the instructions.

Great job, Kindlekat. Please keep us posted on how your plantings do here.

Ray - Great idea! I've planted lettuce, swiss chard, broccoli raab, kohl rabi, and pac choi this first go round in it.

mom2goldens - Thanks!! I will definitely be updating this thread on the progress of the table.

I LOVE that they are up off the ground, they could be made the perfect height for us sitting gardeners.

KINDLEKAT!

You go, girl!

Please cross-Post the instructions over on the "Accessible Gardening" thread for our brothers and sisters who are differently abled! I know they will appreciate this design!

And, do send the design to Gessieviolet. Ya'll can talk about his eBucket website!

Hugs!

Linda

Linda,

Thanks so much! Unfortunately I do not have a DG membership and I cannot post in that forum. Would you mind posting it for me? I specifically liked this design because I have a very dear friend with severe back issues, and I'm building one for her soon so that she can plant veggies and harvest without bending over. Had to build the trial one for myself first, to make sure the design in my head was sound :)

Also, it might be handy to post the inspiration project, the original Salad Table, found here http://growit.umd.edu/Salad%20Tables%20and%20Salad%20Boxes/index.cfm
as it's admittedly slightly cheaper and potentially easier to build.

An eBucket website you say....hmmmm...how intriguing!

Update: Planted seeds Monday and this morning I had sprouts for Kohl rabi, broccoli raab, and pac choi already up. yippee!!

This message was edited Apr 28, 2011 3:24 PM

Earlier today I had posted the link over to Accessible since they are "buds" of mine.

Thanks cathy and kindlekat and gymgirl.
All my stuff is in containers(pots). But if i do more i like your design.
That would be a great project for boy or girlscouts to do for a nursing home for elderly people.

Vickie

Hi Kindlecat,
I would suggest that you add some bracing to your legs, maybe about 12" up from the bottom. You could also put in a shelf.
If you try to move your garden after you have it full of soil, water and plants, it can get pretty heavy. I am afraid that the legs will be very wobbly. If you hit something with one of the casters, you might snap a leg off.
I would put larger casters on the legs so you can move the garden around for the best sun exposure.
This planter could be used by those folks who live in area where people tend to borrow things, You could make the tubs point the other way and the whole thing could be moved indoors at night.

UPDATE!

System is working great!

See for yourself

And another. From left to right:
Broccoli raab, swissh chard (giant and rainbow) and red and green leaf lettuces

Wow! Everything looks great. Time for a big salad.

Hi Everybody,

Here is another design I found. It has comfortable working height (32") and allows many different wheelchair sizes. This design also collects/stores rainwater and self-irrigates.

From the website I can see it has 240ltrs of soil and 1m2 gardening area.

I have attached some photos of the wheelchair garden for you all to see.

Absolutely outstanding! Thanks for posting this important find!

Could you please provide a link to the wheelchair garden site.

Thanks.

That was quite innovative!

Here are some raised bed sites
http://www.accessiblegardens.com/index.php
http://eartheasy.com/yard-garden/planters-potting-tables-benches
http://www.instructables.com/id/Raised-Planter-Bed-from-Pallets/?lang=zh
http://doingwheelies.com/building-an-accessible-garden-box/
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/squarcedcong.html