Last year over at The Genteel Recessionista their trellis made of twine rotted away. This year they chose to use wire salvaged from some old CAT-5 Ethernet cables to create a new one. They were able to create two trellises for about a dollar each which in my opinion look great.
I haven’t done many posts in a while about regular old gardening in actual dirt so figured a good time to do an update. Though I enjoy indoor seed starting in my LED grow box and computerized grow box, some plants need to be started outdoors. Today my daughters and I planted the last these plants for fall outdoor planting. A few weeks ago, we planted garlic, onions, spinach,…
My two daughters and I could not take it anymore and had to get our hands dirty and start some seeds indoors. Cute to hear my 3 year old say in the dead of winter “Can we garden now?” when it is 20 degrees outside and 4 inches of snow. Given that our last frost date is March 15th and I don’t have a good southern facing window I…
width=”549″ height=”412″ /> I have used egg cartons to plant seedlings before but here is a slight twist, instead of taking the whole lid off I cut the top off the lid. This not only gives you a neat place to label your seeds but more importantly, it provides an extra inch of depth for your seedlings to get a running start before being transplanted to your garden.
Every time my daughter sees the upside down tomato planter (Topsy Turvy) commercial on TV she asks when we can grow tomatoes upside down. I am definitely not one to pay $15 to $20 to buy one of these things in the store when I could have the fun of making my own for much less money. Though this has been commercialized recently, the concept growing plants upside down is…
My youngest daughter has been very excited waiting to pick our tomatoes. She picked a green one a couple weeks back which I informed her that she needs to wait until they turn red, guess I needed to be more clear about “dark” red, since yesterday when we went out to our garden the first thing I heard was “I picked a matoe” which she is proudly displaying below.
width=”550″ height=”366″ /> May is a great time to start enjoying the warmer weather and longer days by getting out in the garden. By taking the time to smell the roses and stroll around the allotment plot or garden you can help to combat stress levels and restore the Zen to your busy life. Discovering the plant life and wildlife using your senses will bring you closer nature. While…
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Cat-5 is 4 pairs of twisted wire encased in a plastic sheath. I can’t tell by the picture; did they use the individual wires inside the sheath or did they use the whole cat5 cable? I have lots of old Ethernet cable and never thought of using it for this. What a great idea!
It looks wonderful, and when it’s covered with beautiful plants it will look even better! If you like soy candles, drop by and enter to win.
What about lead?Doesn’t most communication cabling use lead-based compounds for fireproofing and to increase the insulation’s flexibility?Is there a risk of excessive lead exposure if this is used in the vegetable garden?
David, I took off the outer grey coating and used the twisted pairs.I’m interested in the lead question – I think it’s just in the outer sheathing, which I removed, but I’m not sure.
David, yes they used the individual wires inside the sheath, but you could definitely keep them intact for some extra strength and support. You can check out the full write-up on their post.Darla, you should check out their page and see their spider web designed trellis. Very creative design.Anonymous, I know some Ethernet cables contain lead but many are lead free. Definitely a good point to bring up.
What a great idean to reuse and make something Useful! They get my 4R award for the day!!
I have used cords from broken lamps as rope before. I have used electrical cords soldered with new plugs as guitar cables. This is a great idea!
Great idea! My hubby always has cables hanging around, too. I wonder …
I had a big long cable at work that both ends have lost the clip and I frequently hit it with my foot then spend 15 minutes trying to figure out why the network stopped working. Looks like I am going to make that cable pay…Red Icculus, I have finally reduced my pile of wires I refuse to throw away with my grow box projects. Probably have a few extra to make a pea trellis.
Seems like a great idea to me! It’s always hard to gauge how your girlfriend would take it though from an aesthetic point of view.
If the cable is marked ROHS compliant it has no lead. A recent greening of the electronics industry