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.
Strawberries thrive here in the Pacific Northwest but this year the June bearers almost missed their month this year with some of the erratic weather we have had during the past couple months. Last year I planted about a half dozen June bearing plants in the holes of the cinder blocks that surround my raised bed. We got enough strawberries to keep our oldest daughter satisfied for an occasional…
I have to admit I am not that great about keeping up with my current events, so if it is not in Engadget or my various gardening RSS feeds I haven’t heard about it. So after the second day I noticing the lack of tomatoes in the cafeteria at work I had to investigate. For anyone who watches the news or reads a newspaper apparently there was a widespread…
Cucumbers seem to have a similar property of peas that they seem to just appear out of nowhere. One day you see a little flower and seem to grow 10 inches overnight. I know this probably has more to the whole green camouflage and my eyes being bad but this year I kept a close eye on them and documented their growth. Baby cucumbers (Day 1) Cucumbers (Day 2….ok…
The kids and I carved several pumpkins this year but we waited carve the three pumpkins we grew in our backyard until Halloween since these were the seeds I wanted to save for planting next year. First, I know exactly how these pumpkins were grow, organically and free of any pesticides. Second, I was able to let these pumpkins grow undisturbed until the day I picked the seeds, so…
Now your worms have been working hard eating, pooping, and reproducing so now it is time to harvest the fruits of their labor (worm castings) There are a few methods to harvest worm castings so I will briefly describe a few: Dump and Sort Much like it sounds you simply dump out your worms and castings onto a plastic sheet. Sort through and catch as many worms as you…
The Idea and Design My PC Grow box was very effective though it did have some shortcomings along with my desire for tinkering caused me to create a new version code named “Project Everbearing” after the test subjects for the project, several Everbearing strawberry plants I propagated from my garden last Summer/Fall. The specific shortcomings I wanted to overcome were temperature control and limited size. My grow box has…
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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