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.
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…
alt=”020″ width=”525″ height=”394″ border=”0″ /> It is that time of year again to stock up on some pumpkin puree from some fresh pumpkins. Not sure if it is the 3rd daughter or just getting older but this year I have come up with an ever faster way to convert pumpkins into puree. Not only does this give you a better tasting pie, but given a organic pumpkin cost $6…
In the past couple years we have grown strawberries the story has been my oldest daughter salivating over the strawberries asking, “Is it red enough yet?” This year her desire for strawberries is just as great though with the plant maturing as well as the additional plant we propagated last year she has been easily getting her fill with plenty more ripe strawberries on the plants. Not wanted to…
Given the price of produce these days and how blackberries cannot be killed here in the Pacific Northwest there are not too many trails that don’t have these bushes attempting to overtake them I decided to take my 4-year old with me blackberry picking. In just about 15 minutes (also length of time 4-year old has for blackberry picking) we were able to pick exactly 4 cups of blackberries….
Every time I buy vanilla I always have to stare at the bottles for a few minute contemplating if I should pay the extra cost for “Pure Vanilla” versus the imitation stuff. Provided the real stuff costs 15 times more than the fake stuff when I walk away with my little eye dropper worth of pure vanilla extract for the small fee of $7.99. Just for the record that…
I had great results using coconut coir last growing season it was great to work with, retained water great for young seedlings, and was economically priced. The only challenge was actually finding some to use this year. No luck in local stores, last year I only could find a single block in one hardware store. Online there are plenty of locations that sell them, but unless you have a…
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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