I love this idea: herb-gardens that come as rolled up "turf" made from corrugated cardboard, ready to be unrolled, watered and tended. I can't tell if it's just a concept or a product (the designer's site is a huge Flash blob that won't load properly for me on my slow hotel-room connection).
chris chapman: roll-out vegetable garden (via IZ Reloaded)
English designer Chris Chapman wanted to make planting vegetables and herbs at home less work with his roll-out vegetable mats. The design aims to make home food production as simple as possible and easy to maintain for busy individuals and families. The design features a mat pre-treated with fertilizer on its underside and a series of seed pouches which slowly biodegrade over time.
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Interesting idea. But somehow I think maybe it misses the point. Sure it may work for time poor middle-class people who like a gardening gimmick, but poor people who need to grow vegetables to eat will only be able to afford to buy packs of seeds - which work perfectly way BTW.
I wonder if this works better than other roll-out seed mats. I don't know anyone (including myself) who has ever had any luck with them.
I've used roll-out garden products, and I've had huge success with the "Wildflowers" version, but only middling success with the "Victorian Garden" version.
I think the problem with these products (the ones I used) is that the seeds are not uniformly distributed. This works fine for a wildflower patch, but for an herb garden or a Victorian garden, you need patterns and appropriate spacing.
I used a birthday-gifted Aero-Gro for my herbs one year, but I've gone back to just buying a flat of started plants at the beginning of the season and growing them in a raised bed in the back yard.
Another plus: It automatically "mulches" the surface, saving you some weeding.
I agree with Apoxia that this is a convenience item -- but there's a legitimate market for those too. It's not only the poor who grow their own veggies.
From the site:
If you have a weak internet connection please be patient some images may take a while to load.
I think these are just concept pieces.
WGMLeslie..
Huh?
I think this is cool. I couldn't find a price for them anywhere,though.
I'm not any good at gardening and don't really have the time for it, but would love to have some fresh herbs or veggies. Something like that would really make it more convenient. Plus, they looked like they might even be the right size for even patio container gardening.
My mom got a couple of similar things a few years ago, for some flowers and such, and they ended up working surprisingly well.
Bless you, DMinkin.
This morning I've seen at least twenty websites hailing Chris Chapman's "roll-out seed mats" as the hot new thing. You're the first commenter I've seen pointing out that (a.) this is not new; and (b.) most of them don't work very well.
I forgive Cory; he's not a gardener. But some of the sites that have featured this link are focused on green products, including gardening supplies, so they have no excuse.
Seed mats have been around forever. Here's one: Roll-Out Flowers. Here's another: the Roll 'n Grow Miracle Garden in a Box ... wait for it ... As Seen on TV. QVC sells them. So do cheap gift catalogs, junk-mail flyers, and the Michigan Bulb Company.
Occasionally I hear about someone getting good results with one. This is usually because they had good soil, dug and raked it, watered-in the mat and kept it watered thereafter, and started with a good-quality seed mat of recent vintage. An experienced gardener would know to do all that, but seed mats mostly get marketed to newbies, so it's mostly a matter of luck.
yup, about the only good I see is perhaps it might encourage the gadget minded to try gardening. Oh, I recommend someone do the homework to cash in on the coming legalization boom. This kind of gimmick will do well for a few months. Sales anyway.
Redstarr, if you're a complete newbie and you don't have a lot of space, just find a reliable local garden center and buy your plant seedlings from them.
If you're going with containers, get big ones and make sure you fill them with good soil that will hold a lot of water. Container gardens dry out easily. Unless you live in the UK or Pacific Northwest, avoid terra-cotta clay containers.
Takuan: Sure, why not? Houses change hands. A non-gardener could wind up with a well-worked annual or vegetable garden and have no idea what to put in it.
The other thing seed mats are good for is little kids.
hey, you would be good person to ask: Has anyone written an appropriate service to be said over soil about to be sacrificed? Sometimes we have to bury the earth and it should be done mindfully.
I don't have a remotely green thumb, but I wasn't sure why this was terribly innovative either. I suppose it's a little more advanced than your average sod, but I guess I figured that *surely* someone had already invented a flower/herb version. I was pretty sceptical about this, though, since I've seen tons of sod dead soon after being laid.
I'm guessing it wasn't properly watered and fertilized, as the owners probably thought the sod would magically bound with the ground and thrive on its own. I mean, it managed to grow up into a nice carpet roll, right?
turf sod is a racket. Many selling it know damn well the substrate they use won't take short of being alternately flooded and fed every day for three months or so. But that's OK, guess they'll just come back for more, huh?
I think its an interesting product. The cardboard will act as a weed inhibitor and moisture holder. I've seen seeds rolled out into recycled paper. The paper discintegrates over time and whether the seeds ever sprout is anyone's guess, but in theory, I think its charming.
I've switched over totally to flowering plants. I can't compete with the bugs for the herbs and veggies. Let em have em. I'm going out for a slew of milkweed today to feed the monarchs on their way to Mexico.
An advantage of wildlife gardening is that you don't have to worry about contamination as you might with a vegetable garden. Work in your compost and plant. No need to bury, gut, replace the earth. Just work it. :)
Takuan, I hear there's a blessing for everything, but I wouldn't know where to find it.
hmmm, was thinking more of a thanks and apology. Someone should write one.
Maybe Xopher knows...
If it's done mindfully, I would say there is no need for apology. Just thanks. And a promise to meet again on the next go round.
having seen so much rich, fertile topsoil, laid down over millennia and then paved for absurdities like car dealerships - I have a bad conscience.
Silicon Valley got built on top of some of the best farmland in the country.
I have a confidence for you.
I guess this good for folks who play at gardening. I find that working the soil and planting yourself to be much more satisfying.
Soooo . . . what?
It is better or greener or smarter or something to buy prefab seeds glued to a cardboard box, with dirt attached, packaged, shipped half way across the country, so that I can spread rain-soaked cardboard trash around my house, snaking amongst the refrigerators and cars on blocks, I suppose . . . .
. . . as opposed to poking some seeds in my own personal dirt and letting nature take its course.
I don't get it.
Well, yeah.