Self-watering container gardens are an efficient method of growing. You can go on vacation and not have to worry that your tomatoes will be wilted when you get back. Ed Smith, the author of Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers, became fascinated with the possibilities of self-watering containers and began testing dozens of vegetables in various containers, experimenting with nutrients, soil mixtures, plant varieties, and container positioning.

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There’s an extensive review of manual reel mowers at Reel Mower Guide. The review covers the advantages and disadvantages of manual mowers, and offers some tips on purchasing and operating one. At Treehugger they have two articles where the pros and cons of reel mowers are weighed up by users: here and here. Apparently these modern manual mowers make it a lot easier to cut grass with nothing but your own pushing power. From what we’ve seen, overall, reviewers seem to think the Brill Luxus 38 reel mower is one to get, it sells for about $210. It is lightweight at 16.1 pounds, making it easy to maneuver and push. It uses a silent cutting blade system, and the cutting height is adjustable.

Botanikka sells very affordable heirloom vegetable seeds. They come in packs with quaint, retro images on them. We planted some of the seeds, and sure enough, we now have heirloom varieties of vegetables growing all over the place. See more info on heirloom seeds here. The French Cuisine mix, for example, contains ten packs of unusual, French-themed vegetables and herbs, for $7. Available from the
Botanikka Store.

We mentioned previously that using porous pavers is an effective alternative to paving with concrete. They make patios and driveways less erosion-prone and they do not get as hot as hard-surfaced pavement.

Now a company called Biopaver is trying to take things a step further by introducing a new type of paver designed to catch storm water run-off but also to reduce the impact of petroleum-based pollution (from oil and gasoline spills for example - quite a widespread problem).

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An interesting idea.

This planter can used to tomatoes, other vegetables or even flowers from a small area.

Hang on decks, patios, porches, balconies, or even from a tree.

The manufacturer claims feeding and watering is easy: you pour water or nutrients into the top of the funnel.

Web Site: Clean Air Gardening ($19.95)

The “Raised Beds” method of gardening is certainly metaefficient, and should be included in our guide here. Raised beds are widely acknowledged as the method to obtain the greatest yields of vegetables per alloted space.

You can read about the benefits here: Aaron’s Home & Garden weblog (Aaron is an expert in Rainwater Harvesting).

Website: Aaron’s Home & Garden

The book Cubed Foot Gardening: Growing Vegetables in Raised, Intensive Beds shows how to build these simple, inexpensive beds and how to grow the most popular vegetables in them, using innovative tricks and techniques that would not be possible to employ in a conventional garden.

Many people are reluctant to plant bamboo because they are afraid it will spread like wildfire and have the entire neighborhood up in arms against them. But there’s a simple solution to this problem — plant the right kind of bamboo — the “clumping” kind. The invasive kind is the “running” bamboo which probably should never touch foot in your garden.

Victor Cusak is an Australian expert in clumping bamboo, he is the author of Bamboo World, a book which explores some of the 1500 different species of bamboo in the world. He says:

The problem is that many countries, Australia amongst them, have inherited these originally northern Asian, cold-climate, monpodial bamboo species from European settlers who didn’t know the existence of the clumping species. The spreading habit of running bamboo has caused a strong prejudice to develop against all bamboos.

Cusak explains, with obviously enthusiasm, which clumping bamboos can be grown in cold climates, which bamboos are great for eating, and which species produce great windbreaks or “walls”. Bamboo World has many photographs of unusual, colorful species such as black bamboos and striped bamboos.

Available from: Amazon

TerraCycle is a product that could be called completely Metaefficient.

It is a liquid fertilizer produced through vermicomposting, or feeding organic waste to red worms. The worms’ excrement is a nutrient rich compost that can be mixed to produce liquid organic fertilizer.

The TerraCycle bottles are recycled soda bottled collected by students in elementary schools, and the trigger sprays are collected from large corporation who normally discard them.

Here is a list of retailers who sell TerraCycle, or you buy it online.

TerraCycle also sells a hydroponics fertilizer in a larger bottle.

Website: TerraCycle via Treehugger

Some garden hoses leach lead and other chemicals into the water. The problem is that they are made of PVC, which uses lead as a stabilizer.

Consumer Reports tested 16 brands of garden hose sold at national chains and on the internet. In some hoses they measured 10 to 100 times more lead than the EPA considers safe coming out of a faucet. The hoses they found to be lead-free are: Swan Marine/Camper Hose, Teknor Apex Boat & Camper Self-Straightening Hose, Gardener’s Supply Company Hose and the Better Homes and Gardens Kink-Free Hose.

We also like the Handi-Hose (pictured above) which is a compact flat hose, approved by the NSF and FDA for drinking water. It’s available from Amazon.

The Oasis Automatic Plant Watering System by Claber is a programmable system that distributes up to 6 gallons of water to as many as 20 plants.

It is a completely independent system, needing no connection to a tap or electrical main. It runs on one 9V battery.

Available from: Smart Home ($89.99)

Fungi Perfecti is the web site of Paul Stamets, author of “Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms“. Stamets has a long history of discovering and cultivating edible and medicinal mushrooms. He researches useful aspects of fungi such as their antiviral properties and their potential for “mycoremediation” (restoring polluted or damaged habitats with fungi).

Through the Fungi Perfecti web site you can order from a large selection of mushroom “Patches”, which are starter kits to grow your own exotic mushrooms! Some of the varieties available are: Shiitake, Pearl Oyster, Pink Oyster, Reishi, Enokitake plus many other unusual speicies. The cost is $24 per kit.

Stamets also advocates putting the mushroom patches in your backyard or forested area, to yield further “fruitings”. Some fungi are highly beneficial to other plants and trees - they assist with the uptake of water and nutrients, as well as fighting diseases.

Also available are a number of mushroom extracts for medicinal purposes, all of which are certified organic.

Web site: Fungi Perfecti

There are thousands of varieties of vegetables that are practically unseen on supermarket selves. Called "heirloom" vegetables, these varieties have been cultivated by seeds passed down by generations of growers. Some, such as the Brandywine Tomato above, are said to be the most flavorful of their kind. Others varieties include the seeds descended from the vegetables Thomas Jefferson planted at Monticello and the seeds carried by the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears march.

Unlike commercial hybrids, if you grow these vegetables, you will be able to save the seeds yourself, and plant them in the next growing season.

You can sometimes find heirloom vegetables at local nurseries. Alternatively, you can purchase seeds from sources such as these: Seeds of Change or Territorial Seeds.

The "Seed Savers Exchange" is the largest organization worldwide devoted to saving heirloom vegetables.

"The Garden Watchdog" has extensive reviews of seed vendors.