My design for mobile greenhouse planters!

I've been thinking about how exactly to go about growing food on the Manic Organic bus for a couple of years now. Sort of weighing my possibilities and options for the space.

As was was falling asleep one night, a few months back... I had an idea! Cement mixing trays, funnels, tubing and viola!! We'll have planters!


I asked my good man to build me some wooden frames from the scrap lumber and pallets we had laying around. He built them to fit the plastic cement mixing trays and I drilled a single hole into the bottom of each tray.

We purchased plastic funnels and put one in each hole, fixing them in place with some silicone

 These funnels will attach to drain hoses underneath that will divert excess drainage into buckets hidden behind the curtains.

                                             
 The excess water that drains from the trays can be reused as it's collected. I do plan on having a worm bin in the bus as well so it could also be used to moisten the worms habitat when needed. Everything will be fairly self sufficient on board!

 I fastened mesh cages from some old aluminum screening we had salvaged from something , somewhere (re-use and up-cycle whenever possible!) This will keep the soil from falling through the funnels and clogging up the whole system

I've decided to use lava rock for the bottom of the trays. It's fairly inexpensive and lighter than stone or gravel. We need to keep the weight to a minimum so things don't get too top heavy even though the wooden frames will be secured to the walls before we drive anywhere.

The rock will fill the trays up to the level of the tops of the funnels, creating a reservoir space for water to collect. If the water level goes over the top of the funnel then it will drain out so nothing can get flooded or too saturated. This is very similar to how an earth box works. When you have the constant moisture available to your plants they really thrive. Plus the lava rock will also provide some air space for roots.  The soil will go on top of the rocks and fill the trays nearly to the top. I haven't gotten that far but I'm so excited about our progress that I had to share where we're at so far!