“FOUND CONTAINER” GARDENING
A growing group of gardeners in Senegal are based in urban areas. Some of those urban
gardeners may be able to afford the cost of constructing wooden tables, but others may
not. What can we offer them as an alternative? Go to your neighborhood trash-heap and
find out…
Note: These techniques may be applicable to rural gardeners as well!
What are some reasons to container garden?
 Lack of space for a traditional garden
 Unsuitable soil (may apply to farmers in rural areas as well)
 No in-ground area available to dig up for a garden
 Soil diseases in present garden (may apply to farmers in rural areas as well)
 Unfavorable growing conditions at the available in-ground site (too much salt, too
much water, pest/insect problems, etc.)
 Can be portable–you can move your garden with you
 Conserves water
 Free or very low cost
Some suggested containers:
 Tires (must line these with black sheet plastic):
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Water bottles (cut in half)
Vegetable oil bottles (also cut in half)
Rice sacks (rolled down to a suitable soil
depth, or turned on its side, tied shut and
planted—see photo):
Raised beds—can be used on top of
cemented areas (see “Improved Beds”
for how to construct one)
How-To “Found Container” Garden:
 Find and clean a container
 Poke holes in the bottom of the container
to allow for drainage
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Find substratum (can use a variety of substratum—experiment with what works
best in your area):
o Dirt/manure (depending on how much clay is in the soil, you may have to
experiment with mixing in some sand to allow for better drainage)
o Peanut shells/rice hulls/gravel (2:1:1 ratio??)
Plant your seeds or transplant your seedlings at recommended spacing
Water and fertilize (make sure that if you are not using manure in your substratum
that you fertilize frequently!)
Suggested crops:
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Experiment with what works best:
 Herbs:
o Mint
o Basil
Garlic: likes fertile soil and full sun, though it can survive in some shade
o Sesame: craves well-drained and fertile soil, but don’t add too much
nitrogen
o Ginger
 Fruits/Vegetables:
o Cucumber: needs lots of water and a large container
o Eggplant: do well with frequent fertilizing
o Lettuce: needs frequent feedings and waterings
o Squash: summer squash does especially well in containers.
o Tomato: with the assistance of stakes and deep holders, many varieties of
tomatoes do well in containers.
o Spinach: likes organically rich soil.
o Cabbage: grows well from seed and likes rich compost.
o Bean
o Radish
o Potato
o Turnip: like full or partial sun. Harvest promptly.
o Watermelon
o Sweet potatoes
 Other:
o Ornamentals (??)
o Aloe
o Cacti
POTATOES IN A TIRE/SACK
(thanks to Urban Ag PCVs Jennifer Neves and Heather Cole for this idea)
For potatoes and sweet potatoes, urban gardeners seldom have the space that they need.
Here is a great space-saving technique that can produce tons of potatoes!
Tools:
 Empty rice sack or stack of tires
 If using tires, a sheet of black plastic ?? meters long
 Soil/manure
How-To:
 If using a sack, make a few holes for drainage and roll the sack down until it is 45
cm tall
 If using tires, line a tire with black plastic sheeting as shown in “Found Container
Gardening”, and stack another tire on top of the first, making it approximately 45
cm tall
 Put in 30 cm of soil mixed with manure
 Plant three seed potatoes in a triangle
 When the potato stalks are 30 cm tall, roll up the bag six inches or add another
tire.
 Fill with soil and plant three more potatoes.
 Repeat the process until the bag is full, or until tires are stacked up to 6 high
 Yield: approximately 100 potatoes from each rice sack/stack of tires