The quarantine has triggered a trend in growing one’s food. Even before the lockdown, cultivator extraordinaire Tet Lara has been patiently showing people how to tend to urban gardens and vegetable patches. She has shown how to recycle containers into plant boxes. For example, Lara has come up with tiered seedling containers strung together using discarded plastic juice bottles.

She has turned ordinary market baskets or bayong into plant boxes.

She has also repurposed discarded empty milk containers into garden fixtures filled with greenery.

For the tiered seedling pods, you will need: empty plastic bottles, scissors that can cut through hard plastic, nylon or wire cord, and a nail or screwdriver for punching holes in the bottles.

Using the scissors, cut out one side of the bottle lengthwise, leaving a border of about an inch or so on both ends.

With nail or screwdriver, punch a hole at the center of each end, at the borders, all the way through the other side of the bottle.Punch a few more holes on the solid side of the bottle. This will serve as drain for excess water.

Do this with a few more bottles, depending on how many tiers you need or want.

String the cord through the holes. Tie knots outside each hole, as stopper to keep the bottle in place. Repeat the process with the other bottles till you have your desired number of tiers.

Lara advises putting mindful effort in the choice of materials. Consider getting the right mix of soil, worms and organic fertilizers in place, as well as using unchlorinated water and ensuring proper exposure of the plants to the sun. INQ