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Recycle those Tires!

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Tires…do you have old worn out tires lying around your property? If you ever try to give them to tire centers or try to get rid of them, you will be informed that they are hazardous waste, and you will be charged a fee for each tire taken off your hands. Save those fees; put those tires to good use and be creative, whether you have tires on their rims, or just plain tires; all of your junk can be recycled into practical and decorative raised beds.

No matter how large or small, your old tires can be recycled into raised beds. Just place them on the ground where you’d like a flowerbed or a bumper crop of potatoes; fill with dirt and plant—you’re done! Flowerbeds can look exceptionally pretty when planted in big tractor tires, painted white. Spray-paint works well on tires, as does gloss paint.

Alternatively, you may want to take advantage of the lowly tire’s natural color, black. If you are still experiencing chilly nights at planting time, the tire, being a natural passive solar collector, will transfer its heat from the daytime sunshine, into the earth within, helping to keep your tender plants and seedlings warm and thriving. The raised bed also offers some protection from the nip of Jack Frost—sometimes still present around planting time.

It doesn’t take long to prepare and place your old tires, fill them with earth and plant them with your favorite vegetables and flowers. The depth of the tire is just right to promote good root development in all your crops, whatever you decide to plant. If you have horse manure, you might like to spread some on your raised beds to keep deer from eating your precious crops, Mother Earth News, October 1999, Article, Oh Deer, Not Horse Manure! by Joyce Tomanek Clarksville, Georgia, USA http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1279/1... , explains why she goes treasure hunting for, “brown gold.”

I must admit, I’m most fortunate to have access to tons of horse manure, right here in my yard. I’m hoping for a bumper crop of flowers and veggies this year, untouched by deer; courtesy of Pepper, my daughter’s horse.

If you have a hacksaw handy you might want to take your tire, still on its rim, and cut a zigzag pattern all the way around half the tread of the tire. Then you can turn the zigzag inside out, and then turn out the bottom part of the tire to form a sturdy base, and voila! You have a lovely planter! Spray paint it attractively, and it should fetch $20 with no problem at all.

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