Woolly Pocket Vertical School Gardens

Woolly School Garden from Drew Falkman on Vimeo.

I must admit that this is a school garden idea that is growing on me. Pun intended.

Although I've yet to product test Woolly Pockets the concept obviously relates to the needs of space short city schools.

Like sub-irrigated planters (SIPs), Wooly Pockets do not require breaking up paved surfaces and they avoid the risk of contaminated soil. This makes a lot of sense that so many dirt huggers seem to ignore.

I need to do some hands-on work with them to experience their horticultural functionality. I'm also very interested in their portability. Can they easily go home with teachers or students over the summer is the question? It appears that they can.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com
Website: WoolySchoolGarden.org

From an L.A. Times blog...

I’ve been smitten with Woolly Pockets ever since they came on the market in the spring of 2009. The fuzzy, brightly colored planters create an instant vertical garden without any complicated construction. Just fill the pockets with dirt, pop in a seedling or some seeds, and water. They're simple, they look great and they're green -- made of recycled plastic bottles.

You'd expect to see them at homes, restaurants, hotels and even certain stores, but I was surprised to learn that over the last year the pockets have also been installed in more than 200 schools across the country.

Miguel Nelson, the sculptor who invented Woolly Pockets, was inspired to create the Woolly School Garden program after hearing Alice Waters in the summer of 2009. The concept is simple: For $1,000 a school can order a complete Woolly School Garden with 50 pockets, vouchers for Gardener’s Gold potting soil, seeds and curriculum ideas. Nelson said a teacher and students should need just a few hours to install a Woolly School Garden, and because the pockets can be hung on any wall or chain-link fence, there are no additional costs. Read more...

Comments

[Bruce F]

Good idea but unbelievably expensive. You can make these out of hanging pocket shoe organizers from the dollar store:

http://www.instructables.com/id/VERTICAL-VEGETABLES-quotGrow-upquot-in-a-smal/

[april whitely]

Each schools cost only $1000 for woolly garden, soil and nutrition curriculum. i dont think you can get that at the dollar store.