Peachester Garden Club Inc
Buckets of Hope project
Copyrighted project of the Peachester Garden Club. (Creative Commons).
The Peachester Garden Club initiated a project in response to the extreme devastation of people’s gardens in the Northern Rivers area of NSW as a result of the 2022 floods. We decided to make wicking beds in recycled 20 and 15 litre buckets, and deliver them to Lismore and other support hubs ready to take home and be enjoyed. We called the project “Buckets of Hope”, as our intention was to bring hope and joy to our fellow gardeners’ bleak world – where their soils were polluted at worst, and compressed, saturated and anaerobic at best.
We decided from the start that we would make the project plans available to other garden clubs for their potential use in other disasters, such as the current floods in NSW (July 2022).What are wicking buckets? They are self-watering gardens built using buckets. They are portable, so can be relocated when people are living in changeable circumstances, such as temporary accommodation. They are compact and easy to move. They are suitable for communities affected by flood, drought and fire .One bucket is placed inside another slightly larger bucket. The space between the two buckets is filled with water. So that the soil in the top bucket is watered, a column is inserted and filled with a wicking material, such as coconut coir. An overflow hole is drilled so that there is an air space between the maximum water level and the soil.
A pipe is inserted to allow filling with a hose. We tried several versions, but have agreed that the last model was the best – using a 15-litre bucket inserted into a 20-litre bucket, incorporating the requirements of a wicking bed. You’ll find the instructions for building this model here – 1Buckets of Hope - DIY.
Stages of the project
1. Seeking agreement of the executive and the club
2. Estimating quantities
3. Pricing materials
4. Fundraising
5. Seeking donations for materials
6. Promotion
7. Working bees
8. Delivery
Facebook contact Details Lismore details
Full Project Description Buckets of Hope
Clara's Bucket