Well, perhaps you can think of other costs. My labor and time are investments and costs to me, too. The quality and yield of my final product matter to me; earning or pay $1/hr vs. $50/hr. These are also costs even if the priorities may differ by individual. Perhaps you didn't look at the thousands of pictures from hydroponicsonline.com or any of the sites I referenced above; it's a lot to go through. These are also low cost DIY designs or combination designs ranging from small and large planters to commercial growers; thus, the wastes (of fertilizer and water) created alluded by you do not apply in all situations and the minor differences are relative secondary to availability of raw materials and individual needs and goals. Both self-watering and hydroponic crops grow faster requiring smaller areas than conventional growing method, principles which The Dark Method adopts, because there is less waste. There isn't anything unique or new about The Dark Method that hasn't been practiced that I can see unless you can delineate them for me. And if small size is the measure of success or achievement by your standard, Hydroponicsonline uses 16 oz plastic drinking cups as growers and uses recycled soda bottles (and bleach bottles) as well. His sequential pictures are marked by dates (or he showed plant progress and notated the dates - that is art and science and business). The site shows real size tomatoes and strawberries. He shows growers from club members and his associations with local universities. He shares both his successes and failures. The multiple models from Rooftop Gardens with results that have been duplicated and documented by others are flexible enough would appeal to a large diverse groups of people. I'm not saying these two sources are the definitive sources for alternate container growers or that their growers are perfect without problems. I offered them because I happened to have looked at them and because I don't see what is unique about The Dark Method than the principles that have been used by others. Moreover, if I were an artist and a visionary, I would be open to give credit to those who influenced my art, compare and contrast (without being defensive) the pros and cons of different models and techniques when people ask questions to show the depth my knowledge and expertise, and adopt and learn from the successes and failures of others to improve my art form. I'm all for recycling, and I share and appreciate hearing your inventions and your desire to get diverse people inspired to grow things on a budget and more easily. I am sure The Dark Gardening Method works, but I personally would (as I get older and time is running out :) - spend the time and money building a more permanent low cost growing system by learning from those who have succeeded with documented appreciable results. Similar to you, the fruits of my labor or vision may not be the predominant consideration as costs and functional aesthetics, but yield and quality do count in relation to my investment in time and labor when I do a project in the final analysis. Being an artist and a computer person you are, it should be very simple for you. Instead of hitting people with incoherent introduction of your system haphazardly (and you answering the same questions) while turning others off, if you build an organized website with logical explanations of your system and progress pictures of your crops this year, you just have to offer a link to your website. I think even more people would be interest and there will be less skeptics to work with. When your site can explain your grower and progress clearly and simply, you and others wouldn't have to be asked to repeat the basics of your system. Lastly, I would like to ask five questions about your system (started with one but they kept growing): 1) How can one repot in midseason or reuse the grower for the next season without causing damage to the upper and lower plastic bottles if the bottles are glue shut. 2) What growing medium (or % mix) did you find work best with The Dark Method? 3) What have you grown successfully with the method? 4) Why 7 stalks of corn per bottle and not 1,3, or 12? 5) Why is it important to stress low water use? Exceptional low water use would indicate slow growth to me. Do the harvests fall w/in the expected schedule? Maybe these can be on your future FAQ page.

Hey Battalina, what kind of zucchini is it? I grow costata Romanesco (Bush) and Tatume (Vine). The romanesco plants are enormous. The tatume isn't a small vine either. I never could have imagined how large the bush plant is though. Anyway, they need a place with quite a bit of sun. If your spot truly gets a full 5 hours, they may be able to make it with that. In terms of soil, we have clay here in Decatur, Ga. I often amend the clay with some organic garden soil from Home Depot and some USDA Organic compost, so that I'll get a large yield. This is only if I haven't planned well though. If you have a good experience with the Zucchini and want to grow them next year, be sure to amend a nice, sunny spot in your yard (doesn't have to be a raised bed but can be) with some wood chips (you can probably get this free), lots of brown leaves/straw, egg shells, and a bit of nitrogen (manure, coffee grounds, and kitchen scraps like broccoli stems, potato, carrot and cucumber peel, banana peels, etc). Let all of this sit and turn about half way through it's six month sitting time. If you do this, you'll have rich amended clay that becomes almost like soil bought from the store by the next Spring/Summer growing season. Or at least I always do here in Georgia with the red clay in my yard. Before adding the above stuffs though, be sure to get all the grass roots and weeds out the area and break up the clay with your hands. If the clay is a wet clay, just mix in the items above the best you can. I grow a lot of cucumber and zucchini in my red clay filled yard, so I bet you can get a nice harvest too in yours. Hope this helps. p.s. If you get downy or powdery mildew on any squash, spray it with organic skim milk mixed with water (1 to 1 ratio) every 3-4 days if you like. Neem is also really good for deterring cucumber beetle as is a bit of diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the base of the plants now and then.

PKguy was discussing a rainbarrel watering system elsewhere and said that he has found barrels for free at CocaCola bottling plants. Living in Georgia, that should be a resource you can locate! He says he asks for the barrels from phosphoric acid. He lives in Canada, so there may be different customs/laws/liabilities about being able to get these. He asks the guard at the gate for them. Someone else on the thread said they see them advertised in the want ads. gutter water distribution thread from the Renewable Energy Forum I have rainbarrels from the Garener's Supply catalogue. 75 gal rainbarrel They were very expensive, and I am certain you can do better. I just needed something that held a lot of water, and was very handy. I have limited do-it-yourself potential at my house! Check out the thread from Renewable Energy, I linked in my response there to a barrel tap that you might find usefull. I like my rainbarrels. The only problems I have had are 1)the one in the back yard was not elevated and I could not get fast enough flow to fill a watering can, and 2)the darned drain hose was always getting loose (dogs hitting it?) and draining the water out of the barrel. So this year I have purchased a platform to put it on to elevate it and get some flow, and will rig something better to hold the hose. The rainbarrel in the front garden is at the top of a slope, so does drain easily. I get the mosquito-control rings that have bt to inhibit the hatching of mosquitos in the standing water in the barrels. I also toss a piece of one in the bottom of all of my gardening containers that have water reservoirs in them. We don't need West Nile or more pesky skeeters! mosquito rings You may find these cheaper elsewhere, I only linked here because I was already on their site. I find that they last more than a month, too.

I know I'm a little late to the party here, but there are many options for rain barrels in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, especially for do-it-yourselfers. All you need is a barrel, a place for water to go in and a place for water to go out. Food grade plastic drums work great, as do wine barrels. Whiskey barrels are OK, but smell like booze and for the money you would be much better off buying a wine barrel. The wood used on wine barrels is much thicker and usually the barrels are much newer. Below are some great local garden center's and companies in the area that stock different rain barrel styles. I'm sure there are many more that I've missed, but these are some that I know personally. The owners are all wonderful people and are very knowledgeable about their products. They also are all small locally-owned businesses who would love your support! I've made all of our rain barrels from scratch, so would be more than happy to explain how I did it if anyone is interested. Just repost or send me a message. You really don't need much for tools at all (unless you want to get fancy!) Plantique on Hiawatha in Minneapolis Rainy Day Barrel Co. in Hudson 715-808-1585 Shades of Green Landscaping in Anoka 763-427-8157 www.motherearthgarden.com www.ecogardensnorthfield.com www.uncommongardens.com www.bythebarrelmn.com Good luck!