Expired and antique tractor tires are often discarded into landfills when people get their usage out of them. The material isn't very eco friendly s...
Expired and antique tractor tires are often discarded into landfills when people get their usage out of them. The material isn’t very eco friendly so finding ways to recycle and reuse these antique tractor tires could help save the planet one step at a time.
A raised flower bed is an excellent example of a crafty use for antique tractor tires. You have a large space to put as many seeds as you need so you can have a fully filled flower bed. These tires are especially great for plants or flowers that have to be contained in a certain place.
Another great use or the old and antique tractor tires is for yard and property decorations. Partially burying the tires can create a small border or fence around any landscaping area, or you can paint them to add even more flare. These types of decorating styles are mostly seen in rural areas for obvious reasons. No matter where you live these tires could add the touch of the country you are looking for.
A popular way to reuse and recycle old antique tractor tires is to make a raised flower bed out of them. The tire will lay out virtually any surface and then you just insert your dirt and seeds for your own giant flower pot. The wide diameter makes it great for multiple plants to grow within.
Looking online for more creative ways to use your old tires is a great way to gain more ideas. Using these tires in playgrounds as barrier or even sandboxes can help you be more eco friendly without much effort. If you are not sure you can make these on your own, you can gain more confidence with watching online tutorial and videos using old tractor tires.
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Paul Stamets’ Mycelium Running is a must have reference book for anyone working the land in any form, whether it be farming, forest management or environmental cleanup. But also for people who, like me, enjoy growing things, especially delectable edibles.
The book is filled to the brim with valuable information on how to improve soils for farming, gardening and forestry; create simple, low-cost biofilters for waste water (mycofiltration); and clean up toxic waste (mycoremediation).
As an example, a method for building a mycofiltration bed to filter waste water is described in exacting detail. Dimensions, depth, layers and recommended materials and mushrooms are listed. This mycofiltration is useful, among other things, for filtering manure enriched farm runoff.
Not only does it solve the problem of farm runoff and E. coli contamination of nearby streams, it can also yield highly palatable food mushrooms, and the bed itself can be dug out every 2-3 years and then used as an excellent fertilizer for the farm.
Also useful for farmers is the information on no-till farming, which involves a method of leaving the stubble on the field until the next crops is planted. This encourages the development of saprophytic fungi, which break down old plant matter at a pace that’s highly beneficial for new plant life. In contrast, the conventional method of plowing down the stubble after harvest promotes anaerobic bacteria, which decompose organic substrate too rapidly. The saprophytic fungi also help prevent soil erosion and leaching of valuable nutrients and top soil.
Saprophytic fungi benefit forests too, by breaking down organic matter but also help by competing with parasitic fungi (blights), which may kill thousands of trees if not stopped. Foresters can easily seed saprophytic mushrooms in blight infested areas as a natural fungicide against parasitic fungi, fighting fire with fire.
Mycorrhizal mushrooms can also be seeded to support the forest, or they may simply be encouraged to grow naturally by using more enlightened methods of forest management.
Mycorrhizal fungi help extend the reach of tree roots to better absorb nutrients and water, thus making the trees healthier and more drought resistant. Mycorrhizal fungi also manufacture and provide trees with natural antibiotics against many pathogens, especially parasitic fungi.
Mushroom mycelium can also be utilized to clean up toxic waste sites through a method known as mycoremediation. The term was invented by the author of Mycelium Running, Paul Stamets, but was in common use before the publication of this book.
Petrochemicals and biological warfare agents can be effectively broken down by mushroom mycelium, as can dioxin and toxic industrial waste. Even toxic levels of chlorine, which is used as the universal biocide, can be neutralized by some species of mushrooms. Bacterial contaminants like Staphylococcus sp. and E. coli can be killed, and heavy metals can be absorbed by mushrooms to then be removed from a site.
Mycoremediation is extremely economical, at less than 5% the cost of some conventional methods for cleaning up toxic waste.
All that is just in the first half of this 300-page book; the second half is an instruction manual on growing your own mushrooms and mycelia, which is something that may be of interest to forest managers for mycoforestry, environmentalists for mycoremediation, farmers for increasing soil productivity, and the rest of us for growing our own gourmet mushrooms for food and medicine. In other words, this is a book for anyone and everyone.
Dr. Markho Rafael has worked in the natural health field since finishing Chiropractic College in’96. He currently focuses on medicinal mushrooms, frequently consulting two reference books: for medicinal, biological and chemical properties of mushrooms, and as the most comprehensive identification guide for North American mushrooms.
