soda bottle gardens

I've been really wanting to plant some food but my garden plot is a daunting weed filled mess right now and it is time to get planting. I found plans for 2 liter soda bottle planters on the web and I decided to give it a go. I don't drink much soda but I found soda on sale at the store for 1.00 a bottle so I bought some and just poured it out. Next time I think I'll just see if some of my friends have any leftover bottles. I hated the waste but still, a buck per bottle seemed cheap enough. I bought some polyester batting from Jo-Ann's fabrics, Pellon Thermolam Plus for 3 bucks a yard. I use a 1X5 inch strip so this will last for ever. I put the cut line on the bottle using a sharpie sitting on top of a cocontu milk can. I'd guess standard soup cans would work as well. I poked holes in the shoulder of the bottle by heating up a nail held with a pair of plyers over the stove. Then I just cut the bottle, put the strip in and pushed it down so it poked out of the neck a little bit using a chopstick. Then I added some potting mix, poked that done into the neck and put the whole thing together. The pictures above show the steps I took and the results, a strawberry plant and seeds for nasturtiums and arugula.