Living buckets are a strategy people can use to grow food at home, even if space, money and expertise are limited. Two food-grade plastic buckets from restaurants are nested, with the bottom bucket serving as a self-watering reservoir.

The idea comes to us from Creation Care Council Member Greg Bowman, who used it in his work as director of Goodness Grows, a faith-based nonprofit near North Lima, Ohio. They adapted the idea from globalbuckets.org. At Goodness Grows, disabled people drilled the holes in the buckets, and college students designed a business plan to promote the product.

Bowman’s living bucket was on display at the MCUSA convention in 2011 and offered as a free gift to a willing taker. It contained tomatoes, basil and lettuce. Instructions for making and planting a global bucket are available at globalbuckets.org.