If you're looking for a fruit that's fresh and sweet, chances are you're reaching for a strawberry. But while they're certainly a family-favorite in the produce section, there's something about supermarket strawberries that's, well, disappointing. According to national plant wholesaler Bonnie Plants, the best strawberries come from a garden, where they have the opportunity to fully ripen, giving them a rich, aromatic flavor and melt-in-your-mouth juiciness.

Growing strawberries at home may seem like a challenge, but blogger Ananda from A Piece of Rainbow recently proved otherwise when she built a strawberry tower with a built-in water reservoir made out of recycled materials.

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This impressive strawberry planter is actually a tower of stacked five-gallon plastic nursery pots, with drain holes on the bottom. Ananda started the project by drilling holes in each of the pots. Note: holes should be no larger than 1.25″ so soil doesn't fall out.

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The internal water reservoir is made from a one-liter plastic water bottle. Ananda cut the bottom off of it and punched holes in its sides and cap, which was left screwed on tightly.

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Only the top pot should contain a water reservoir with soil and seedlings around it. A layer of rocks and pebbles at the top of the pot holds the soil in when it's watered.

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The rest of the pots should contain only soil and strawberry seedlings—then they can be stacked.

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Ananda waters her tower with compost tea every few weeks. She also rotates the stacked pots every 1-2 weeks so they all get equal sunlight.

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While this gardening project may take a bit of time and effort, it's well worth it to grow your own produce. Ananda even went through a few trial and errors to learn from her mistakes.

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Inspired to make your own strawberry tower? Get the full tutorial (plus some helpful tips on what not to do) at A Piece of Rainbow.

(h/t Lifehacker)

NEXT:
This Genius Tip Will Make Your Strawberries So Much Better

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Rebecca Shinners
Social Media Editor

Rebecca was the social media editor at CountryLiving.com and WomansDay.com.