FARM Container Vegetable Garden

Here's a pic of what I plan as a container garden. The barrels once caught rain water but had rusted through so I cut them in half and put old hose over the sharp edges. I put chicken wire around 3 sides and will put it on the front as soon as I get soil in the pots to keep the neighborhood bunnies out. The chicken wire will also help to support plastic sheeting later this fall and early next spring. In the hottest weather, I'll put sheets of latice on the top and the west side. I plan to use the swing hooks for some of Observer999's hanging buckets. ( http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=290001&highlight=bucket )

What I end up planting this fall will depend on what is available.

I would love anyone's suggestions on planting as well as the design.

eta; the tall white barrel will be used to hold soil until I get the hanging buckets ready

Wow - what a great setup! Neat idea to use an old swingset. I love how creative TB2Kers are!

Writermom

I agree, WriterMom!!

Knell you've created a really great mini-garden!! Love the recycling aspects and sheer creativity!!! Good for you!!!

Thank you WriterMom and CelticRose. I was inspired by all the great container gardens I've seen here on TB2K!

I've grown flowers in containers but never veggies so I welcome any suggestions anyone might have.

Knell, You might want to move those back barrels to the center so when you have plants in them, they are not touching the plastic cover. Wherever they touch the plastic cover you invite either frostbite or rot. Since you won't be adding more barrels in the front to complete the double rows, it makes sense to put your short plants on the outside and taller ones in the center. I would move them now before they are too heavy.

As to what to plant, I would use the outside ones to plant some pole beans and cucumbers on opposite ends. They will be finished by the time you need more sun in the fall. Plant smaller more sun sensitive plants in the middle for the summer and they will be shaded by the outside plants.

Come fall, I would put beets, carrots, green onions, radishes, and small plants like that on the outside barrels. On the inside barrels, you can put in Romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, Kale, and maybe a broccoli plant. It all depends on your likes, but you do get the idea. Tall on the sides and short in the middle for summer. Short on the sides and taller in the middle for fall and winter. Have fun with your garden.

Mushroom

we just bought 2 bags of organic soil, and are planning to put the potatoes with eyes and roots in them on the 30th of July which is supposed to be an excellent planting day.

If potatoes grow as well in dirt as they do under the cabinet on the kitchen floor I will be able to become a global market food exporter!

I am trying a few of these this summer. So far they have done pretty good. I will be planting the heck out of them this fall.

http://www.arts4all.com/elca/page2.html

http://www.technologyforthepoor.com/UrbanAgriculture/Garden.htm

What is your situation, that you have decided to do container gardening rather than in the ground? Renting? If you own the ground, I'm sorry I don't understand the need to container garden. Nothing is going to grow as well as it would in a well ammended garden bed. Barrels will need to be watered much more frequently, soil temps will probably be too warm, and things will be too crowded. If you are renting and can't build a raised bed or till the ground, then I understand. Good luck with it.

Hmm, you could get 3 to 4 tomato plants in one of those barrels, easy. Maybe a couple of squash or zucchini plants in another. I'd probably put 3 or 4 cukes in another one, maybe spinach and other greens in a smaller one. Could also do herbs in one of the small ones - there's room for several different plants, so one barrel could be a mini herb garden.

NCHomemaker, one can cut down on watering by using Hydrosorb crystals. My containers are 6 and 8 gallon tubs with a mix of potting soil and Hydrosorb crystals. NO watering issues in terms of frequency, though I DO have to remember to Miracle Gro the beds in the spring and mid summer and when I clear them in the fall and stack the tubs....
The rhubarb tub and the chives and raspberry/strawberry tubs go on top.....

Great setup and recycling!
Keep us updated

Mushroom said:

Knell, You might want to move those back barrels to the center so when you have plants in them, they are not touching the plastic cover. Wherever they touch the plastic cover you invite either frostbite or rot. Since you won't be adding more barrels in the front to complete the double rows, it makes sense to put your short plants on the outside and taller ones in the center. I would move them now before they are too heavy.

As to what to plant, I would use the outside ones to plant some pole beans and cucumbers on opposite ends. They will be finished by the time you need more sun in the fall. Plant smaller more sun sensitive plants in the middle for the summer and they will be shaded by the outside plants.

Come fall, I would put beets, carrots, green onions, radishes, and small plants like that on the outside barrels. On the inside barrels, you can put in Romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, Kale, and maybe a broccoli plant. It all depends on your likes, but you do get the idea. Tall on the sides and short in the middle for summer. Short on the sides and taller in the middle for fall and winter. Have fun with your garden.

Mushroom

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tall and short plant tips! I wouldn't have thought about that.
As for the plastic, one of the reasons I put the swing against the fence is so the plastic can go to the top of the fence then across to the top of the swing, giving me more vertical space. The latice will be attached to the top of the fence and the top of the swing during hot weather.

nchomemaker said:

What is your situation, that you have decided to do container gardening rather than in the ground? Renting? If you own the ground, I'm sorry I don't understand the need to container garden. Nothing is going to grow as well as it would in a well ammended garden bed. Barrels will need to be watered much more frequently, soil temps will probably be too warm, and things will be too crowded. If you are renting and can't build a raised bed or till the ground, then I understand. Good luck with it.

Click to expand...

There are several reasons I decided to try this container garden. 1; I hate to pull weeds! I'm much more likely to pull a few from these containers than from a bed. Also, we have a bermuda grass lawn that very quickly invades any watered area, like flower beds, etc. So I would have needed to put down some kind of barrier to keep the grass out. 2; To put in a 'in ground' garden or raised beds, I would have had to buy stuff like fencing materials and a tiller (or at least a hoe). I already had everything I've used for the containers. 3; with the containers, I expect to actually use less water since all the moisture will go directly to the plants, not unproductive soil. I think, using my flower pots as a guide, that I won't have any problem keeping the pots suffciently watered.

If things don't grow well in the barrels, then I may invest in the materials for a regular garden one of these days.

Straycat said:

Hmm, you could get 3 to 4 tomato plants in one of those barrels, easy. Maybe a couple of squash or zucchini plants in another. I'd probably put 3 or 4 cukes in another one, maybe spinach and other greens in a smaller one. Could also do herbs in one of the small ones - there's room for several different plants, so one barrel could be a mini herb garden.

Click to expand...

Can I really get 3 or 4 tomatos in one of these barrels?? I had though maybe two at most.


eta; If it seems that the soil in the barrels is getting too hot, I can paint the barrels or I have some off-white linolium scraps that I can wrap around the outside to reflect some of the sunlight.

We grow tomatoes both in the ground and in big planters on our deck. The plants on the deck do better because we can control the conditions better. We do have to water them twice a day when they get big and it's hot. It's been in the nineties for about a week here in the northeast.
Even if it rains, you still have to water them because they shed most of the water away when they get real big and tall. Ours stand about seven feet tall now and are full of tomatoes.
We put four tomato plants in our pots which are slightly smaller than your barrels. We put two planters side by side and put an eight foot garden stake in one of the pots and tie them up as needed.
With your ingenious swing set idea, you will have plenty of support for your plants!
Great idea to use the old garden hose around the sharp edge of the cut barrels!

PilotFighter said:

I am trying a few of these this summer. So far they have done pretty good. I will be planting the heck out of them this fall.

http://www.arts4all.com/elca/page2.html

http://www.technologyforthepoor.com/UrbanAgriculture/Garden.htm

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Love these wading pool gardens! Please keep us posted on how they do.

Being handicapped I am limited to containers and raised beds. When I started years ago with 5 gallon pails I wondered how the plastic containers would hold up to uv but aside from a couple of the tops of the pails ( which cracked here and there) I have not observed any degradation of other containers over some 6-7 years. The self watering containers (about 15 ga )that I got from Walmart are my fav but I havent seen them for the last two years.
I now have a supply of used white 30 ga plastic drums that I cut in half that work very well. I have learned that at least for me , the bigger the better when it comes to containers. The only plants I grow in the old 5 ga pails are roma tomatoes , kale, and a few lettuce plantings. For full size tomatoes including cherries I want the largest, one plant per container. We just canned the first batch of pole beans from containers ( 21 qts ) and will be doing the next batch this weekend. I just replanted all of the pea containers with pole beans for fall harvest. Should wind up with well over 100 qts for the season.
For utilizing open space on a hard surface I prefer containers to raised beds. Easier access ( weeding and picking ) and being able to change and adapt are the pluses. The biggest negative is moving them twice a season ( snow removal etc ) and for this we use a loader with forks and pallets.
If you get any significant number of containers you will want a drip irrigation system which is easy enough to set up.
Para.

Para36 can post pics?

NC Susan said:

we just bought 2 bags of organic soil, and are planning to put the potatoes with eyes and roots in them on the 30th of July which is supposed to be an excellent planting day.
If potatoes grow as well in dirt as they do under the cabinet on the kitchen floor I will be able to become a global market food exporter!

Click to expand...

This summer we planted our potatoes with eyes on them just in the big plastic bags that I found suggested here at TB2K and have I got potato plants! When I added more dirt a few weeks ago I had small potatoes growing so am really excited to see how many we get.

We planted all our tomatoes in planters this year - about 12 of them - and they did very well - still going, so I would do that again. Am thinking what I can plant in them as soon as the tomatoes are done - any suggestions? The soil here in California isn't very good in our area so the planters were an excellent choice.

Husband's relative has a landscape business so I "inherited" some wonderful landscape pots in which I filled with dirt and purchased ammendments. I planted tomatoes in them and placed them in front of the picket fence on both sides of the house. Wish I could send a picture. It is working out great. I also have a small 12/12 foot garden right by the house with squash, onions, corn, herbs, and tomatoes there too. The corn is just for seed for next year. It's a tiny garden.

LeafyForest said:

This summer we planted our potatoes with eyes on them just in the big plastic bags that I found suggested here at TB2K and have I got potato plants! When I added more dirt a few weeks ago I had small potatoes growing so am really excited to see how many we get.

We planted all our tomatoes in planters this year - about 12 of them - and they did very well - still going, so I would do that again. Am thinking what I can plant in them as soon as the tomatoes are done - any suggestions? The soil here in California isn't very good in our area so the planters were an excellent choice.

Click to expand...

Maybe you could put in some Romaine lettuce if it isn't too hot after your tomatoes are done. We put twelve plants in a 16" by 16" container and pick off the outer leaves as they grow. The plants last until it gets too hot and they go to seed. It's great to be able to go out on the deck and pick a fresh salad, and it's about the only way to get salad greens that you know are safe to eat.

Love the swing set idea with fencing around it to not only protect the plants from rabbits and such but to grow pole beans.... how creative!