My stocktank veggie garden experiment

[CathyA]

Some of you might remember I'm trying to have more and more raised bed garden containers. I still have the big garden, but dang, it's hard work. So I bought these Behlen "food grade" poly stocktanks, drilled holes in the bottom and raised them 2 different ways. One was on cement blocks and the other was on bales of straw. I didn't expect the bales of straw to last more than 2 years, but as you can see in the second picture, the back stock tank is getting ready to make a dive. haha The other bales are doing great, so I'm not sure what made the one fall apart so soon. So we're going to put cement blocks under that one too. Should be fun......those puppies are HEAVY! I think I'll have to dig out a lot of the soil first.

I'm pretty happy how everything turned out. I planted kale, collards, green onions, haricot vert green beans, little carrots, baby pak choy, broccoli. The volunteer tomatoes did great! And they were a nice surprise. They just grew over the side and dangled down, and grew lots of fruit. Oh......and I had a volunteer cucumber that did the same.

The soil got pretty compacted, so I'll fluff it up and add more compost/soil to it. I think some things didn't grow fruit as well, because of the high nitrogen content that was probably in the soil (thanks to the chickens)......so I'll try to moderate that next year. The leaves grew like crazy though!

But........all in all, it's been great. It's wonderful to pull weeds and gather veggies at waist level!
I'm thinking about getting yet another stock tank for next year. I might have to trim a few of the trees in the backyard though....to get enough sun.

I don't seem to be any good at growing larger carrots or onions. Next year, I'm going to grow the roma tomatoes all in the stocktanks. I need to figure out the best way to over-winter the tanks. Supposedly they are good down to -20F. They did take a lot of watering though, but I can probably add more stuff to the soil that will hold in the water longer.
And I can use the decomposing straw for the garden and compost piles. Oh.....I grew a cherry tomato and also some parsley in food grade Tractor Supply 5 gallon buckets, and they both did great.

It's been really enjoyable!

The first pic is in the spring, and the second I took today. Maybe we should just let the back tank slide out on its own? hahaha

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/IMG_0950_zpseabddb6a.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/IMG_1292_zps175656c6.jpg

[Gardenarian]

It's always great (and rare!) when people post the results of projects like this.
I'm thinking I'd go on Craigslist/Freecycle and find a table or two to set those on.

Are you going to change out all the soil for your next crop?

[CathyA]

Hi Gardenarian.

No, I'm just going to add to it and fluff it up. It's amazing how much the soil level went down.
Good luck finding what you need. The shorter one is on 2 sets of 4 blocks each, and then I used 2 boards of 2"x6"x5' cedar to support it all better. I would have used one solid piece of wood, except it would have covered up the drainage holes too much. I'm also thinking of making some kind of clear covers for them, so I can start things a little earlier in the spring. But......I am looking forward to having a break this winter!

[lessisbest]

CathyA-

What a great idea! I was trying to think how you could cover them and use them like a cold frame or mini-greenhouse. I make several small cold frame beds in one of my raised beds by placing two plastic basement window well covers together to form a dome, and grow some herbs as well as cold-season greens under the little plastic "domes" all winter. I like the plastic domes because they get 100% of the available light. With my first cold frame, the wooden frame would cast a shadow inside the unit by late Dec., and unless you build up the soil in your containers, the edge will also cast a shadow, so I would plant on the north-most portion, not the south.

I anchored the domes with tent stakes (to prevent the wind from blowing them around) and clamp it together with a pony (spring-type) clamp. It is easy to prop them open on a nice day and when I needed to water them. On the north side I use some lath and staple black landscape fabric to it to make a wall. The black fabric will help warm the area as it absorbs the sun, and will keep the north wind off the "domes". I use this same "trick" around tomato plants I plant early. I also cut a few small slits in the landscape fabric so the wind would blow through a little - enough so it didn't blow the fabric wall over. I also painted some bricks with heat-resistant black paint (used for repainting bbq grills) and lined the north side of the dome with those. They absorb heat throughout the day and help keep the soil warmer longer. You can also place stones inside to absorb heat. I also use the domes to get an early start on cool season greens. I've had to sweep snow off of them in March to harvest lettuce.

[CathyA]

That all sounds good lessisbest! Any pics you might have?

I was thinking I could get some heavy wire or even 1" pvc pipe and bend them over the stocktanks and then lay plastic over them.
I even thought maybe I could find a cheap greenhouse (plastic) that I could set over both beds....but probably not.

When it got cold out recently and I was afraid it might freeze, I used what I had........which was a couple shepherd's hooks (for hanging plants) and put one by each stocktank. Then I got a couple tarps and hooked one of the grommets in the tarps over the shepherd hooks and then draped them over the stocktanks. I could probably do something like that with heavier clear plastic. I have a grommet maker and could put a couple grommets in the plastic and use 2 shepherd hooks per stocktank. That would maybe hold heat in, in the early spring. Necessity is definitely the mother of invention!

[lessisbest]

CathyA-

How true, "necessity [and I'll add being thrifty] is definitely the mother of invention!". ;) Sorry, no pictures. I'm not tech-savvy and not really interested enough to learn. I realize a picture is worth a thousand words...... If you do a search on - images of window well covers as plant covers - and I think you'll find some ideas.

[nswef]

And you could use the shepherd hooks for a climbing plant...never have to move it!!

[bae]

Nice to see the results of the clever straw-bale experiment. If you try it again, I'm curious what would happen if you put something on the top side of the bale to shed the drainage moisture from the stocktank - are they eroding about where the bulk of the water lands?

[Birdie]

Cathy, I use these wires over my beds and clip polyester row cover on them with clothes pins. Since they are galvanized metal, they will not break like PVC can. The wires with row cover can be used to keep the plants warmer like a greenhouse effect or to keep the cabbage moth out in a fall garden. And you can shove them deep to make a low cover or more shallow for a higher cover. They store in much less space than PVC too.

http://www.groworganic.com/maas-wire-for-hoops-10-pk.html

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone!
Bae.......I was worried about the water draining out of all the holes I drilled onto the straw. In retrospect, I probably drilled too many. Under the other one (on the cement blocks), I have 2 boards to better distribute the weight, but they are probably getting a lot of moisture too. I tried to position them to not be under too many of the holes. I wondered if I should have put a tarp over the bales of straw? ......maybe that would have helped.
These sized stock tanks don't have a drain on one end. If they had, I probably would have tried to place the stock tanks just a little higher on one end, so it would drain out the drain......

Oh well........live and learn. It's been fun.......especially not having to lean over!

Birdie.......those wires are what I was thinking of. they seem simple enough. So PVC pipe can break? I just bought a 1 and 1/4" PVC pipe, 8'+ long to replace the front of my Shelter Logic shed, since it got all torn up. I was going to attach it to the side structures and get big rings and a tarp, in which I would put more grommets and just slide it back and forth (like a shower curtain). Gee......I'll have to be very careful. hahaha.........another one of my practical solutions with no aesthetics in mind at all. :)