I have been toying with the idea of a raised garden bed for years. I thought about using cement blocks, wood or cattle troughs. While visiting with my dad he mentioned I should use some old unused micronutrient barrels he didn’t want anymore.

So we drove out to the farm and I picked out 30 plastic drums. We hauled them back to my home.

Once we got them back, I cut the lids out, washed them, put a 5 gallon pail upside down in the bottom to take up room. To recycle, I put the lid on top of the pail. Then I put in permeable material like gunny sacks and weaved landscape paper, so when I water my plants the water is not locked in the soil. I wanted to prevent root rot. Then I put a mixture of organic soil and top soil. I wanted to fill my barrels to the top but with the Covid pandemic there was a shortage of soil in my area. Next year, I hope to top off each of my barrels.

Check out how I set up my own raised garden out of barrels!

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