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| Potato Barrel |
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| Garlic in January |
The potato barrel is an evolving concept. Several years, I've grown potatoes in large containers, filling as the potato plant grows. Then empty out the container and it is filled with a surprising number of potatoes. Home grown potatoes are much better than store bought.
Link to potatoes in container March 2010. May 2011. No photos of harvest. Method. Another take on the method, Mother Earth News. Also container Gardening for Food.
Last year I started some, but a late frost killed them. I was sick, and there was no chance to do it over.
I've been trying to come up with a better idea. The sides of the barrel get too hot. Plastic containers, even hotter. I have a couple dozen /13 circle tree edging rings. I was using them for irises. The irises are now in raised beds, so the rings are free.
They stack nicely. They should disassemble nicely. They link together. I don't think they will fall apart until I want to take them apart. The stone (concrete?) will heat on warm days, transferring heat into the soil. Bot not as exposed and temperature sensitive as plastic. The volume is more than the 1/2 barrels I was using. They are free. I think I bought them for $2 a section a few years ago. Maybe a sale. If that cheap, they cost less than a purpose-sold potato barrel or 1/2 wine barrel at the big box store.
I will add screening to the bottom to restrict mole tunneling.
The garlic perks up when frost thaws. Looking great.
