Barrel Garden Is A Backsaver

Barrel Garden Is A Backsaver FARM HOME Food Backyard handyman Tom Hohl turned several used 30-gal poly drums into a covered hoop garden and a handy vegetable washing station Hohl says the idea is a simple way to make it easier for his wife to plant vegetables without kneeling on the ground “For quite a few years she was planting early vegetables in the ground and covering them with plastic cover hoops but that was mostly hands and knees work ” says Hohl “We came up with this idea of cutting a 30-gal drum in half and placing it in a sturdy cradle about 3 ft off the ground The real benefit is she can now plant those early vegetables standing up I added hoops over the top so she could cover them with plastic and have a heat tunnel to protect them from frost ” Hohl built sturdy cradles using treated 2 by 4’s for the legs cross members and top The poly drum halves are screwed to treated 1 by 6s on each side Six of the drum caddies produce a 24-ft long waist-high trough on one end of their large garden Drain holes in the bottom of each drum allow excess water to run out The hoops are made of plastic pvc pipe used for lawn sprinklers Hohl bent them in an arc and secured them by extending the ends through a flat 2 by 4 on each side “The hoop troughs are a real back-saver for my wife and she doesn’t have to worry about frost ” says Hohl “I also made her a vegetable washing station with another cradle and drum adding wheels on one end so we can pull it into the garage for the winter The tub sits near the spigot on the side of our house so she can wash off root veggies rather than taking them into the house ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Hohl 4772 McComber Road Duluth Minn 55803 hohlt4772@msn com

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