a labor of love

Last year's container garden experiment yielded lots of data on what I can do better.  I think "limited success" would be too generous a description of the results.  This year, I have a few changes in mind.

The first experiment is structural.  One of my major problems seemed to be the weight of the soil on the flimsy plastic dividers.  My first idea (really Matthew's) was to add rocks in the bottom to help hold up the platform.  But, I was worried about not taking away too much room for water in the reservoir.  While we were at Lowe's scoping out river rocks, my eyes landed on the perfect solution... lava rocks! 

hot lava!

Well, I hope it's the perfect solution anyway.  I don't think it was as much of an issue in the two-bin setup I have with the potato buckets but I'm trying it anyway.  Maybe it will actually help keep the potatoes from getting soggy this year. 

The other change this year is taking my time.  Last year, I didn't give the silicone enough time to dry before filling the buckets.  I ran out of time to prep a good potting mix anyway so the two buckets I worked on today will have some time to cure before going under the weight of soil. 

Last year I dumped all of the potting mix into a big pile to save for spring.  I'll add fresh organic potting soil, compost, and peat/perlite/vermiculite as needed.  I haven't decided exactly what to put in the containers yet (other than the potaoes). 

The round whisky barrels are going to need a little more TLC.  One of the plastic platforms cracked over the winter so it needs replacing.  I drilled the drainage holes after assembly so I need to check the placement and fix any problems there.  I don't know if the lava rocks alone will add enough structure so I may end up with another reinforcement method once I start putting them together.  We'll see.  In any case, I doubt I'll make much progress on those before we leave for Alabama next week, so they may be destined for hot weather or fall crops anyway.

ready for taters :)