Are you tight on space? Can not grow a large garden? Cant grow a small garden? Cant grow anything? The dog tramples your garden yearly? Rabbits eat your stock? Clay soil? Torrential downpours or floods wash away your garden? Have you looked into growing vegetables in containers? This is a simple and effective way for you to provide wholesome an fresh vegetables for your family and you can beat the space constraints and other problems that may arise.
5 gallon buckets can be found pretty much anywhere. Most restaurants throw them out for free. They can be had at garage sales for next to nothing or home improvement stores for between 3 to 5 bucks a pop. I recently picked some up at Walmart for under 3 dollars each. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Science at the University of Florida goes so far as to even say that5 gallon buckets are actually ideal containers for most vegetables. Try to avoid using buckets that have previously contained chemicals in the past or anything else unsafe for consumption.
Another excellent benefit to using buckets to grow your vegetables is that your garden can be moved, arranged and located anywhere at any time. When the growing season has ended simply compost the soil and stash the gravel and buckets away until the following spring. If you have a small land lot or only a patio or deck this is ideal. Do NOT let lack of land stop you from growing
Keep in mind not to crowd the buckets. Listed below is a rough rule of thumb on how many plants can grow in each 5 gallon bucket.
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Squash
- 1 Eggplant
- 2 Bell Peppers
- 1 Cucumber
- 3 Bush Beans
- 4 Onions
- 4 Lettuce
- 4 Beets
- 10 Radishes
- 10 Carrots
Enjoy and happy growing. Check back often for updates on this subject and a in depth tutorial on how to create a self watering bucket. Coming in my next installment.
