In Part One and Two of this series, I talked about my dream of growing a real garden while living in a small apartment complex. And once I began, it didn’t take long for me to build an absolutely free recycled bucket garden and greenhouse from materials that were already littering the landscape or about to. Today, I close out this series with more information on which buckets are safe to use with food crops, basic bucket culture, maintaining healthy soil in buckets, encouraging earthworms and microorganisms to generate healthy soil, and a few tips on the types of crops that do best in bucket gardens.
Do Not Eat the Buckets
In Part One, I picked up five 5-gallon food-grade buckets from a local restaurant. I chose food-grade buckets over non-food grade ones because of the different types of plastic used for each. Classic food grade buckets are made from HDPE plastic, which is a very stable type of plastic that does not leach chemicals into the food they contain.
This factor is also important when using buckets for gardening because living plants can absorb chemicals through their roots and send it up to the leaves and fruits that you will be eating, thus transferring those chemicals to your body. Additionally, non-food grade buckets probably once contained products that were of up of even more injurious chemicals that you really don’t want to wind up in your food.
The tricky part of this is that some food grade buckets actually contain BPA (Bisphenol A), a toxic chemical used in food grade buckets since the 60’s. BPA is thought to degrade slowly, releasing only tiny amounts of this chemical over time, but to be safe choose buckets that are marked BPA-free or have FDA food-grade symbols like these on the bottom.
In short, if you stick with recycling buckets from any type of restaurant or grocery bakery/deli, you can’t go wrong.
A Hole Lot of Good
Once you’ve obtained your buckets you will want to drill holes in the bottoms and sides to allow excess water drain away from plant roots. The trick is to make enough holes of the right size to allow for water drainage and allow air to move in and out of the bucket easily.
Additionally, if you plan on fostering earthworms in your bucket garden, choosing the right hole diameter is even more important because they will need to be able to leave the buckets during excessive rainfall or freezing temperatures.
To sum it up, start with drainage holes that are at least 1/2″ (12.7 mm) in diameter and spaced roughly 5-6 inches apart around the outer edge of the bottom rim of the bucket, with 2 or 3 positioned around the very center. I also drilled six holes of the same diameter around the outside of the bucket 2″-4″ above the bottom edge to help increase oxygen exchange.
The trick is to have enough holes of the right diameter to allow for excellent drainage without flushing out soil and nutrients every time you water, but not so many or so large that water runs straight down the sides and out of the holes before the soil has a chance to absorb enough water to benefit the plants. It’s better to have too little than too many holes as you can always add more, or enlarge existing holes later as needed.
Additionally, the type of “soil” you use in your buckets, whether natural or potting, will play a big part in the number of holes you drill into your bucket, so you might want to wait until you get your soil before drilling.
A Bucketful of Soil
What you fill your bucket with is arguably the most important aspect of bucket gardening for obvious reasons. I was able to use fertile, semi-sandy alluvial soil from a “wildish” area behind my apartment building for my bucket garden, but I did this knowing that I will return the soil to its rightful place when I move away from here.
As a wildcrafter, I don’t recommend that everyone dig up a bunch of native soil willy-nilly for many reasons, but if you do, please do so with respect and care for the wild things.
If you have legal access to natural soil, it is crucial that your harvest does not injure or destroy native plants and trees. Select grassy areas, dig small holes here and there and be sure to mulch any bare earth when you are done – and of course, give thanks before you leave.
That being said, most people will want to use basic potting soil, which is inexpensive and abundant, mixed with a bit of rich compost for fertility. Anything you use in flower pots can be used in your garden buckets.
But before you go and buy tons of potting soil, check a few bags out to see if they do what you think they should. Some bagged products say they are “soil” or “compost”, but are anything but. If you have never used potting soil before, visit a local garden center and ask for advice on what to look for in bagged potting soil for vegetables.
Fertile Soil = Happy Plants
Fertile soil is important in the cultivation of vegetables, and bucket culture is no exception. However, growing veggies in buckets that do not have the same regenerative processes as earth-bound soils can be a little trickier to maintain in terms of fertility.
I have been able to avoid using any kind of commercial fertilizer in my bucket garden for four years running because I use the process of decomposition in the form of mulch and earthworms to do it for me.
Because the native soil I used was naturally teeming with earthworms and microorganisms that convert earth elements into micronutrients slowly over time, the soil in my buckets is quite fertile. I do my best to cultivate, protect, and feed these nearly invisible soil-builders so they will, in turn, feed my plants.
I do this mostly by using organic mulches like as tree leaves and grass, both fresh and dry. These not only replenish the microorganism population, but also shields the surface of the soil from harsh moisture-sucking sun and pounding rains that generate an impenetrable crust on the surface that blocks moisture and oxygen from flowing in and out of the soil and thus to and from the roots of plants and microbes.
Mulch also breaks down into elementals that feed organisms, worms and plants alike. It’s the circle of life in macro. Throw in a bit of organic compost and a bit of shredded paper (for the worms to eat) now and again and the critters in your buckets will be your best friends and help you grow a good garden.
Seeding Living Soil
If you are using fresh potting soil, which is devoid of most forms of life, you can “seed” your buckets with natural microorganisms. You can buy these online, but honestly, you can do it easily yourself for free.
To do this, choose a moderately warm day in mid-spring after the threat of hard freezes has passed. Water the garden and wait about an hour for the water to really soak in. Then, add a tablespoon or two of real, fresh, fertile earth soil (which is filled with millions of microbes) from a clean, natural source into a bucket of fresh rain, river, pond, or well water (but never chlorinated tap water). Gently stir until well-incorporated and pour a quarter cup or so of this “seeded” water onto the soil of each bucket. Immediately cover the soil with soft mulch.
With time and care, these organisms will help convert potting soil into living soil. But it takes time. So, while the microbes populate your soil, you can use organic compost, crushed eggshells, and if needed, a touch of organic fertilizer like seaweed and blood meal to fertilize your plants.
Bucket Garden Bonanza
I have been growing all kinds of herbs and veggies in my bucket garden for the last four years and I have yet to find anything suited to my growing zone that I can’t grow. That being said, it is important to understand that a 5-gallon bucket can only support so many plants – or more precisely – so many roots.
For large plants like peppers and tomatoes, one plant per bucket is the norm. The same is true for plants with big leaves like yellow squash, zucchini, and of course vining crops like squash. Pay attention to the recommended spacing for each crop type. If you want to grow cucumbers, which don’t have extensive root systems, three or four plants can co-exist in one bucket.
On the other hand, a normal tomato plant will take up every inch of soil in a single bucket and tend to hold their roots close to the soil surface choking out everything else. Veggies like peppers, however big they are, tend to be less “rooty”, which allows me to grow one plant per pot plus a half dozen lettuce plants as well.
I really like to double crop buckets in this way whenever I can and using crops like radish, carrots, green onions, garlic and many more. The key to multi-plant buckets is to pay attention to each plant’s needs. If you give each plant the room it needs to grow, they will thrive. If you crowd them, they will all suffer.
If you are thinking of starting a bucket garden of your own, my number one advice would be to choose varieties that have been bred specifically for pot culture. Their compactness will give you more bang for your bucket!
While I have yet to grow corn, melons and winter squash it is only because my growing zone does not support them. It’s too short and too cool where I am for these heat-lovers. I will forever be a fan of bucket gardening and I look forward to trying new and interesting varieties here in the Black Hills and wherever I may land next.
I hope this three part series has inspired you to try creating a recycled bucket garden of your own. Not only can they allow you to garden in small spaces where you can’t have a traditional garden, they are fun, beautiful, portable and oh, so easy!
Until next time,
Happy Gardening!
© Jill Henderson showmeoz.wordpress.com
Learn more about growing herbs in my book:
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs
The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs is a no-nonsense guide jam-packed with no-nonsense information on growing, harvesting and using 35 of the world’s safest and most flavorful herbs. In addition to the 35 detailed herbal monographs are entire chapters on growing, harvesting and using kitchen herbs to spice up your favorite dish or create healing herbal remedies. This is one book you will turn to. Available in the Show Me Oz Bookstore
Jill Henderson is an artist, author, and the editor of Show Me Oz . Her books, The Healing Power of Kitchen Herbs, The Garden Seed Saving Guide and A Journey of Seasons can be found in the Show Me Oz Bookstore. Jill’s work has also appeared in The Permaculture Activist, The Essential Herbal, Acres USA, and Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanac.
Share! Subscribe! Enjoy!
Show Me Oz 