Repurposed Garbage Can

I’ve been wanting to grow a bigger garden each year. Sadly, our yard is pathetically low in sunny spots. I have this dream of lining up one of the driveways with big pots and growing all of our vegetables that way. It would be quite a sight I’m sure…I’ve been reading about growing potatoes in containers or barrels lately. I read one article that claimed you could grow 100 pounds of potatoes in a barrel of sawdust!!! Wow! I do not have a barrel on hand but I do have a busted up garbage can. Why do I have a busted garbage can? I’ll tell ya! In our town the local boys in the jail do the garbage rounds. After dumping the garbage in the truck they like to throw our garbage can back into the yard. It must be some kind of contest or something…I’m not sure. Don’t move to this town…that is just one of the messed up things going on around here.

The nice thing about a busted up garbage can is that my husband did not have to drill any drain holes in the can. (I am not permitted to use power tools, sharp knives or irons.) In fact he had to patch it up with some duct tape to keep from losing the straw and soil. I put a layer of straw on the bottom of the can then my potatoes and then some soil over the top. Once the potatoes sprout out and grow a bit I will add more soil and straw up to the leaf tips. I’ll repeat with the straw and soil one more time before allowing the plants to grow and flower. Then I should have lots of potatoes and enough growing season left to repeat one more time…hopefully. That is how I am going to repurpose my jail-bird busted garbage can…