Happy Tuesday! Yesterday I shared all about our garden and mentioned that we decided to add a few stock tanks/feeding troughs as a way to increase our gardening space. They aren’t necessarily as inexpensive as other planter DIY options but they work perfectly with our small yard. Some other reasons we purchased the stock tanks are:

• We know we’ll be able to take them with us the next time we have to move.
• They are very durable — they won’t rot.
• They are easy to transport.
• We like the way they look.
• They don’t require any assembly.
• They come in a variety of sizes.

With all of that in mind, we think the small investment was totally worth it!

Finding stock tanks at a decent price was probably the most difficult part for us. We searched for about a month until we found some that fit within our budget. We purchased ours from a feed store about an hour away but this one from Tractor Supply is almost the exact same and only a couple of dollars more than the ones we purchased. Stephen picked up three of them. Maybe someday we’ll get more but for now this works perfectly for us.

How to prepare the stock tanks:

1. ***Drill holes at the bottom the tanks for drainage. Now I will say… We only did this to one out of the three. Every post I read about stock tanks/feeding troughs said to do this so Stephen did it on the first one but it was tearing up his drill bit. I asked my parents about it and decided not to worry about doing it for the other two. I was obviously being impatient and wanted to get them planted. I do believe though that the heat produced from the metal will promote the evaporation of any excess water. Another reason I don’t think this is entirely necessary is because of step 5 below. This might be a lesson I learn the hard way. If that’s the case I’ll update this post to let you all know.

2. ***If you do drill holes in your stock tanks, you can place mesh/screen over the holes so that they don’t get clogged up from the soil. If you have this material on hand I say go for it. If not, I wouldn’t worry about it. In case you all haven’t realized… I try to make these things as simple as possible. I don’t think it needs to require rocket science. HA!

3. Decide where you’d like your stock tanks to go. These are going to get very heavy so once they’re filled they most likely won’t be moved. Remember to consider what you plan to plant in them and where the sun hits!

4. Gather rocks and completely cover the bottom of the tank.

5. Add a layer of sand on top of the rocks. We have sand all around us so it wasn’t hard to get our hands on some. I believe the sand will also help with drainage and will soak up any excess water. Like I said, if I learn the hard way you all will be the first to know. By the time the rocks and sand were in the tank, it was about half way full.

6. Add vegetable soil until the tank is about 3 inches from full. You can also add in some compost to promote better yields. I didn’t do this on the first two and I really wish I did! I’m probably going to go back and try to add some in…

7. Plant your seeds! We planted green beans, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and strawberries. I planted these seeds ONE WEEK AGO! Look how tall they are already! I can’t even believe it. Don’t forget to label your rows! I used bits of the seed wrappers just to mark them in the meantime. If you have a dog that loves chewing on wood, I would NOT suggest using wooden spoons… I need to find some new ones. Here are some of my favorite options!

8. Water after the seeds are planted and every day thereafter.

9. Watch those babies grow!