Dan Mazerolle wrote:

I tried the 45 gallon barrel twice with limited success. As others have
suggested, I started with a foot of soil and filled it to about a foot from
the top as the tops grew. The first year I got about 20 pounds and the
second around 15. I think the problem was not enough moisture. Even though
there was enough rain for the rest of the garden, the leaves kept out much
of the rain. I would suggest a holey barrel for drainage, and a vertical 6"
perforated pipe in the center for watering to the bottom of the barrel.

This year I am going to try again but instead of the barrel, I will use a
wire cage made of 2" x 2" mesh. Maybe I can force the tops to grow through
the openings so there is more area under sunlight.


I used a 3 foot diameter 2 foot high bin made of one inch mesh rabbit
wire. Normally a compost bin. I got around 15 to 20 lbs the first year
which was okay, but the second and third years I got less then 5 lbs
which wasn't really worth the effort.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"A people living under the perpetual menace of war and invasion is very
easy to govern. It demands no social reforms. It does not haggle over
expenditures on armaments and military equipment. It pays without
discussion, it ruins itself, and that is an excellent thing for the
syndicates of financiers and manufacturers for whom patriotic terrors
are an abundant source of gain."
Anatole France