Richard Evans wrote:

I thought about that, but you still have to have drain holes through
both the plastic and the wood and that would allow water to seep
between the plastic and the wood, eventually causing rot.

There is a plumbing device called bulkhead (which is not carried by
either Lowes or Home Depot) that you can use to channel the drainage and
keep water from seeping between the plastic and the wood. A sample of
this device is at this website. The only problem is that it might not
be long enough to go though the 1.5" thick bottom of the container. You
might have to chiseled out the wood surrounding the bulkhead to make it
fit through.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_Aquari...strainers.html

So, I dropped that idea. My current plan is to buy plastic tubs used
to mix mortar. They are fairly large, deep, and cheap ($4.37 for the
one's at Lowe's). I plan to build a frame with legs and no bottom. I
can then just drop in the mortar box with the lip resting on the edge
of the frame. I can drill drain holes in the box, but with no bottom
in the wood frame that won't affect the wood. I can then paint the
frame any way I want because it won't contact the dirt.

That's a much better idea. I just check Lowes website and the largest
mixing tub they have is this one:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...608&lpage=none

It costs $13.18 though, but I think is still much better, at least in my
"requirements".

I've already spent way more than I can possibly justify by any
vegetables I might harvest, but I figure this year I'm getting the
bugs out of the process and next year will be much cheaper.

I got the same "problem" too. I used to go with those expensive big
self-watering planters. With the cost of potting soils and other
gardening "toys", I always end up on the losing side every year. I plan
to go big this year with the vegetable growing but can't afford the
expensive stuff anymore.