Wicking Tub

I’ve been wanting to create a “wicking tub” (or four) for quite some time, but didn’t have the dirt! Now that I do, I worked on setting up my first one yesterday in between the blessed rain. I followed Sean's directions:



After drilling a couple of holes on the top and near the bottom of each jug, and drilling 3 holes about 6" up from the bottom of the tub, then cutting the PVC pipe at an angle, I was ready to fill it up with dirt.

But— I didn’t fill it all the way ~ yet ~ as the dirt is heavy mud right now after the 1.4" plus of rain we received! The few partial shovels of dirt I managed to get hadn’t been covered with the tarp. I thought it would shovel okay... nope, not for this woman!

Rather than putting store bought fertilizer in the mix as the youtube videos indicate, I will do the “lasagna method” of layering with kitchen scraps (that the chickens can’t eat), a tad of coffee grounds, some leaves, and a bit of shredded paper. This will all slowly decompose over the next couple of months. I won’t be planting anything until after our “last expected frost” date which happens to be April 1st. Even then, according to my maternal grandmother - an avid gardener - warned never to plant until after Easter. This year, Easter falls on April 12th. I wonder who will be correct - the Farmer’s Almanac or my grandmother?

If I do get overly anxious and plant according to FA, I will keep a close eye on the weather. If we expect freezing temps, then I will cover with the Garden Fabric Plant Cover I bought!

Side Note: I will be getting the soil tested, but results won’t be back until mid March. Until then, I’m winging it!