Every spring our local Kroger stores start selling half whiskey barrels for $20, really cheap, I found several websites selling them for $50 and more plus shipping. Each year I have wanted to get a couple of them but put it off thinking I really had no good reason for getting them. But this year I have a plan for them. I can find no information about what effect, if any, the whiskey that has soaked into the wood might have on plants grown in them. Flowers I would not be concerned about, having some tipsy plants in the yard might be fun to watch. :-D But I am thinking of using them for herbs, tomatoes, carrots, etc. I know you can buy the plastic liners for them but they cost more than the $20 the barrels will cost. The liners I have seen are for making a water feature out of the barrel. Has anyone had experience planting in them without a liner? // Edit by Frank - Toni I re-edited the topic title to make it more informative to visitors and searchers
DR says it would have no effect on it because whiskey barrels are charred inside so there is really a layer of charcoal inside of them. The charcoal soaks up any of the whiskey remnants . There is very little anyway. Dooley
Thanks Dooley and DR. After all these years of not buying them, I just hope they have some now that I have a plan.
Toni, I use them for everything! The only thing to remember is drill plenty of drainage holes!! Oh yeah, put them where you want to keep them. When full of dirt they are H E A V Y!!! Deanna :-D
One of the sites I found suggested filling the bottom half of the barrel with mulch and gravel or the "peanut" packing material for drainage, then filling the rest of the way with soil. In a couple of large pots I have placed upside down plastics pots left from buying plants, they take up some of the space too. A few well placed drainage holes will definitely be in order either way, thanks for the reminder Deanna. I know where I want them and plan on covering it with a layer of black plastic and mulch so I won't have to worry about the grass growing up around them.
After filling with water a few times to soak them up good, I have a water garden in mine on the deck.
I made a water garden of one and it is in my bird room. If you want fish a liner is a good idea. muddy
I would love to make a fountain from one of them. We have too many stray cats wandering the neighborhood for a pond with fish I'm afraid.
I use them as little bog gardens in my garden, but I do need to drill holes in one of them as it has held water better than our pond does! When we first got them and they filled with rain water, we could really smell the whiskey when we tipped it away. Drunken tomatos could be fun.
EJ, drunken tomatoes would mean making tomato sauce would be so much easier, after the tomatoes would already be "smashed" sorry I just couldn't resist.
Just a little tip Toni as the barrels really are ultra heavy when full of soil. You can get wooden or metal rings with wheels on them that can be placed under each barrel - so much easier to move them that way. :-D Actually you can make your own with casters from junked furniture - they don't even have to be round - or simply attach the wheels to the bottom of each barrel before planting them up. :-D
I line my wooden kegs with a heavy duty trash bag and poke some holes in the bottom of it. Your barrel will last longer this way and will retain water better in the summer. I use bricks or sand in the bottom for filler. 8)
