A patio garden harvest

A few years ago my neighbors Jim and Jeanne came by and surprised me with a gift of strawberry plants.  I had never planted strawberries before, and wasn't sure where to put them in my yard.  I decided to try them in a container, so I went to Tractor Supply to look to look for a good one.

I looked around, and ended up buying two of these round galvanized tubs.  They've worked out perfectly and become two of my favorite patio containers.  (I planted irises in the other one.)

The tub is large, lightweight, and rust-proof.  I bought four wheels and my husband attached them to the bottom (you can't see them in the pic), so these planters can be easily moved into sunny areas or rolled out of the way if needed.  He also drilled drainage holes in the bottom.

I had some foam from an old mattress that I'd saved in my shed, and I cut the foam up and put a layer of it on the bottom of the planter to fill space without adding weight and also to help retain water.

So I put the strawberry plants in the container, and they began to grow.  I saw the first berries beginning to ripen.  Then one day, I was sitting outside and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my (dumb) dog suspiciously hanging around the planter.  What was he doing?  He was standing next to the container, surreptitiously tilting his head over the side and eating the berries.

Needless to say, the berry crop the first year wasn't much.  But I couldn't blame the plants.

That's what the net in the photo is for.  I needed a dog block.  I went to Lowe's to look for some kind of netting material to buy, and as I was walking around the fencing department, I noticed all these black nets on the floor underneath the building materials.  The building materials had come wrapped in the netting, which was just left on the floor once the materials were sold, to be thrown away.  It was just "useless" packaging that had been left behind. 

It was perfect!  And it was free. It's always great when you find exactly what you're looking for, AND it's free. 🙂

I had my husband put four screws in the sides of the planter, and I just pull the net taut over the screw (as seen below).  Voila!  Dog blocked.  (It also keeps rodents and any other animals out.)

I lost a few berries to rot from lying in the dirt; so I ordered the green plastic circular plant rests you can see the pictures.  The berries grow on top of the plastic and it keeps the air circulating below them.

As you can see, it was a good harvest this year!  These are the first berries I picked.  I just leave the container out on the patio all year long, and the so far the strawberry plants have gotten bigger and more robust each season.

It's true, everything tastes better when you grow it yourself!

When I was checking out at Tractor Supply, the cashier was asking what I was going to do with the galvanized tub and the wheels.  When I told her I was going to make rolling planters, she thought I was brilliant.

She told me it was a great idea, and she thought that she should make one too.

I wonder if she ever did?