I had to build my garden by terracing into the mountain on the hillside above my home. I used lumber that was left over from building my two story stand alone garage. My garden is split between 5 gallon bucket containers and in the ground trenches filled with container soil. The soil here is a very sticky red clay, I am not planting in the clay itself. All of the soil used in my garden is Sta-Green container soil. Even the in-ground trench plantings have had the red clay removed and container soil fills the trench where the plants grow. The trenches are about 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep. The trenches work better for things like lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, etc.

 The 5 gallon buckets have about 10 to 16 - 9/16inch holes drilled in the sides at the very bottom of the bucket. I have landscaping fabric in the bottom of the buckets kind of like a coffee filter, and then the bucket is filled with Sta-Green container soil. The water flows through the buckets easily and no soil is lost because of the landscape cloth at the bottom covering the holes. No problems with insects entering the containers either.

 I have a drip irrigation system that I use but mostly I like to hand water with my moisture meter in one hand and a hose in the other. Early morning watering with a cup of coffee, looking at all the plants is fun for me. My garden is right next to my home business which is where I work all day long. It's nice to take breaks, go outside and look at everything growing.

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