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One Box!

All I needed was one wooden box!  This was the temporary coop that the chickens had when they were smaller.

It would be perfect for planting my potatoes.  I asked Vince if I could use the old box for the potatoes and he said no, he’d rather keep that to use as a chicken hospital since it has the roost and everything all set up for chickens.  I explained how I wanted to grow my potatoes and he said . . No problem!  I’ll get you another box.  This is what he brought home.



Just a bit more than I requested and that’s only half of them . . there’s another load coming.  Do I buy more seed potatoes . . like 400 pounds more?  Or, do I start a bonfire?  Yep, bonfire is what I’m thinking too.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • No! He’s from NY but his parents were immigrants from Sicily and I think they came here with very little and worked very hard (remember those days?) and Vince figures anything he can get that’s on sale or inexpensive, he can put to good use but he sometimes gets too much of a good thing.

  2. Wow. No, I’d stack the spares somewhere inconspicuous and add one or two a year until I was doing some seeeeerious raised bed gardening!

  3. Vince is just like Bob, one isn’t enough, gotta have two but if the deal is good enough get all you can! Really though, think about it. If the entire garden is raised then you don’t have to bend over to do the weeding! Hum, good for the arthritis and old age back, sounds good to me. Have fun!

  4. How do you do this? Fill the box with soil and seeds and leave above the ground?

    • I’m also ROFLOL. What will he think of next? But got to love the guy who wants to keep the chicken hospital around.

      • I “third” that idea! I had to enlarge the photo to make sure they weren’t coffins. What was in them before?

  8. . . . and now Judy and Vince will have to dig a hole to install a root cellar to store all those potatoes . . .

  9. I am another one ROFLMAO……..but…..I know my hubby would do the same kind of thing. Why get just ONE suitable item when you could bring MANY????? It seems to be a “syndrome” many husbands have, from what I am seeing!!!

  10. Well with the extra boxes you can add a “wing” or two onto the chicken hospital and start taking in sick chickens from all over the county. Course I’m also wondering — just where the heck did Vince go to find all those boxes. LOL

  11. Have you seen the bag you grow potatoes in? the ad says:

    Your Own Potatoes; No Digging or Hilling Required
    We grew potatoes in a number of different fabric pots, and this one came out the winner, producing a big, 13-pound harvest. The porous fabric of the Potato Bin® aerates roots, prevents heat build-up and allows excess water to drain away. Its compact, 18″ diameter lets you grow your own potatoes in just about any sunny spot.
    check out this web-site.
    http://www.gardeners.com/Potato-Bin/36-629,default,pd.html

  12. OMG! ROFLOL!!! I’m thinking Vince is a REAL “meat-and-potato” kind of guy, or he really is going to build a root cellar to store the veggies in. Eve

  14. Judy, you make my day. I can’t wait to see what is going on at your house each day. Keep up the good entertainment. Love your quilts, too.

  15. Hmm… what was in those boxes and do you want your spuds growing up in them?

    I’m thinking of doing some raised veggie beds this year, but I’m looking for untreated wood.

    Good luck!

    • When heavy equipment is shipped, these crates were built to use as shipping crates. Absolutely nothing harmful has been in them . . like pieces of large fan blades, etc. It’s all untreated pine. Perfect for the price we paid for building beds and no reason the potatoes can’t grow safely in there.

      What you’re seeing on the outside of some is where they spray painted over info that doesn’t need to be shared.

  17. I’m glad someone else asked if they were coffins before me – but that’s what they look like. I read in Mother Earth News this week (love that magazine and you would too!) that you can plant in a bag of topsoil. You cut the plastic off the top, poke holes in the bottom for drainage and lay it on the ground in the sun. They showed all kinds of things growing like that – lettuce, beans, etc. They mentioned potatoes but I’m not sure I remember that part. I would think, though , that potatoes would grow in those too. blessings, marlene

    • We subscribe to Mother Earth News. Did you see that smokehouse? I’ve already started bugging Vince about one of those. The way I’m planting the potatoes is: I’ll put down a layer of shredded newspaper, then some dirt, then plant the eyes. Then as the tops shoot up, I’ll keep adding dirt til eventually, the whole box will be close to full. When I dump it (or dig them out), it should be FULL of potatoes!

  18. This is a fabulous way to start the day!!! Judy, you crack me up! All the comments are hilarious!!!

    Let the potato games begin! What kind of potatoes are you growing? Did you get some blue potato starts?

  19. Roasted potatoes. Yum…. I can’t wait. You’ll be able to plant a few years worth with all those boxes/coffins or whatever they are. Your husband is too funny!

    • As I was whacking up the seed potatoes, I told Vince if everything makes like it should, we’ll have between 400 and 600 pounds of potatoes! 🙂

  20. I don’t get it…my boss is from Italy..he has a big garden…I asked him…and he did not know…so please tell me (us) why do you need the box to grow potatoes?

    5 years ago he brought home a fig tree from italy..well a little itty bitty one..it is now 8 feet tall..still alive..still gets new branches..but no figs…I think it’s too cold here in Canada for fig trees. But he keeps trying.

    • You don’t “need” to grow potatoes that way. With most everything, there’s more than one way to do things. My preferred method is raising potatoes in containers using mostly straw.

  21. Raised beds! Wow! Just fill ’em up with compost, some peat, maybe vermiculite (I’ve used it myself), put seeds/starts in, and enjoy. Well, since you’ve got that GroundHOG nearby, put up posts in the corners and wrap well with chicken wire until GroundHOG has been taken care of. But raised beds are terrific!

  22. (oops) just don’t forget to drill some drainage holes in the bottoms and put hardware cloth in to keep small critters from attacking veggie roots from below.

    Wow! Pre-made raised beds. I am **so** envious…

    • Don’t need to drill holes or put down hardware cloth. The bottom of the boxes are made of 2″ x 4″ lumber with just enough space between each board that it will drain and we’re going to set the boxes just a little on a tilt so water will drain towards the back of the boxes where there’s a tiny little in between the boards. Vince is tearing some of the boxes apart now. They’re put together to carry HEAVY equipment and I doubt any animal around here can get into them.

  23. It’s really a cool idea. How would one go about finding somebody who has those for sale locally? I wouldn’t even know what to ask for.

  24. Hmm I’m thinking, can rabbits jump that high? or any other critters? Maybe this is the way forwards for you – have such high beds that you don’t need fences? chortle. You could do companion planting and have nasturtiums or tumbler tomatoes or strawberries or similar hanging down the sides. Makes my garden overrun with little black foxcubs and one cat and a few pigeons a walk in the park!

  25. Bet Vince got a DEAL on those boxes!!! They look like something a coffin might have shipped in. LOL

  26. HOLY COW!!!!!!! Now that’s some serious boxes!!! Wish I lived closer, I’m looking for something to grow potatoes in, too. Enjoy those boxes!

  27. This is hilarious! I am laughing so hard I am practically crying. Oh Lord, what was he thinking, they were like green t shirts and you could just fold them up and put them in a drawer if you didn’t need them at the moment? ROFLOL!!!! I would be careful what I ask for in the future if I were you, lol. By the way what did you decide your “critter” was? Thank you Judy! You have made my day!

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