Saturday 24 March 2018

Drumming-up donations.



Following-on from yesterday's posting, the other day whilst photographing abandoned agricultural machinery I noticed a whole load of old Oil Drums dumped in some nearby woodland. I've been looking for one for ages so I asked my neighbour if he was keeping them for some special reason. He said he wasn't, and was only too happy to donate one!

I reckon there are only a few things one can do with old Oil Drums. Start a Caribbean Pan Band, cut them in half lengthways to make rustic BBQs, or make a Garden Incinerator. My intention was to do the latter.

I wore-down three entire metal-cutting discs on the Angle Grinder, cutting off the top, then the pointed end of my Pickaxe swiftly dealt with making several holes in the bottom. I propped it on three terracotta pots, stuffed it full of garden detritus, and lit-up. 

It works a dream, and I saved myself about €50 by not buying some cheap trashy commercial version.

In the future I may even use it for 'hot smoking'.

I'm not yet sure if its positioning is permanent, but that can wait. I was anxious to see how well it worked, and it was perfect.

p.s. On the right you can see my two wheelbarrow strawberry beds. I'm just off to buy another two wheelbarrows this morning. I need a minimum of three working ones, plus as many old ones as I can get for my strawberries.




54 comments:

  1. I miss having an oil drum. I'll post a copy of the photo of all the ones we took to the scrapyard later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know why I didn't do this before, I have a huge pile of rubbish at Haddock's which is waiting to be dealt with. At the rate I'm going it won't take long.

      Delete
  2. I would love to grow strawberries like this. I could roll them out during the day and back in the protected area at night.. The only way to keep the pack rats from eating everything. Is to build a covered area.

    cheers, parsnip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the slugs that are my problem, and with just three points of contact with the ground, I can deal with them easily.

      Delete
    2. mobile raised beds...brilliant!

      Delete
  3. Your activities remind me of my grandad. I used to help him on his allotment - probably got in the way really - then we'd still in a couple of old canvas deck chairs and watch the cricket on the village green below us. My uncle played cricket. He was a solid batsman. That means he dug in ;-) and defended his wicket. Whoever was at the other end had to get the boundaries. You don't have cricket but can imagine you playing boules.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My oldest plays Club Cricket; in the summer I check his stats on-line every Sunday morning. I do have a chair at Haddock's where I sit and watch nothing go by; it would be wonderful to have a game of cricket to watch instead.

      Delete
  4. You're in a rural area so I suppose you don't have to worry about smoke complaints. Your strawberry 'garden' is a great idea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My neighbour makes terrific smoke almost every day with his heating furnace, so I'm not expecting any complaints from him! Yes, the strawberry 'garden' is great; we now actually have a really good supply of unblemished fruit.

      Delete
  5. Finding a discarded wheelbarrow would be the problem - we have his and hers wheelbarrows and I think they will last for years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anything would do, it's growing the plants away from the ground which is our main aim. Haddock's has a very slug friendly stone wall along one side, and they are desperate to eat my strawberries. This method solves the problem.

      Delete
  6. I struggled to find an abandoned steel drum, only plastic ones seemed available, until I mentioned to my son who works for a hydraulic engineers, he laughed at me and said he could get as many as I wanted. A shiny new drum appeared, top already removed and holes already made. Works just fine sitting on 3 bricks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Snap! I was hoping to continue with my burning today, but it's raining.

      Delete
  7. €50?! More like €150! Garden incinerators are outrageously expensive, as are galvanised bins, as I discovered recently when I needed a new one for hot ash.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was just 'guesstimating'. I've seen those galvanised bins with a chimney on top, but never actually looked at a price. Nothing surprises me any more.

      Delete
  8. Sprinkle a bit of salt around the wheelbarrows; that should keep the slugs at bay and, whatever you do, never take that bin in a closed area for heating!

    I am wondering to which one of your grandsons the fruit tree may belong to.
    Greetings Maria x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The peach tree behind the drum is not attributed to anyone. It is covered in flowers again, so I'm hoping for a bumper crop (as long as it doesn't freeze again).

      I do use salt against the slugs, and I also have 'wildlife friendly' slug pellets. I'll never get rid of them, but am managing to stop them eating everything.

      Delete
  9. Something for nothing makes the job whatever it is all the sweeter. Recycling... always the best way to go. It goes hand in hand with tilling the soil, growing your own veg and generally getting back in touch with your caveman gene Cro.

    LX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It cost me about two hours work in all, plus the cost of some new metal-cutting discs for the angle grinder, but so much more satisfying than buying something less efficient from the garden centre.

      Delete
  10. Our normal bin sized incinerator cost us £20.
    I'd be wary of using an oil drum for hot smoking unless the inside was completely oil free....but it is a good idea. Smoked cheese?love it..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was very oily when I opened it up, but I expect after a few burnings it should be OK. I might try some bacon.

      Delete
    2. I believe the drums also make good Raku kilns. They have to be lined with fire bricks, but I'm sure you know all about that.

      Delete
    3. line with ceramic fibre blanket is the usual...quick...like raku!

      Delete
  11. I used to cut the tops out of the drums using a bolster and lump hammer. Col

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blimey! This one was quite heavy gauge steel; I'd have needed super-strength to do the job with hammer and chisel.

      Delete
  12. I’ve got a very old oil drum in the corner of my plot in which I keep all my posts, stakes, Hazel rods and canes. I inherited it from my predecessor George who was one of the allotment site pioneers in 1974. You’re making me think I should take it with me when I move to use as a barbecue or fire pit and now I think about it it certainly has ‘the look’!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They make great BBQ's; all our local villages use them for the summer fetes.

      Delete
  13. Your onions will love the potash from any wood you burn. Apparently the ancient Chinese invented the wheelbarrow. It always amazes me how one can carry so much with one wheel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And what a difference it makes having the tyre pumped-up correctly.

      Delete
  14. You've got to start the band. It's one of the happiest types of music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be fun wouldn't it. I love good pan music.

      Delete
  15. I was going to say what gz said but you seem to have everything in hand !!! I was going to clean the greenhouse but, we have been promised more snow next week so I'm waiting for the better weather ... love your strawberries in the wheelbarrows. XXXX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And it's 'first come first served' with the strawberries, which means I get to eat most of them. You'd be amazed by how many just one wheelbarrow produces.

      Delete
  16. Handy hint, a bit too late. If you puncture the holes on the bottom from the inside out, it does not collect pools of water so rusts less quickly. I suppose you could always store it upside down...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could you publish a list of handy hints, then I could consult it before I do anything. You're right of course, but I don't know how I'd have swung my pickaxe on the inside.

      Delete
    2. Just shoot it with your pistol the next time. I used a heavy iron spike on mine. Someone stole it (the oil drum).

      Delete
    3. I do have a long, pointed, iron bar. Never mind; too late. I'll remember to store it upside down.

      Delete
  17. Those drums make handy incinerators don't they? We just pile everything onto Philippe's 'communal' bonfire that he burns 2 or 3 times a year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have a bonfire too, but for the bigger stuff. We need to light it.

      Delete
  18. We have a burn barrel at our cottage that sits on a cement patio stone. I will lift it on to clay pots as well. Thanks for the tip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They need the air to get through. I presume yours has holes in the bottom.

      Delete
  19. They were used for similar purposes in Australia. We knew them as 44 gallon drums. Upon metrication, they became 205 litres, which didn't sound so good as, a 44. Is that the same size? Leyland in Britain made a pretty bad large car for the Australian market known as a P76. One of the ads bragged that a 44 gallon drum would fit in the boot, and it did, never mind that the dashboard fell off into you lap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This one fitted easily into the back of my Compact Royce (Peugeot 206 SW). I used to have a Renault 4 that advertised with a calf in the back.

      Delete
  20. I like the idea of those wheelbarrow strawberry beds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They work very well, and are planted with my favourite variety; Gariguette.

      Delete
  21. Dang, I need a burn barrel for paper. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Send me the stamp, and I'll post one to you.

      Delete
  22. I want wheelbarrow strawberry beds! That's such a good idea! And I like your thrifty up-cycled incinerator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'd never look back; first find your old wheelbarrow!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...