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.
I miss having an oil drum. I'll post a copy of the photo of all the ones we took to the scrapyard later.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
It's the slugs that are my problem, and with just three points of contact with the ground, I can deal with them easily.
Deletemobile raised beds...brilliant!
DeleteVery avant garde.
Deleteavant gardener
DeleteOf course!
DeleteYour 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.
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
DeleteYou're in a rural area so I suppose you don't have to worry about smoke complaints. Your strawberry 'garden' is a great idea
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
DeleteFinding a discarded wheelbarrow would be the problem - we have his and hers wheelbarrows and I think they will last for years.
ReplyDeleteAnything 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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteSnap! I was hoping to continue with my burning today, but it's raining.
Delete€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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
DeleteSprinkle 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!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering to which one of your grandsons the fruit tree may belong to.
Greetings Maria x
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).
DeleteI 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteLX
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.
DeleteOur normal bin sized incinerator cost us £20.
ReplyDeleteI'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..
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.
DeleteIt soon burns off gz.
DeleteI 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.
Deleteline with ceramic fibre blanket is the usual...quick...like raku!
DeleteI used to cut the tops out of the drums using a bolster and lump hammer. Col
ReplyDeleteBlimey! This one was quite heavy gauge steel; I'd have needed super-strength to do the job with hammer and chisel.
DeleteI’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’!
ReplyDeleteThey make great BBQ's; all our local villages use them for the summer fetes.
DeleteYour 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.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a difference it makes having the tyre pumped-up correctly.
DeleteYou've got to start the band. It's one of the happiest types of music.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun wouldn't it. I love good pan music.
DeleteI 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
ReplyDeleteAnd 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.
DeleteHandy 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...
ReplyDeleteCould 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.
DeleteJust shoot it with your pistol the next time. I used a heavy iron spike on mine. Someone stole it (the oil drum).
DeleteI do have a long, pointed, iron bar. Never mind; too late. I'll remember to store it upside down.
DeleteI just got a man to do mine.
DeleteThose 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.
ReplyDeleteWe have a bonfire too, but for the bigger stuff. We need to light it.
DeleteWe 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.
ReplyDeleteThey need the air to get through. I presume yours has holes in the bottom.
DeleteThey 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.
ReplyDeleteThis 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.
DeleteI like the idea of those wheelbarrow strawberry beds.
ReplyDeleteThey work very well, and are planted with my favourite variety; Gariguette.
DeleteDang, I need a burn barrel for paper. :-)
ReplyDeleteSend me the stamp, and I'll post one to you.
DeleteI want wheelbarrow strawberry beds! That's such a good idea! And I like your thrifty up-cycled incinerator.
ReplyDeleteYou'd never look back; first find your old wheelbarrow!
Delete