I have seen new Metal Horse Troughs used on Facebook and I will admit that they do work well but if you can find old ones that have rusted out, it’s going to be a lot cheaper than buying new from the store’s. This big old trough cost us 2 dollars at a farm sale, no one wanted it because it did not hold water. This just meant that it had drainage to me 🙂

I have used this trough as a hot manure box it was a very raw of mixed straw and manure from the barn but its last fill up was in 2015. This what I started with all the left over bits from last year as well as blow in stuff including leaves.

I am trying to figure out why I had placed a rock in last year.. but it’s just not coming to me now..

Cleaned it up but still very chunky and in need of work. I decided that I would give it a double dig if it was thawed though enough to do it, I also really wanted to see what was happening downward as I was thinking about growing root veggies as the second crop and that only works if I have the depth to do it with.  Because I had lost 30 to 35% of volume in the composting process, I needed to decide what I wanted to do this spring, I am going to use it as is and will top it up in late fall.

I dig down till I hit bottom and just look at how crazy well that composted down in place, After I turned it all, I needed to work the soil to a finer point.

Then I seeded it out for an early spring crop of kitchen garden foods, there is all kinds of early mixed greens, radishes and such and then it got covered with a topper of glass to increase the heat for the next while. It means that I will need to water it but it will also increase growth of both the seed and the plants.

It was great to get even one small garden plot cleaned up and planted out, one at a time will get it done. This is a very easy form of raised garden bed, the challenge for the average person is going to be the cost to fill it.. it takes a lot of soil and of course it will also need to be watered in a way that in ground often does not.