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Big Bucket of Joy
I don't like to shop - never have, never will. But that doesn't stop me from looking at advertisements just so I know what's out there in case I ever do need one of something. One such ad showed up as a flyer in my mailbox for ACE Hardware. In it there was a 16 gallon bucket of sorts for about $4. Sixteen gallons is a sizable amount and I got to thinking what I could do with a container that held 16 gallons. Pretty soon I was driving down the street headed for the nearest Ace Hardware.

After fending off a half dozen of ACE's helpful hardware guys and gals I found the shelf with the big buckets all by myself. There were only four remaining, so others of my ilk must have purchased big buckets, too.

I learned that day that in a big store, on big shelves, big buckets look smaller than they will when you get them home. So make sure you've got a place to store the thing if you ever buy a big bucket.  And don't ever fill it up with sixteen gallons of water because you can't move anything with sixteen gallons of water in it. Not by yourself, anyhow.

So why did I buy the big thing? Because I thought I could use it while desert gardening. 

It makes a great tub for bathing potted plants and hanging baskets so the container's soil gets really saturated. I also add a little water soluble fertilizer to the "bath".

A sixteen gallon container can hold a lot of potting soil whether you're mixing your own or storing an open bag.

A big bucket holds plenty of a bleach solution to sterilize pots, flats, recycled pony packs or pruning equipment.

I've used the big bucket to catch 16 gallons of rainwater running off the roof for watering potted plants.

While pruning, pulling weeds and raking up debris, the big bucket was there to carry the stuff to the compost bin or trash container.

If I used manure tea, the big bucket would be a great container for steeping a batch.

Not everyone needs a big bucket, but if you do, here's hoping it's an inexpensive, useful big bucket of joy.

The Bottom of the Pot
There's a hole in the bottom of the pot dear gardener, dear gardener. And sometimes there's more than one. Recycling those black plastic pots from the nursery isn't always easy with the big holes in the bottom and sides of those things. The soil has a tendency to wash out the large side holes when you water.

Traditionally gardeners have used pot shards or stones to cover the holes and still allow for good drainage. I've switched to metal window screen because I'm less apt to lose as much soil washing out the holes.

I use tin snips to cut a good supply screen in the shape of squares or circles. I cut several different sizes to keep on  hand when I'm potting up bedding plants, herbs or whatever else I happen to be growing at the time. For the recycled black plastic pots from the nursery I often have to wedge a piece of screen in the side holes to keep it in place while I fill the container with soil.

I've also found the screen is pretty durable, and I try to save it from the bottom of the pot when repotting a container to use again.

So next time you replace the screen on a door or window, don't be in a hurry to send the old screen to the land fill because it still has some useful life left in the desert garden.  

What's the Point?
I can't begin to tell you how annoying those little card inserts for subscribing to magazines are as they fall out on the floor and are pretty much useless liter in our sales prone society. What's made them even worse, and this includes garden related magazines, is now you've got to read the fine print. In big letters you might see $21 for 12 monthly issues. But right below that, in smaller type are the words plus $3 postage. If you can't read the fine print it says plus $3 postage. So your one year subscription is actually $24.  Why the magazines started adding the postage as a separate cost I don't know, but it's turned this desert garden a little hostile.

In fact I now try to buy magazine subscriptions the same way I'd buy a new car. I try (let me emphasize the word "try") to get the best deal. And to do that I have to be willing to walk away. You'll be amazed what price you can get if you let your magazine subscription run out. It may take six months, but eventually a lot of magazines come down in price and often they no longer have the plus postage in fine print. It's all included in the one year subscription. The more subscribers, the more readers, the more the magazine can charge their advertisers. Magazine publishers want you on their subscriber list. (1999)