Repurposed Plastic Buckets as Garden Planters

I used mine for the garden and this past year in a new way. I have a small raised bed box, but it is not deep or big enough to grow tomatoes in. So I took several of the cat litter buckets, drilled a few drain holes along the bottom, plus used a circular saw bit and cut a large 4" hole in the middle. I used it to raise the soil depth while still allowing the roots to extend out the bottom into the raised bed soil.

I planted the seedlings deep and gradually filled the soil into the bucket as the plants grew tall. I got many cherry tomatoes. The only drawback is the tops got very tall and overran the supports, so I had to improvise with twine. :) I think the added height kept the slug problem smaller, though I still had to treat for pests with organic solutions.