Here’s the thing about wine barrels. Even when they’re empty (and oh, how sad that they were empty…), they are quite awkward and heavy. The photo you see here may indicate that one person can hold these, and they can, but you may notice the photo is a bit more blurry than I might have liked.
“Come on, camera,” I said while I was taking it. “Focus.”
“It’s probably saying it can’t focus when the subject’s legs are shaking so badly,” Fatemeh said. The damn barrel was, after all, nearly as wide as she is tall.
She had met me at the back stairs to haul the barrels up the stairs and along the back side of our building to our patio. I told her we would have to do them one at a time.
“They’re splintery, and there’s nothing to hold on to,” I said. “In fact, I just gave myself a splinter.”
Fatemeh pulled her sleeves down over her hands. “I am deathly afraid of splinters.”
“That’s why there are two of us,” I said.
We hauled the containers up one by one, sneaking along the back side of a number of other apartments, keeping our voices to a whisper so no one would become alarmed.
After they were in place, I told Fatemeh about what I’d learned about how blueberries love the acidity. “I’m not growing blueberries,” I said. “That seems like a lot of commitment.”
And maybe it would be. But that leaves the next question to be answered. If not blueberries, then what to plant? It’s time, after all to begin planning my very first urban crop.
on Feb 17th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Me. Is. Jealous.
I don’t know what you intend to plant but if you are interested I have a small variety of tomato seeds and tokyo onion seeds (big fat onion stalks that are fantastic grilled with some soy/sugar!) to share.
on Feb 17th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Perhaps you and your photographic subject have stumbled upon a new workout: the “Napa knockout,” a conditioning cycle inspired by the wine country. You could lift barrels, haul containers of grapes around, do curls and lateral raises with varying sizes of wine bottle (start with normal bottles, work up to magnums, then up the chain to Nebuchadnezzar (holds 15 L of wine)), and so on.
What to plant? A zippy green like arugula would be good, providing some upgrades to your salads. Or a selection of herbs: thyme, sage, parsley. Or a dwarf citrus tree, like an improved Meyer lemon or a makrut lime tree (the leaves can be used in Thai cooking or cocktails), which do well in containers of that size.
on Feb 18th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
This most recent sequence about the wine barrels is hilarious, especially the photo of Fatemah with the se grin. Love, Mom
on Feb 19th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I am quite jealous. I’d really love to have some wine barrels. Why not raspberries or blueberries? Why is that more commitment then a tomato plant? ;)
No, I’m not a rabble-rouser. Why do you ask?
on Feb 20th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
What about Bun?
on Feb 26th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
It does look heavy and splintery…Loved the post and had fun reading it. I use barrels often in my designs. Yuccas are awesome in barrels. All the best. Chris
on Feb 27th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Oh oh oh….finally something I know something about! Forget the rocks in the bottom of the barrels. What worked brilliantly for me when I was container gardening were styrofoam peanuts in the bottom. I know you are shaking your head but they don’t add any weight and they are great for drainage. As for the drill you have actually reached the age my dear cousin that you probably need to own one. I hate saying this but it’s time. I won’t let anyone near mine. I vote for Japanese eggplant in the new garden. Love you and can’t wait for barrels of new adventure for you!
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Wine barrels can be useful for so many things. Tables, planters, bird feeders, ect.. Lovely post! Cheers~
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on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I know this is late, but I must point out that the whole rocks-for-drainage thing has been exploded: that is, it doesn’t work. The idea was that rocks in the bottom of pots would help with getting water away from sitting on the roots, or something, but it’s not true. In fact, the current Scientific recommendation is, just fill the damn thing with potting soil. It works better, and it’s easier. Voila!
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Count me among those who are totally envious. I WANT WINE BARRELS! *pout* ;)
on Mar 4th, 2010 at 8:57 am
I love this idea, I managed to buy a few old guiness barrells online to do the same thing, not as big but they had the logos and I thought they looked quite cool!
on Apr 27th, 2010 at 5:25 am
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