Are Animal Water Tanks Ok For Raised Garden Beds For Veggies

A livestock watering trough from Wilco Farm Store is filled with compost for planting in the spring as a raised bed.

Rodent-proof raised beds: Various galvanized steel tanks are available from Wilco, $79.99 to $134.
This fall: Buy livestock watering troughs, fill with soil and compostable material.
In spring: Turn soil mixture and add premium garden soil and wait until weather warms to plant

Native gophers and voles thrive on our rural property. We appreciate the natural tilling of the soil the rodents provide, which improves aeration and water drainage in the dense clay soil, and we take pleasure in the knowledge that gophers and voles provide natural holes where bumble bees can nest and over winter. We assume beneficial garter snakes explore the tunnels in search of slugs and insects. And the resident great horned owls rely on gophers to feed their hungry babies early in the spring.

But occasionally, the gophers eat the roots of our artichokes, tomatoes, carrots and beets. I have dissuaded many of them from approaching our raised beds by hosing tunnels with water and using rebar to break up tunnels near the garden. We have lined new raised beds with chicken wire before filling them with garden soil.

Find plant bargains this fall

Wanting to explore another avenue for rodent-proof raised beds, we purchased six livestock watering troughs when Wilco Farm Stores held a sale. The 6-by-2-by-2-foot stock tanks seemed just the right height and width for vegetable beds. They have a plug at the bottom when left open that provides drainage.

We had some chipped wood waste left over from tree trimmings, a pile of soil left over from a minor project that required excavation and neighbors with horses.

The chipped wood provided a nice soft, raised, 6-inch pad on which to place the troughs. I thought level, weed-free footing with drainage around the troughs would make for more pleasant gardening conditions. Not bending over to tend the garden is something I am looking forward to.

Establish lush lawn by renovating, planting in early fall

The neighbors were more than happy to fill our utility trailer with sawdust stall bedding and horse manure. We hired a crew to make the chipped wood pad, place the troughs 3 feet apart, mix the soil and horse manure and fill the stock tanks three quarters full.

I watered the dry soil and manure mixture. Later, I added compost from our overly full composite containers to inoculate the manure/soil mixture with red wiggler worms, bacteria and fungi to begin the conversion into garden soil. The winter rains will keep the beds from drying out. I plan to add kitchen vegetable waste to these raised beds until spring. In April, we will purchase premium garden soil from Terra Gardens and fill the metal stock tanks to the brim. When the soil warms, it will be ready for planting.

Red worms eat their way through kitchen waste

Rodent-proof raised beds

This fall: Buy livestock watering troughs, fill with soil and compostable material such as sawdust, horse manure, fall leaves, food waste

In spring: Turn soil mixture and add premium garden soil and wait until weather warms to plant

Free manure: For gardeners wishing to obtain free manure, visit the Marion Soil and Water Conservation District website. Their Manure Exchange Program puts gardeners and landowners looking for free manure compost in touch with livestock owners who have excess fresh and composted manure. See marionswcd.net.

Find the tanks: Various 20-gauge galvanized steel tanks are available from Wilco from $79.99 to $134 each. Wilco has periodic sales and will give rain checks if you are not ready to purchase.

You don't have to wait for harvest to plant cover crops