Why, you may ask, would anyone be gardening in tote bins in the first place? Personally, I am doing it because I am very fond of eating strawberries, but very much NOT fond of digging excess strawberry plants out of the lawn… You however may have some other perfectly reasonable motivation, such as a lack of space, renting, or just wanting a very cheap form of raised garden bed. Old tote bins as garden containers to the rescue!

This isn’t a very complicated project, and it doesn’t need to be an expensive one either. We purchased a set of secondhand tote bins online for only a few dollars last year. The ones with lids went to my husband for a different diy project, the remaining three got squeezed into my garden.

The only modification that they need are some drainage holes. You could use a drill to do this, but I used a soldering iron. (We had already purchased a very inexpensive one to melt holes in another project. Please don’t use a nice one to melt plastic!) Melting the holes goes quickly, with no plastic bits to clean up. Just make sure that you are doing this outside if possible, and in a well ventilated room if not.

That’s really all of the instruction needed to make one of these. I lined them up, filled them with soil, and planted my favorite (but terrifyingly prolific) berry.

The only thing I would add is to remember that they are a bit more exposed than the rest of your garden. They will dry out a bit faster, heat up a bit faster, and get colder in the winter. If you treat them like they are great big pots (which they essentially are), then they will be just fine.

What would you plant in something like this? Are you horrified at how unsightly they are? Thrilled at the low cost? Let me know what you think!

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