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Post by daylilydude on Mar 13, 2018 4:56:20 GMT -5
OK, some of these have a ridiculous price tag for no more than what they are... would you pay that price and if not... what do you use that helps you carry your produce from the garden? Garden Hod Link...
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Post by pepperhead212 on Mar 13, 2018 6:43:09 GMT -5
I've gotten a couple of those cheap flexible polyethylene (I think?) buckets, though they eventually get cracks along the top. Those are 8 gal, but I rarely need this, except for squash, and I use them more often for mixing soil. The things I use most are all of the bowls That I have in the kitchen, mostly SS. A 12, two 8, a 6, three 4, and a three 3 qt., plus a few smaller ones nested in. I rarely run out. lol
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Post by farmerjack41 on Mar 13, 2018 7:02:19 GMT -5
Plastic buckets from Dollar store work quite well. Think they might be about two gallon in size. When I pick beets, etc, for market, a five gallon bucket works also. May not be fashionable or keeping up with the "Jones" but work for me. Probably could make on like they are selling, for less than a dollar.
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Post by coppice on Mar 13, 2018 7:15:42 GMT -5
Buckets and baskets were (and still are) utilitarian. Build your own out of splits if ya just have'ta have one. Otherwise buy a five gallon bucket at the dollar-store.
Oh, I suppose an argument can be made for a food-safe pail if you are milking. Other than that, not so much.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 13, 2018 7:57:28 GMT -5
I just pull up my shirt and make a redneck bowl. Hahahaaa
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Post by spike on Mar 13, 2018 8:36:16 GMT -5
I just pull up my shirt and make a redneck bowl. Hahahaaa My daughter in law actually made me a garden apron that pulls up like that to carry things in!! Also that basket daylilydude, posted is just so adorable! I would love to see it in 'person' but would never buy such a thing. I took a friend to Aldi's and while roaming about looking at stuff I found this plastic basket. It is about the size of a laundry basket but with folding handles. For 5 bucks that thing is amazing. Strong and sturdy and I carry everything in it.
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Post by guruofgardens on Mar 13, 2018 8:44:37 GMT -5
We have LOTS of almost-5 gal. buckets I get free from the local bakery. They're available for anyone who wants to use them. I'll fill 2 or 3 with water and place them around the community garden for the birds. We get mostly chickadees in the daytime. Like farmerjack41, I'll pick a bucket of beets, rinse them in the bucket, pour the water on the plants, and then take them home semi-clean to pickle.
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 13, 2018 8:50:24 GMT -5
I used to always do that too hairymooseknuckles , but sometimes I just have too many veggies to carry in my t-shirt so now I buy a new basket at Tractor Supply every year for $4.99. They are sort of flimsy and get stained so they only last about one year but I love these baskets and I never go to the garden without one. I keep my pruners and garden gloves in it and keep it by the garage door. Whenever I go to the garden I take it with me. I don't usually fill it quite this full but I had was making my avatar for Tomatoville DSC01078 by Brownrexx, on Flickr[quote
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Post by octave1 on Mar 13, 2018 9:05:35 GMT -5
Love the person that described the basket as being "wonderful" and gave it a 1 star rating...
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Post by september on Mar 13, 2018 10:35:22 GMT -5
Wow! $50 for a basket to carry your vegetables in the house - sounds like something for Martha Stewart wannabees. It actually looks kind of heavy on it's own, with the solid wood ends and handle. Any old plastic bucket, or flimsy plastic grocery bag works for me. Sometimes seed trays for carrying in big tomatoes in a single layer.
I do this more often than not too! So many times I don't go out planning to harvest anything, but if stuff is too good to pass up ...
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Post by paulf on Mar 13, 2018 11:09:29 GMT -5
About ten years ago one of my kids bought me a garden tote that is the very best ever. I have looked and looked for a replacement without luck. It is falling apart but this is the one I keep going back to. The tag says Arden Gardens. This year for Christmas I got a plastic tote that looks like a large handbag. We shall see. The Hod is way expensive and there is one on the page just below the Hod, the leather bag that looks OK. I love the three compartments in my old tote. Can anyone find a replacement for my old ratty looking bag?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 13, 2018 12:07:14 GMT -5
I love the idea of the hod - the way you can rinse root veggies in it and let them drain before bringing them into the house. But it does look heavy and the price is ridiculous. In practice, I use my shirt just like hairymooseknuckles does for small quantities. I also have a couple of basic woven (rattan?) baskets that I use, and I keep plastic grocery bags on hand for when I have more to pick. I can always use a bucket in a pinch, but with my small garden I rarely have so much coming in on one day that I can't handle it with my two baskets and a couple of plastic grocery bags. Having said that, I think something like this: www.gardenersedge.com/orange-7-gallon-tubtrug-with-colander-basket/p/TUBBK7/ would be great, but here again the price is ridiculous for what you get. I am almost tempted to get just the colander, though. My kitchen colander is too small to be convenient for washing big bunches of root veggies. And the colander could be used as a picking basket when it's not needed for washing. paulf, I love your tote, but I have never seen anything quite like it. I'll keep a lookout, though.
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Post by september on Mar 13, 2018 12:44:19 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL , I've seen small laundry baskets at the dollar store that might work well for rinse and carrying. They are rather flimsy plastic though. They would not have the drainage through the bottom, but you could make your own holes with a long nail or awl heated in a candle flame.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Mar 13, 2018 13:18:03 GMT -5
I have the basket that brownrexx shared for basic, daily trips to the garden. When the tomatoes are coming on fast and furious though, I take a couple of large roughneck totes. Cherry tomatoes get picked into one of those large cardboard flats they use at U-pick strawberry farms. Every year when we go picking I save the flats and use them all garden season for this and that. The cardboard is wax coated, so wipes off easily, and is completely disposable if something were to happen to it- OR I opt to hand off a bunch of produce to a friend/neighbor.
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 13, 2018 14:18:52 GMT -5
Yes, I love the basket because the handle makes it easy to carry and it's not deep like a bucket so delicate things don't get crushed.
I don't wash produce in it though. If I want to wash off excess soil, I just put the veggies on the grass and squirt them off with the hose before bringing them indoors but most veggies get washed in the kitchen sink.
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Post by meandtk on Mar 13, 2018 14:24:25 GMT -5
I use old five gallon buckets or the cubic milk crates that I was given. The milk crates provide the ability to rinse, and I like that.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 13, 2018 15:56:38 GMT -5
Milk crates are a great idea if you can scrounge them for free or cheap. september, the cheap laundry basket is a good suggestion, but all of the really cheap ones I have seen have been too flimsy. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
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stone
Pro Member
Posts: 170
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Post by stone on Mar 13, 2018 16:54:39 GMT -5
I know people with those... If you have enough money to hire a gardener, apparently you can afford decorative baskets to carry the produce in.
Personally... I'm in the camp of... carry the produce inside?
Doesn't everybody just graze off the plants?
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Post by ladymarmalade on Mar 13, 2018 17:37:43 GMT -5
I know people with those... If you have enough money to hire a gardener, apparently you can afford decorative baskets to carry the produce in. Personally... I'm in the camp of... carry the produce inside? Doesn't everybody just graze off the plants? Graze? I flat out have breakfast standing right there in the garden. A few snap peas or green bean pods, a handful of cherry tomatoes, leaf or two of basil and a nice sized carrot if I'm lucky. Nothing better than produce warmed from the summer sun!
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Post by carolyn on Mar 14, 2018 8:11:04 GMT -5
I have a friend with one, her son got it for her birthday or a mothers day gift.... it actually is a really nice basket. she brings it to one of the markets I attend. a quality product that can last a looong time. it is great for rinsing off your root vegetables. doubles as a display basket if you wanted it to.... hers is well made (but not Burpees... maybe Johnny's), i just don't remember where it came from. if I did small scale gardening I would want one just because they are a nice basket, well made, durable, sturdy....everything a plastic bucket is not. it is kind of like Longenberger baskets.... useable but still nice looking. I have several longenbergers that i use for gardening. wash them off and they are good to use in the house, too.
but I use those great big black crates like you see at Walmart in the produce section. that is the size of gardening I do. I have stacks of them in every depth they make... I think. I do use 5 gallon buckets for picking beans.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 14, 2018 9:50:03 GMT -5
One idea that I had poking around the internet yesterday was a folding plastic storage crate. Sort of like the produce crate that carolyn mentioned, but smaller and designed to fold down to take up less space when not in use. Most of the folding crates I saw have at least some holes in the bottom. They have carry handles built into the structure. The downside is that crates tend to need two hands to carry. I wonder whether I can find a sturdy one that isn't too expensive.
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Post by carolyn on Mar 14, 2018 15:18:43 GMT -5
I haven't seen them smaller than the size I already use except for the ones with sides that don't fold down and I found them to be kind of pricey... about 15.00 each. designed specifically for the produce industry though... not just something I found poking around the internet.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 15, 2018 10:05:35 GMT -5
Well, for me the folding sides would be the major reason I would want to get them instead of just sticking with my current baskets and bags. With folding crates I could tuck the crates behind or even under the potting bench on the porch, out of the way and out of sight until I need them.
Smaller would be fine as long as they aren't tiny, since I have a small garden.
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