# Whiskey Barrels



## greenmcdonalds (Oct 30, 2006)

In my yard of 2/3 of a acre , in a 1920 farm house that I have, is 2 black walnut trees, plus lots of pine. The problem is the black walnut roots are poisoning the garden area and nothing is growing. I only been here 4yrs. now and not even a radish will grow. The black walnut roots are all over the yard, so no use trying to garden in the ground anywhere. I was thinking about using old whiskey barrels in the garden in a row will be ok. I know about old tires, railroad ties bad news in a garden, but what about the barrels with whiskey? Will it kill the plants too? Or will the plants just be drunk? LOL. Has anybody use whiskey barrels? They are only 10 dollars apiece here. Thanks ahead for any answers. Sue


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## rockhound (Sep 25, 2009)

Whiskey barrels will work fine. The cheaper the better of course. Drill 3/4 or 1 inch holes for drainage, at least 10 or 12 per barrel. Don't use garden soil but make a mix of organic stuff that drains really well. Set the barrels up on bricks or something off the ground and in full sunlight.


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

Work for alot of things. Fiberglass ones last better. I think I added drainage holes last I used them.

I would pay $10. (half or whole.)


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

greenmcdonalds said:


> In my yard of 2/3 of a acre , in a 1920 farm house that I have, is 2 black walnut trees, plus lots of pine. The problem is the black walnut roots are poisoning the garden area and nothing is growing. I only been here 4yrs. now and not even a radish will grow. The black walnut roots are all over the yard, so no use trying to garden in the ground anywhere. I was thinking about using old whiskey barrels in the garden in a row will be ok. I know about old tires, railroad ties bad news in a garden, but what about the barrels with whiskey? Will it kill the plants too? Or will the plants just be drunk? LOL. Has anybody use whiskey barrels? They are only 10 dollars apiece here. Thanks ahead for any answers. Sue


Don't reveal your source of those ten dollar barrels. Cracker Barrel will buy them all up and then you'll see them out on their porches for sale for $68.00 each.... 

geo


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

rockhound said:


> Whiskey barrels will work fine. The cheaper the better of course. Drill 3/4 or 1 inch holes for drainage, at least 10 or 12 per barrel. Don't use garden soil but make a mix of organic stuff that drains really well. Set the barrels up on bricks or something off the ground and in full sunlight.


Before I did that I would try turning them into self watering containers like the earth boxes you can buy. That would cut down on water usage and allow them to go longer between waterings.

WWW


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

greenmcdonalds said:


> In my yard of 2/3 of a acre , in a 1920 farm house that I have, is 2 black walnut trees, plus lots of pine. The problem is the black walnut roots are poisoning the garden area and nothing is growing. I only been here 4yrs. now and not even a radish will grow. The black walnut roots are all over the yard, so no use trying to garden in the ground anywhere. I was thinking about using old whiskey barrels in the garden in a row will be ok. I know about old tires, railroad ties bad news in a garden, but what about the barrels with whiskey? Will it kill the plants too? Or will the plants just be drunk? LOL. Has anybody use whiskey barrels? They are only 10 dollars apiece here. Thanks ahead for any answers. Sue


I've never heard anything bad about growing in used whiskey barrels, should be worth a shot!

If the walnuts and pine trees aren't providing too much shade for gardening, in addition to the juglone from the walnuts, you could try a section of garden by loading it up with organic matter. Lay down a layer of landscape fabric (to prevent tree roots coming up - or at least slowing them down...), then pile on shredded leaves (oaks, maples, etc...) or straw. After a season or so, you can plant into the material by adding in a bit of topsoil/compost around the planting site.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

K.B. said:


> I've never heard anything bad about growing in used whiskey barrels, should be worth a shot!


Great choice of words! 

As for the possiblity of alcohol remaining in the oak pores, alcohol is soluble in water, so a good washout should suffice to make it diluted and harmless--and it will also evaporate. 

geo


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

greenmcdonalds said:


> whiskey barrels? They are only 10 dollars apiece here. Thanks ahead for any answers. Sue


Are they full for that price? sign me up!!!!!!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

You'll want to make sure your barrel planters are not sitting under the tree. Fallen leaves contain juglone too.

There are some crops that will tolerate the juglone levels produced by a black walnut. 
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/xj0039.pdf


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Vegetables which DO tolerate juglone are beans, beets, carrots, corn, melon, onion, parsnip, and squash.

Vegetables which DO NOT tolerate juglone are asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, pepper, potatoes, rhubarb, and tomatoes.

Martin


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## bennypapa (Nov 11, 2012)

geo in mi said:


> Great choice of words!
> 
> As for the possiblity of alcohol remaining in the oak pores, alcohol is soluble in water, so a good washout should suffice to make it diluted and harmless--and it will also evaporate.
> 
> geo


You might need 2 or three good water soaks to get the whiskey out. Brewers use them and estimate that a freshly emptied barrel has about a quart of whiskey in it that gets into the beer. Each successive batch has less. Soaking with water should have the same effect.
You'll have to get the alcohol out somehow. Fill it and soak a week, rinse, repeat 3 times.

Ben


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## greenmcdonalds (Oct 30, 2006)

Thank you everyone for your replys. I forgot about drain holes! Duh. As for full whiskey barrels is 3,000 dollars, I checked. LOL. I did think about getting a truck load of top soil to put in the garden this spring, maybe it would work. Last summer I did plant radish , nice big tops, bottom nothing but roots. Thats when I gave up. Now just trying to figure out something cheap and safe in using raised beds. The garden is the only place in my yard that is full sun. Thank u again for your replys. Sue


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

I don't know why some think that a little residual alcohol is a bad thing. For the past few years we've been giving all the garlic cloves a good long soak in isopropyl alcohol. And why that? It's cheaper than vodka which we used the years before! Alcohol treatment will also kill any seed-transmitted pathogens. Doesn't hurt them a bit and there are nastier stuff than alcohol used for that purpose. There are even some seeds which must ferment in order to germinate. So, give your plants a treat and let them have the booze!

Martin


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## rockhound (Sep 25, 2009)

If they've dried in the sun, I'll bet there is no detectible alc level left.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I have my blueberries planted in barrels, I think they are wine barrels here though. We have alkaline soil so I wanted to control the mix for the acid loving plants. It works great. I have one planted in flowers too. I'm going to get more of them this spring and plant more things in them, because my smooth collie puppy loves to race around the yard and tromps a lot of my landscaping. She'll detour around the barrels. I want more blueberries too! I'm a fan of planting in barrels, I'd recommend trying a row of them in your garden for your more sensitive plants to see how they do. I don't have drain holes in mine (but its very hot and dry here too) except the old ones that are a bit rotted. I find they drain out between the slats just fine (for me anyway).


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

I have used wine barrels for a few things, but being oak, they will rot out in time, probably about five to seven years, as mine did. I set them up on bricks to allow them to drain and not be in contact with any moisture from the soil.....But the bottom did fail after those years. 

geo


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## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

Using wood whiskey barrels for planters would be the same as scrapping out a vintage Model T.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Perhaps my wine barrels work for me because of dry sandy soil and not so much caring if the bottom rots out, I don't move them. I've been using one for a couple of decades for flowers, but I wouldn't try to move it again.


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

Interesting concept but .... Why?

Black Walnut burns well and makes nice furniture. Mater vs walnut ... umm, hmph.

Can ya not get the whiskey barrels refilled? LOL ( much better use IMO).

"If you like Scotch or Irish whisky you have to give thanks to Kentucky Bourbon and our Kentucky crafted American white oak barrels. After the barrels have been used ONCE to make world renowned Kentucky Bourbon, they are shipped overseas where they are reused over and over again to make European whisky"

About Kentucky Bourbon - Where they go if ya do not fill them with dirt


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I bought a piece of land just because it had black walnuts growing on it. The nuts are well worth all the effort.

Radish, all tops and no roots. I suspect your problem was too much nitrogen. If it was juglone toxicity the plants would have died.


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## Bigdog (Sep 20, 2003)

Do english walnuts poroduce the same toxic stuff??


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Bigdog said:


> Do english walnuts poroduce the same toxic stuff??


Yes, same family.

Martin


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## greenmcdonalds (Oct 30, 2006)

Thank you for all your information! I don't know how to harvest the black walnuts , last year I filled 2 wheel barrows full and dumped them in a sand pit. Wasn't sure if we could eat them because the shell was covered in brown spots. I will try 2 whiskey barrels this spring and see how it goes. Growing just flowers in them would be ok, but growing food to eat I'm worried. I would like to sell veg. from the barrels on my busy road this year, and I would love not to make anyone sick.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Can't imagine why they'd make anyone sick, there won't be any alcohol in the plants even if there is some left in the barrel. Otherwise, they'd need to be non-toxic and food grade to put the whiskey in them. I really wouldn't worry about it.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Harvesting black walnuts is easy. You can get the green husks off by running over them with a car or garden tractor. Then pick up the rough shelled nuts. You can wash them off or let them set where the rain can wash them but you don't have to. I never clean the leftover husks off mine. Then let the shells dry for a few months to a year. (yes you can let them set for a year. I am currently cracking last year's nuts. Some bad ones but they would have been bad anyway) Then use a heavy duty nut cracker or a hammer to split the shells and extract the meats. Wear safety glasses! I would have got hit in the eye with a piece of shell if I wasn't wearing glasses a couple days ago. The nut meats keep longer if they are frozen. The nut shells burn very well so save them if you burn wood for heat or outdoor fires.


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