I have had a successful season of growing garlic in an old bathtub and an old fridge.
The growing medium was well rotted horse manure and woodchips/shavings from a local horse trotting stable. I gathered the mix when it was about 6 months old, and let it mature in a covered cubic pile for about a year. I carefully watched a few grass seed shoots and a dandelion shoot for signs of vigour, being a little nervous of any drench or worm medicine etc. that the owners might have given their horses. All weeds flourished!
The depth of the rotted manure in the fridge was about 3/4 of the depth of the fridge (about 30cm), and about half the depth of the bathtub (about 20cm).
Spacings were only 10cm each way, probably a little closer than most recommended spacings.
The variety was a red-skin softneck call “Duganski”.
You will see from the photos the fridge on its side with the growing bulbs, and the garlic drying on the fridge racks.
A recycled fridge, freezer chest or bathtub could also be used as a “no dig” backdoor herb container. No digging is required: merely fill the container with well rotted, mature horse or cow manure and then plant your herbs directly into the mix. Each year, top up the container with at least a couple of centimetres of compost and replant herbs etc. as required. If significant settling occurs, then you will need to add extra compost.
This system of utilising a bathtub/fridge/freezer might also be useful in an allotment garden setting if you can access any unused space or a quiet corner. The volumes of mature compost needed will vary, of course, on the volume of your container. Typically a bathtub or fridge is about 250 litres (a quarter of a cubic metre) with freezer chests typically more.
No dig container gardening is virtually an imperative for me, here in Tasmania. Vegetable growing is otherwise a constant challenge with possums, rats, mice, wallabies and kangaroos. Not to mention rabbits and cats!
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