The Potato Barrel: Hot or not?

I saw this idea a few months back and I have been thinking about the pros and cons of this design. I would like your feedback if you have a few minutes on what you think of it. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

• Easier to harvest the end product
• I live in a gopher rich area. One year they wiped out my whole crop of potatoes and I don't see anyway for them to harm the potatoes in this setup.
• Attractive looking
• In mild climates you could probably just leave the potatoes in the dirt and take them out as you need them, extending their storage time.

Cons:

• In order to harvest enough potatoes to last you through the winter you would need a ton of these barrels.
• The cost of building them is far greater than planting in the garden dirt
• The potatoes and barrel in this picture look clean and neat but I wonder how messy this endeavor really gets.

I welcome all opinions on this idea. I think it would work well for a small suburban area but in the country where we have tons of dirt for planting I don't think it's so practical. It is cute though.  

Sara F. Hathaway

Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com

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