I've seen those blue barrels cut in half and mounted on frames for waist-high beds before. You also can build simple salad tables, and even bush green beans grow well in salad tables. The first salad tables I ever saw were designed by the University of Maryland, which was teaching classes in how to built them quite a few years back. Here's some of their info: Salad Tables Not being into building things, my salad table is two black concrete mixing tubs sitting on top of a white folding plastic table. I've had them in my greenhouse or garden for maybe 5 or 6 years now. My favorite thing about them is that the salad table plants stay free of pill bugs, sow bugs and such. I've also used a black plastic cattle feed trough on metal legs as a salad table, a tomato table (with dwarf type tomato plants), and to grow all sorts of cool-season greens like kale, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, etc. as well as carrots, radishes and, in warm weather, bush snap beans and bush southern peas. It is not as tall as a salad table, It is more like knee-high. Sorie, He has built himself a nice little raised bed. I like it and hope he enjoys using it. I've also made myself raised planters (to keep the voles from climbing up through drainage holes of tubs sitting directly on the ground) using two cattle feed tubs. I turn the first feed tub over upside down so it forms a pedastal and then place the second feed tub, with drainage holes drilled in it, on top of the first tub. These are not quite waist-high, but are close enough and you can grow virtually anything you choose, including indeterminate tomato plants, in them. Daw

Dig, Thanks for the heads-up! This is too funny! Actually learned about BER on this forum two years ago, so bought the calcium stuff last year, expecting it to return. It didn't until this year. Should have read the FAQ sheet instead of searching for responses. Responses are 50/50, usually with someone starting with the stuff I bought. Not spraying is my favorite option! LOL (Am still collecting egg shells though, since I'm a container gardener, so need to supplement used soil and add to my soil base year after year.) dew, Nope! Those #$%$# tree rats and I have been dueling for a few years now. I've tried everything, including feeding the critters. All that did was invite old enemies back into the picture -- flying rats (pigeons LOL)! They seemed to enjoy the squirrel food more then the squirrels, and, living in the city, I always fear what else might be eating my offerings at night (original rats! Most animals that live in the city are scavengers, so, to us, they're all related to rats! LOL) I'm no squirrel expert (past knowing if it's good squirrel stew or not) but, from the reaction I get from fellow gardeners -- most seem to be suburbanites or country folk -- it seems that city squirrels learn how good tomatoes are. Maybe the crowded conditions force them to eat whatever they can get their greedy little paws on, but again, just guessing. This is the year where I find out who is smarter -- the tree rats or me. Who knows the outcome?! LOL

Turn your pants wrong side out. Usually there is a knotch or clip in the fabric about the knee area. I remove the inseam to that point with the back waist seam open from the waist down. Be careful going too close to the bottom of the zipper because it gets hard to put back. Most pants have a larger seam allowance on the back of the leg area. That's to let out. To determine what to take out, pinch up& pin a section across the back seam till it feels comfortable. Unless you get get the waist pinned to fit, this may need to be done differently. You could baste the back seam before you try to fit the crotch. I would baste the inseam or even use safety pins to make a temporary seam. Understand all that excess material will not give an accurate feel or look. Squirm or sit & go for feel as "does it bind or anything". There is usually an extension of the fly lining that comes down & stitches over the open seam allowance in the crotch. Just undo it no more than you have to & go no closer to that zipper than you have to. Put all back in same manner it was. Inseams first, then down the back from the waist thru the crotch area, then sew that lining section back over the seam allowance there. I sew across the facing, on the outside, at the waist in "the ditch" where the waist band is attached to the pants. Some times you have to remove & replace some belt loops when you have large amounts to remove. In big pants, I have taken as much as 6" out. A rule of thumb, for average sizes, that I learned was 3". We are talking 36-40 inch pants. 34s down gets smaller. 40s up more. I got lots of my advanced alteration education living in a town with a military base. I got started with it having 3 brothers & got into the military aspect when my husband was drafted & I was in need a money to stay with him living on a base 60 miles from civilization! I even worked 3 years in a men's dept of a Belk store because they had an opening when I couldn't find anything in my field. You will need to trim the back seams & inseam seams some. Zigzag the edges to prevent fraying. I would leave the back seam allowances about an inch & a half to 2 inches. Press all new permanent seams open good. I saw a thing in a sewing catalog that I intend to make for inseam pressing. It was a 24X5" board covered with padding then inserted in a sleeve of the silver ironing board fabric & even that fabric would not be an absolute necessity. You could use old towels for padding & any firm dye free fabric cover over it. It was finished off on one end with excess fabric extended so you could grasp it to remove & also had a grommet to use to hang by. Don't you like this site? I have been buying embroider tutorials & you can get free ones on here.

They will look bulky because they are gathering up enough fabric to fit around your hips. That's the way they are. If you are using a non-stretch fabric then make a casing leaving an opening at a seam. Slide the elastic into the casing (a large safety pin will help you work that around, be sure to pin one end to the opening so it doesn't get lost in the middle of the casing. Then stitch the ends of the elastic together, and let it slip completely into the casing, then stitch the opening of the casing shut. If you are using a stretch fabric, it's quite different....we used the pin and quarter technique and then stretched the elastic to match the fabric as we did a multiple stitch zigzag onto the waist. Then we'd flip it over and stitch it again with the multiple stitch zigzag. This is based on stretch n sew techniques I learned way back and using stretch n sew patterns. It's a tad complicated to explain, but easy to execute. Because we were using stretch fabrics though, you didn't have as much bulk at the waist as the fabric stretch would help accommodate the hips. Here is a link that might be useful: Stretch and sew