• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

the Imperfectly Happy home

the Imperfectly Happy home

  • Start Here
  • Country Store
    • Seeds for Your Garden & Homestead
    • Shirts & Mugs for Homesteaders
    • Herbal Academy
    • Preferred CBD Oil
    • Meal Planning
    • Chickens
    • Kitchen
  • Home
    • Frugality
    • Vintage Skills
    • Prepping
    • DIY
    • Health & Wellness
  • Recipes
  • Homesteading
    • Homesteading
    • Gardening
    • Backyard Livestock
    • Chickens
    • Meat Rabbits

10 Awesome Ways To Use 5 Gallon Buckets On The Homestead

February 22, 2017 by Tiffany Davis Leave a Comment

10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

5 gallon buckets on the homestead – so many uses! I have used them for everything from composting and self watering buckets to chicken nests and feeders. And usually if I’m done using it for one task I can re-purpose it somewhere else. I have found so many ideas for using 5 gallon buckets on the homestead and had to share some of my favorite ideas with you!

10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

#1 – Make a Soil Sifter 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

Using nothing five gallon buckets and hardware cloth you can make a small, portable soil sifter for your compost/garden. This is perfect for small jobs and can be made rather quickly when needed.

Get the instructions for your Soil Sifter

#2 – Grow Mushrooms in Your 5 Gallon Buckets 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

You Will need:

  • Some kind of bucket or container – Typically a 5 gallon plastic pail is used. In this tutorial I use a 2 gallon plastic pail.
  • Lots of coffee grounds – about half a bucket full – whatever the size of your bucket
  • Mushroom Spore
  • Some plastic wrap (optional but good)
  • Spray bottle to mist your mushrooms daily

See the rest of the directions

#3 – DIY Chicken Waterer Out of Your 5 Gallon Buckets 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

What you’ll need to make this DIY Waterer:

  • A 5 Gallon bucket
  • Plastic top that fits on the bucket
  • A 1/2″ to 1″ drill bit
  • Electric drill
  • Ground feeder or oil pan

Get the directions for the DIY Chicken Waterer here

#4 – Make a 5 Gallon Bucket Root Cellar 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

I love this idea because not everyone has a root cellar or refrigerator space for root veggies.  A 5-gallon bucket and bucket-size hole are all you need to make a simple root cellar for carrots.

See this tutorial from Mother Earth News

Order Mother Earth News!

#5 – Easy to Make Mouse Traps from 5 Gallon Buckets 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

Rodent issues are serious on any homestead. You can take precautions to prevent them, but sometimes you need to take some BATTLE action. I like that this DIY mouse/rat trap can get multiple kills without you needing to reset anything.

Let’s look at how these cheap homemade mouse traps work to kill mice:

  • Mice crawl up a wooden incline in search of food. The incline has a thin film of peanut butter to attract them.
  • At the top, there is a level landing that enters a 5-gallon bucket filled with 2 to 3 gallons of water. The mice hop onto a can that has a thick layer of peanut butter all around it on the far end.

Get the full directions on Frugal Living Freedom

#6 – Store Charcoal in Your 5 Gallon Buckets 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

This tip comes from my friend Linda at Food Storage Moms. She has a lot of ways you can use 5 gallon buckets for homesteading and prepping; but I thought this was an awesome one to share. Linda even shares the difference between lump coal and briquettes, in case you aren’t aware of there is a difference.

See Food Storage Moms for tips on storing charcoal in your buckets.

#7 – Make Your Own 5 Gallon Bucket Aquaponics System 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

Now I have used DIY self-watering buckets to increase my garden space and you can do a lot in containers. But who knew you could make an entire aquaponics system with 5 gallon buckets and pvc pipe?!?

Get the directions here!

#8 – Make a Hose Holder 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

Storing hoses and cords on thin hooks or nails can cause them to crack or lose their shape. Five-gallon buckets fitted with a scrap of 3/4-in. plywood in the bottom and then screwed to the wall make great multipurpose holders. The plywood can be any shape, but to give it a more finished look, cut a circle slightly smaller than the diameter of the bucket.

See how to do it on Family Handy Man (scroll down)

#9 – Build Your Own Strawberry Tower 10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

I love this simple idea for growing strawberries! When you run out of ground space sometimes you have to grow UP!

A strawberry tower is a great way to grow fresh fruit in a limited space, such as on a deck or patio.  Here, Master Gardener Charlene Landreau shows how to build a tower out of cheap (or free!) 5-gallon plastic buckets.

See the directions here!

#10 – Make 5 Gallon Buckets into Chicken Nests!

I’ve done this and it works like a charm. The girls seem to really like them and, because they are plastic, it is super easy to keep clean.

Well there you have it, 10 awesome ways to use 5 gallon buckets on the homestead. I am sure there are lots of other great ways to use them – tell me how you have, in the comments!

10 Awesome Ways to Use 5 Gallon Buckets on the Homestead

  • Tweet

Related posts:

10 Ways to Recycle Coffee In The Garden and HomesteadRecycling Coffee on Your Homestead Saturday Garden Report 10 Things You Never Want to Compost Epsom Salt for HomesteadersEpsom Salt for Homesteaders

Filed Under: Backyard Homestead, Recycle Repurpose Reuse

Previous Post: « Homestead Mentors Why You Need One and How to Be One
Next Post: How to Make an Income From Your Backyard Homestead »

Primary Sidebar

Trending Now

Topics

Footer

—————————————

Advertising

This Site is affiliated with CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a CafeMedia (“CafeMedia”) for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and CafeMedia will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about CafeMedia’s data usage, click here: www.cafemedia.com/publisher-advertising-privacy-policy

Amazon Associates Disclosure

The Imperfectly Happy Home is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Privacy, Disclaimers & Compensation

See Terms of Use

Convert Kit

The Secrets to Vegetable Gardening

My 5 Must Know Gardening Secrets!

    We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.
    Built with ConvertKit

    Copyright © 2023 · Midnight theme