Reading Ralph Rice's article of using a front end loader tire for a water tank in the latest issue of RH magazine, reminded me of the uses I have around here for them.
Several years ago I acquired a few to break a team of mules using Jack Stroud's ( now deceased) method in his video. I put quite a few miles on that team driving them puling two loader tires. That team is now 13 and 14 years a old and went down the road quite some time ago.
The tires set around here for a few years and I finally got an idea to use them in my garden. I cut one side wall out using the same method that Ralph did and laid a layer of 1/2 " hardware cloth ( we use to call it rat wire) on the bottom to keep gophers out and then filled each tire with good top soil .
One is my asparagus bed that I put 6 crowns in and it keeps me and the wife in plenty of shoots each spring. Come fall I pile several feet of pine needs around the tire and on top for mulch.
Another I use as a raised bed for radishes and lettuce. It keeps these old knees from having to bend as much. We have a lot of hail here so I put in a few stakes about 2 ft tall and lay 1/2 " hardware cloth over them to protect against it.
The other is my herb planter. This year I raised sage in it that I started from seeds. I eat a lot of wild game, elk and such, and I like to season it with ground sage, Greek seasoning and Seasoned salt. I grew enough for a two year supply. I dried it in a a dehydrator and the ground it with one of those small coffee bean grinders that we had ( I had to buy a new one as my wife said she didn't favor sage flavored coffee). I filled three 1/2 pint jelly glasses with it and putt two on the freezer to keep.
Comment on Ralph's water tank. How did he remove the oily coating inside the tire? I know my mules would not drink that. I have a 150 and a 300f gallon tank that I use, Every filling, I put about two table spoons of bleach in the small one and an 1/8 cup in the larger one that keeps the algae from growing. I have been doing that for over 30 years and it doesn't bother the mules. I don't know if the black tires will keep the water form freezing in the winter, but think it would keep that water too warm in the summer here in Colorado.