Paint it white or put it in the shade and you should be fine.

Al

make sure of a drainage hole, you can also use white plastic as a mulch cover like a earthbox cover.

It is the beginning of a beautiful raised garden! Guarantee drainage, and your plants will reward you for giving them 2 feet of "legroom."
Your squash could even provide some of the shade... Have you thought of adding corn and beans? There wouldn't be enough corn for pollination, but the beans would appreciate the stalks to grab on to.
I just picked up two 5-foot-wide stock tanks for veggies, but have to wait til payday to fill them.
8-)
Rick

Thank you all for your encouragment!

One more thing; the site below says:

"Line the tank with plastic sheeting to prevent zinc from leaching into the soil. Large amounts of zinc in your soil can inhibit plant growth. After lining, make sure to puncture drainage holes into the plastic as well."

Do you feel this is necessary? While the one I have has not been used, as you can see the tank has sat out in the weather for a while and started to rust inside. Do you think there is enough zinc left to harm the soil?

Thank you.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to use a Stock Tank for Garden -- eHow

If you see rust (from the metal inside), then the zinc-coating in that area is gone.
I doubt you'll have an issue...but you can always take precautions.

Josh

you can grow corn in that without a problem. 24 plants plus beans. the only problem would be from wind and staking them would be easy.

Since you've been kind enough to reply to my questions I thought I'd show you how we finally decided to place the stock tank to use for veggies in my 'mostly flower' garden.

Dear Hubby drilling holes in the bottom ...

{{gwi:5002}}

Filled and waiting for planting dates to arrive ...

{{gwi:5003}}