Storage

The buckets we used this year to plant tomatoes needed a place to spend the winter without direct exposure to the elements.  There's no way I'd put them in the garage and I don't like the idea of putting them in the basement. (Too likely i'd be bringing in insects or mold.)  
Storage in place is the answer.  We set the buckets on the open tarpaulin and folded it up over the sides and then again over the back and front.  The entire enclosure is held in place with a rope held in tension with a bungee cord.
It seems like it will do the job but until next spring arrives we won't know for sure if we've withstood Mother Nature's efforts to flatten them back into the earth....or blow the whole thing out of town.