[Julie M]

I am planning to create a couple of raised beds this year, but am realistic enough to know that they won't be ready in time for this years plants.
I have quite a few large planters that I am planning to grow vegetables in this year.
I scored 8 planters in an auction, but now that I have them home I am wondering if they are safe to plant edibles in. It looks like they might be made from plaster of paris.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?
Thanks in advance

[Trillium]

You'll know by their weight if they're actually PofP. These days lots are made of fibreglass to look like PofP.

People grow crops in all sorts of things - tires, grow bags, 5 gal pails, wheelbarrows, cat litter boxes, large salad containers, large coffee cans, horse buckets, etc. Use whatever you can get, just be sure there are some drainage holes and start growing.

For these smaller units, you'll want to fill them with a good compost and be sure to feed the plants often since they're restricted in their search for food and moisture. Unevenness in either will stress the plants and limit production as well as signal pests for a feast. You should be able to grow almost anything in them except perhaps pumpkins, rhubarb, trailing cukes and courgettes which all have very large root systems.

It'll be experimentation your first year so make notes on spacings, varieties tried, etc and next year you should do much better. No one knows it all in the first few years. Nor in decades (though some will pretend they do  ).