Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

We just did a couple of inches. Its true the cardboard composts down, but with the layer on top I think it lasts a bit longer. Either that or our dry summers might keep our carboard from breaking down quite so fast. Whatever the case, it works real good for me. Two years later still only weeding the very edges of it!

I am sure climate makes a big difference. I can see where hot and dry weather would make the cardboard last longer. We typically get a good amount of rain and I think that breaks down the cardboard much faster.

At that time, I only needed one season out of the cardboard. I just covered it with grass clippings as mulch and in the fall just tilled everything (that was left) into the soil. I was happy to do that because my native lakeshore soil is mostly sand and nothing much grew well in it. But now I have converted almost all my gardening into the pallet wood raised beds I have been posting.

If you have poor native soil like I do, you can spend years trying to improve it. Or you can invest in good quality topsoil and compost (chicken run compost) and grow food from year one. The only way I could afford that option was to make raised beds, fill them with hügelkultur wood, and just top of the raised garden beds with the topsoil I had to purchase.

I have no idea where the statement "dirt cheap" comes from. If you have to buy quality topsoil, it's "dirt expensive." But it was worth it to me. I was spending too much time trying to improve my native soil and getting very poor results from the plants. When I built the raised beds and used good quality soil and compost, I had yields easily 3X-4X at the end of the growing season.

Besides, I save so much money on making my raised beds out of free pallet wood that I have no problem in buying high quality top soil to fill it.

Here we are mid-March, and we are still pulling garden fresh produce out of our freezer from last year. That is what I call a success.

 

[fuzzi]

Looking at your poles driven into the raised bed reminds me of why that does not work for me. I build 16 inch high hügelkultur raised beds and have logs in the bottom half of my beds. Then I top off the bed with a topsoil/chicken run compost mixture for the top 6-8 inches. That is great for growing food, but I cannot shove down a pole or tomato cage except for maybe that top 6-8 inches. With the topsoil/compost on top, the soil is not very packed tightly and any pole would not have much support.

That is why I have considered building individual tomato cages out of pallet wood for my determinant tomatoes and maybe just zip tying them together for more support since I cannot shove them deeply into the hügelkultur raised bed.

Something like this zip tied together...

View attachment 3774592

The cattle panel trellis is inserted less than six inches, and on the edge.

I used branches in the bottom for the raised bed you see here. A couple of the stakes I had to wiggle a little to insert them fully, probably they were pushing between the branches.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

I am sure climate makes a big difference. I can see where hot and dry weather would make the cardboard last longer. We typically get a good amount of rain and I think that breaks down the cardboard much faster.

Yeah, wet weather certainly makes things break down a lot faster. We only have to worry about lots of wet in the winter and spring, otherwise it's bone dry. We have more of an issue with the sun breaking things down in the summer, so the layer of mulch does help to keep the cardboard from sun composting.

I have no idea where the statement "dirt cheap" comes from. If you have to buy quality topsoil, it's "dirt expensive." But it was worth it to me. I was spending too much time trying to improve my native soil and getting very poor results from the plants.

Honestly! Buying soil sucks. Thankfully our native soil is good for planting, and we'll till old soil and compost into the plot at the beginning of the year. But we also do indoor seed starts, potted and garden bags for plants that need different soil types, or just do better out of the ground, and I feel like I'm breaking the bank on the little bit that I do have to buy!

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

I've also picked up a couple of stacks of pallets last week! Hoping to break most of them down and start building the new run and coop. Got less than two weeks to at least get the run built, so we'll see what we can do.

 

[gtaus]

The cattle panel trellis is inserted less than six inches, and on the edge.

I saw that Gardener Scott has a video on that cattle panel trellis and it's his favorite method as well. Thanks.

 

[gtaus]

Honestly! Buying soil sucks. Thankfully our native soil is good for planting, and we'll till old soil and compost into the plot at the beginning of the year.

When I was a kid growing up, we lived in the Red River Valley and the soil there was fantastic. No matter what you planted, it grew in abundance in that soil.

But we also do indoor seed starts, potted and garden bags for plants that need different soil types, or just do better out of the ground, and I feel like I'm breaking the bank on the little bit that I do have to buy!

Yes, that is why I try to save money where I can, such as making pallet wood raised beds for free instead of buying kits at the big box stores for $$$. I also save hundreds of dollars every year by making and using my chicken run compost instead of buying compost by the bag at the gardening centers.

 

[gtaus]

I've also picked up a couple of stacks of pallets last week! Hoping to break most of them down and start building the new run and coop. Got less than two weeks to at least get the run built, so we'll see what we can do.

Looking forward to hearing more about your project. Don't forget to take some pictures if you can and post them here for the rest of us. Thanks.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Yes, that is why I try to save money where I can, such as making pallet wood raised beds for free instead of buying kits at the big box stores for $$$. I also save hundreds of dollars every year by making and using my chicken run compost instead of buying compost by the bag at the gardening centers.

Right! I'm of the mindset, 'if I can make it/fix it myself, I'm going to!' Always trying to find ways to save $$$ (I especially love finding goodies that folks throw out! My transport cage for my chicks and pullets is a couple of bird cages someone tossed. Still in great shape)

Looking forward to hearing more about your project. Don't forget to take some pictures if you can and post them here for the rest of us. Thanks.

Will do!

 

[Molpet]

I have no idea where the statement "dirt cheap" comes from

Same place as "cheap as chicken feed."

 

[gtaus]

Right! I'm of the mindset, 'if I can make it/fix it myself, I'm going to!' Always trying to find ways to save $$$

This is a great thread to get ideas on saving money using pallet/salvaged wood. Of course, I encourage members to upload their projects and pictures to inspire others as well. No project is too small, too simple, to be of value to someone else.

(I especially love finding goodies that folks throw out! My transport cage for my chicks and pullets is a couple of bird cages someone tossed. Still in great shape)

I have a medium sized pet carrier that someone discarded. I use it as a chicken hospital if I have to separate one bird from the flock for some in-house treatment.

Of course, saving money is great. But the older I get, the more I enjoy reusing and repurposing things to save them from the landfill.

Believe it or not, our local county landfill charges companies to dispose of their pallets there. I asked if I could take some of those pallets but was told I could not. They bury them in the ground. I really don't understand that philosophy. Seems that if people picked up those pallets to use at home, there would less stuff to bury in the landfill and save the taxpayers money over time.

On the other hand, the local county landfill allows us to load up as many free wood chips as we can haul. And every once in a while, they might have old moldy straw bales for free pickup for someone who wants them for composting, etc...