Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Update on Filling Raised Beds with Chicken Run Compost

All my pallet wood raised beds are using the hügelkultur method of filling logs in the bottom half of the raised bed, then an organic layer of stuff, topped off with a topsoil and chicken run compost mixed 1:1 for the final 6-8 inches. That system works great for me.

Every year, I have to add maybe 1-2 inches of new topsoil/compost to the raised beds due to the settling of the soil and probably some decomposition of the wood logs and branches in the raised bed. For me, this is a benefit of the hügelkultur design because I am adding fresh compost to the top of the beds while the logs underneath are breaking down and feeding the soil from beneath. The soil is being improved both on top and on the bottom every year.

Anyways, today I harvested some chicken run compost to mix with my topsoil for some raised bed top offs. The bulk of my chicken run compost is leaves and grass clippings. Add to that, I toss all my old coop litter out into the run for composting. The chickens scratch and peck in the run compost all day long, looking for tasty bugs and juicy worms to eat. They break down the run litter much better and faster than I could by turning compost piles.

Here is a picture of some of the black gold compost I harvest this afternoon from the chicken run. This wagon holds about 10 cubic feet of compost...

This compost was really finished and was very heavy. The wagon was full with about 10 cubic feet of that heavy compost and I was glad I had four wheels on my cart. At the gate of my chicken run, I have about a 12-inch drop from the height of the chicken run compost litter to the ground level outside the run.

In order to get that wagon in and out of the chicken run, I had to build a small ramp out of pallet wood...

That cart, when full, would be too heavy for me to work with without that ramp.

When I say that I was harvesting black gold compost, I don't know if you can really see how rich and black that compost actually is in that picture. For comparison, here is the cart with newly harvested compost alongside the rejects from previous compost sifting...

One final picture of some of my new topsoil/compost mix being added to the top of a raised bed. You can see how good my new compost looks on top of the bed. I bet my plants will love it...

Ref: Update on Filling Raised Beds with Chicken Run Compost from the Hügelkultur Raised Beds thread here on BYC forums. I think this post applies here as well. Appreciate any comments.

 

[gtaus]

I appreciate your updates, showing issues as well as successes.

Thanks for the feedback. I think it's important to update posts when things come up. I really like my pallet wood raised bed v2.0 design because, as I just proved, the raised bed is holding together just fine even though I messed up and got the sidewall boards too tight and then they warped after they got wet from the rain. My earlier attempts at raised beds would have fallen apart, or, at the very least, I would have sidewall boards blown out.

 

[gtaus]

The embarrassing thing about the whole incident is that I'm an NRA certified safety instructor and president of a 700 member rifle and pistol club. Guess I'll have proof of what not to do, while handling a weapon, when I go over safety procedures. Like you stated, live and learn from our mistakes.

I am not too surprised. It is like the shop teacher with 3 fingers on one hand and 4 on the other. People tend to get too complacent with tools they use every day. That's when bad things are more likely to happen.

BTW, much respect to you gun safety instructors who teach the young kids (or new gun owners) how not to kill themselves with firearms. I really value the experience and knowledge I gained through the NRA gun safety course I took back in the early 1970's.

BTW, I've shot myself with finish nailers and roofing nailers as well.

Ouch! At least nail gun mishaps are usually not fatal. It hurt me a lot physically just shooting an 18-gauge brad nail into my finger. Mostly, my ego took a bigger hit because I pride myself in the safe use of my tools. But I messed up.

I've got 165 rifles and pistols in my collection and was surprised with the fact that my wife didn't make me sell them off after my incident.

Maybe you have a good life insurance policy? If she buys you some new guns with a hair trigger, that's when I would really be concerned!

 

[chickengr]

I've got more recycled wood! they look like dismantled pallets so I can use them on my pallet coops to close the gaps. I was going to buy some used roof tin to do that.