fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[Mother of Chaos]

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Ron and Cleo - October 2019

Aww, the shore! Which beach?

 

[fuzzi]

Aww, the shore! Which beach?

South Topsail Island, NC. It's accessible by bridge. We would go in early October.

 

[fuzzi]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

The raised beds continue to deteriorate. I think the cedar isn't resilient enough to handle our wet climate and ants!

I think my best course of action is to convert the beds to concrete, aka "cinder" blocks. If I want the beds to remain about 16" high, it will take 36 blocks per bed.

If I do this, it's going to be an extended project, and since I don't want to remove the soil, a bit complicated. Stay tuned.

 

[fuzzi]

Some videos

Gardener Scott

Wades

 

[Mother of Chaos]

South Topsail Island, NC. It's accessible by bridge. We would go in early October.

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Oh, Topsail is great, especially off-season!

 

[NanaK]

If I do this, it's going to be an extended project, and since I don't want to remove the soil, a bit complicated. Stay tuned.

When I did mine it was not as tough as I thought it would be.

The bed is 10x20. I just removed one section of old wood at a time. No more than I could replace with the concrete in one work session.

After I removed a section of wood, I used a flat edge shovel along the area to make sure it was flat and level. I just eyeballed it. Turned that little bit of soil back into the bed. Laid the edging and raked the soil back along the new concrete edging.

If I were going to build it 2 blocks high, I think I would use a level on the ground row before I stacked the 2nd row. I would consider driving rebar at least in the corners to make sure it didn't move over time as it settles.

Definately take your time because it should last a very long time and concrete is HEAVY!

 

[Molpet]

I'm lazy and would just build the cinder block wall around the existing bed, up against the rotting wood.

 

[kcan2]

Will you have to do any leveling of the cinder blocks?

 

[Shadrach]

Some videos

Gardener Scott

Wades

For three tiers that looks expensive when the steel rods are included. Cool idea though.

 

[1muttsfan]

I'm lazy and would just build the cinder block wall around the existing bed, up against the rotting wood.

And likely get some advantage from having that wood in there, helping to retain moisture and slowly decaying.

You don't need stainless steel rebar either, regular steel rebar, even though it rusts, will last beyond our lifetime. A lot of times lumber yards will cut them for free for you, and you can bang them in several places around the edges including the corners.