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.

 

[gtaus]

Update on Extensions for Plant Protective Covers

I mentioned weeks ago that we are fighting a real problem with squirrels this year. They are getting into just about all our planters and raised beds, digging around, eating seeds, and pulling out the young plants leaving them to die.

Goggle pictures of what it's like for us...

In order to keep the squirrels out of my raised beds with young plants, I have made some pallet wood 2X4 foot protective covers with chicken wire on top. For example, here is my planter with beans with a cover on top...

I planted those beans 9 per square foot. They did a great job sprouting and after a few weeks, the tops of the beans had reached the chicken wire. So, it was time to take off the protective cover and let the beans continue to grow.

Unfortunately, the squirrels got into the bed and started digging up the bean plants. Instead of 9 plants per square, I had maybe 7 or 6 left. It is hard to imagine how much damage those squirrels can do overnight. Anyways, I knew I had to reseed the missing spots.

But my other plants were already too tall for the original protective cover. I needed to build an extension frame underneath the original cover to provide additional height. Here is a picture of the extension frame using some pallet wood 2X4 stretchers as the frame...

Here is a picture of my planter with the beans. You can see that it looks a little spotty due to the squirrels digging out some of the plants. I don't know if you can see all the holes the squirrels dug in the raised bed soil, but they are there...

I reseeded the spots where the plants were dug out. Those beans are 2-3 weeks behind the other plants, but that is OK. I like to staggered my bean plants anyway. Usually, in different planters. But, oh well. Once replanted, here is the extension on the planter...

You can see how the original bean plants are sticking up above the frame. That's OK. I put on the original cover on top and expect to get another 1-2 weeks of use out of it before I have to remove both the extension and the top cover with the chicken wire...

At that time, I just hope that the squirrels will be finding food somewhere else and stop digging in the raised beds and planters. My original idea for the protective cover was to provide about 2 weeks of growth after the seeds sprouted. With the additional extension, I think I can stretch that out to maybe 4 weeks of protection.

My real disappointment is that the squirrels dug out and killed all 8 of the bitter melon plants I started for Dear Wife months ago. Every one of the plants was either eaten or killed. I have tried to start some new seeds, but I fear it's far too late in the year for bitter melon to grow. We had such a good crop of bitter melon last year that I was really looking forward to more success this year. The squirrels had other ideas.

Next year I will be covering my 4X4 foot raised beds with 4X4 foot pallet wood protective covers topped with chicken wire. Probably with additional extensions as well. I just cannot imagine putting all the work into starting my plants months before transplanting in our house only to see them dug out and killed in a few days from our squirrel problem once I transplant them in the raised beds.

 

[fuzzi]

Update on Extensions for Plant Protective Covers

I mentioned weeks ago that we are fighting a real problem with squirrels this year. They are getting into just about all our planters and raised beds, digging around, eating seeds, and pulling out the young plants leaving them to die.

Goggle pictures of what it's like for us...

View attachment 3864001


View attachment 3864003

In order to keep the squirrels out of my raised beds with young plants, I have made some pallet wood 2X4 foot protective covers with chicken wire on top. For example, here is my planter with beans with a cover on top...

View attachment 3864004

I planted those beans 9 per square foot. They did a great job sprouting and after a few weeks, the tops of the beans had reached the chicken wire. So, it was time to take off the protective cover and let the beans continue to grow.

Unfortunately, the squirrels got into the bed and started digging up the bean plants. Instead of 9 plants per square, I had maybe 7 or 6 left. It is hard to imagine how much damage those squirrels can do overnight. Anyways, I knew I had to reseed the missing spots.

But my other plants were already too tall for the original protective cover. I needed to build an extension frame underneath the original cover to provide additional height. Here is a picture of the extension frame using some pallet wood 2X4 stretchers as the frame...

View attachment 3864006

Here is a picture of my planter with the beans. You can see that it looks a little spotty due to the squirrels digging out some of the plants. I don't know if you can see all the holes the squirrels dug in the raised bed soil, but they are there...

View attachment 3864009

I reseeded the spots where the plants were dug out. Those beans are 2-3 weeks behind the other plants, but that is OK. I like to staggered my bean plants anyway. Usually, in different planters. But, oh well. Once replanted, here is the extension on the planter...

View attachment 3864011

You can see how the original bean plants are sticking up above the frame. That's OK. I put on the original cover on top and expect to get another 1-2 weeks of use out of it before I have to remove both the extension and the top cover with the chicken wire...

View attachment 3864013

At that time, I just hope that the squirrels will be finding food somewhere else and stop digging in the raised beds and planters. My original idea for the protective cover was to provide about 2 weeks of growth after the seeds sprouted. With the additional extension, I think I can stretch that out to maybe 4 weeks of protection.

My real disappointment is that the squirrels dug out and killed all 8 of the bitter melon plants I started for Dear Wife months ago. Every one of the plants was either eaten or killed. I have tried to start some new seeds, but I fear it's far too late in the year for bitter melon to grow. We had such a good crop of bitter melon last year that I was really looking forward to more success this year. The squirrels had other ideas.

Next year I will be covering my 4X4 foot raised beds with 4X4 foot pallet wood protective covers topped with chicken wire. Probably with additional extensions as well. I just cannot imagine putting all the work into starting my plants months before transplanting in our house only to see them dug out and killed in a few days from our squirrel problem once I transplant them in the raised beds.

How incredibly frustrating. Take heart, it's been my experience that bumper crops of squirrels are followed by years of population drops. There won't be enough food to sustain them all. And road kills will increase as well.

 

[Sally PB]

How incredibly frustrating. Take heart, it's been my experience that bumper crops of squirrels are followed by years of population drops. There won't be enough food to sustain them all. And road kills will increase as well.

I really, REALLY!! hope you're right. I am losing a LOT of stuff to what I think are squirrels. I have run out of swear words for them.

@gtaus, I am so sorry to read about your bitter melons and beans.

I'm losing my first crop of sour cherries to squirrels. I thought birds would be the problem. I might be able to salvage some. I hope.

 

[gtaus]

How incredibly frustrating. Take heart, it's been my experience that bumper crops of squirrels are followed by years of population drops. There won't be enough food to sustain them all. And road kills will increase as well.

I really, REALLY!! hope you're right. I am losing a LOT of stuff to what I think are squirrels. I have run out of swear words for them.

Yeah, it's been a really tough year for us with the squirrels. I checked my peppers and tomatoes this morning when I fed and let the chickens out of the coop. Found another 3 plants dug out and tossed to the side.

On the positive side, the pallet wood frames with chicken wire are doing a good job keeping out the squirrels and the extension frames are giving me a few more weeks of growth. I hope that will be enough for the beans.

I am so sorry to read about your bitter melons and beans.

I'm losing my first crop of sour cherries to squirrels. I thought birds would be the problem. I might be able to salvage some. I hope.

Yeah, I was feeling bad about losing all those bitter melon plants that I started in the house back in March. I doubt there is enough time to start any new seeds and have the plants grow to maturity. Having said that, I took all the remaining bitter melon seeds I have and am attempting to sprout them inside the house. If I can get them going, I will leave them inside the house until the plants are much bigger and harder to dig out once transplanted outside.

For anyone who has not seen my pallet wood trellis frame I built for Dear Wife's bitter melons last year, here is a picture of it last year about this time...

And then at the end of summer...

We had a bumper crop of bitter melons last year and I was really hoping to repeat that success this year.

Once I saw that the squirrels had eaten and/or killed all my bitter melon starts this year, I planted 3 cherry tomatoes inside that frame and 2 cucumber plants that will take advantage of the wire fence trellis. Those plants are still going strong. Not what I had planned, but maybe I will still get something out of my efforts in that bed.

BTW, I really like that wooden trellis frame with that 2X4 welded wire fence. It is super strong. Also, it was just used pallet wood from some extra long pallets I picked up. I had the wire fence left over from making my chicken run. Basically, that complete trellis was free except for a handful of new screws to put it together.

 

[fuzzi]

I was thinking, would laying down chicken wire on top of the soil help prevent digging? I lay small sections of decorative fencing or metal crate sections over freshly transplanted or planted beds, but my precautions are taken due to cats, not squirrels.

 

[gtaus]

I was thinking, would laying down chicken wire on top of the soil help prevent digging? I lay small sections of decorative fencing or metal crate sections over freshly transplanted or planted beds, but my precautions are taken due to cats, not squirrels.
View attachment 3864402

I, too, had consider laying down wire on the top of the soil to preventing the squirrels from digging in the garden beds. But I ended up rejecting that idea for a number of reasons. 1) It would not stop any birds or squirrels from digging between the wires, so they might still find and eat the seeds. 2) You would have to put the wire down first and then plant your seed in between the wire, so when it grows up it is not growing into the wire. But if I can get my fingers in that wire to plant the seed, I imagine any bird or squirrel would be able to pick it out just as easy. 3) The wire on the soil would have to stay there for the season because you don't want to pull up any plants by removing it after the plants have grown up a bit. I like to occasionally work my soil between the plants during the summer.

Those are the issues that drove me to make some protective pallet wood frames with chicken wire on top. It protects the seeds as they sprout, it protects the young plants for the first ~2 to 4 weeks as they grow, and the frame can be removed anytime I want to work the soil and/or maybe plant other stuff in the bed. The extension frames I built should add another 1 to 2 weeks of protection for the plants.

In many ways, I just added a grazing frame top to my garden beds which give the seeds a chance to sprout and the young plants to develop a good root system, so they don't get easily pulled out later.

I know my pallet wood protective frames are working for me in keeping out both birds and squirrels. I am not so sure that laying down wire on top of the garden bed would work as well, but it might. If you give it a try, let us know if it was successful, or not.