Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Considering the time and effort I put into making these jigs and learning how to make the stackable tiers in a different way, I might just build a few more stackable tiers for extras. I think I got the system down now and I have lots of pallet wood to use up.

At the risk of quoting myself, I took my own suggestion and used those jigs to make some more stackable compost bin tiers. I had to clean out some pallet wood from the garage for other projects, so it made sense to make more of these frames.

I completed two more pallet wood stackable compost bins and put them out in the backyard, under some trees out of the way.

I have started dumping excess grass clippings in those bins. Most of my grass clippings get tossed into the chicken run, but right now I have more grass clippings than I need in the run. If you get too much fresh green grass, it will heat up and smell bad. I am mowing a lot this time of year, so it won't hurt to dump some clippings in the new compost bins.

Anyways, the jigs are working pretty well, and I have been learning how to make these stackable tiers faster and faster.

 

[Smokerbill]

I mentioned here a month ago that I was thinking about planting butternut squash seeds in the top of my pallet chicken run compost pile. They are doing great so far, not vining yet but when it the weather gets warmer next month they should start growing fast.

These are supposed to be a bush type butternut squash, but last year the vines ran six feet or so. I plant to train the vines of the two plants in the rear up and over over the pallet sides, and the two plants in front can drape down the front pallet. That is, if they continue growing.

 

[gtaus]

I mentioned here a month ago that I was thinking about planting butternut squash seeds in the top of my pallet chicken run compost pile. They are doing great so far, not vining yet but when it the weather gets warmer next month they should start growing fast.

Thanks for the update. I remember you talking about that.

Those squash look like they are doing just fine. My plants are doing OK, but our nights are still dipping down to the high 40F's to low 50F's. It needs to stay warmer at night before the plants will take off. But I am hopeful we will have a good year.

 

[Smokerbill]

Thanks for the update. I remember you talking about that.

Those squash look like they are doing just fine. My plants are doing OK, but our nights are still dipping down to the high 40F's to low 50F's. It needs to stay warmer at night before the plants will take off. But I am hopeful we will have a good year.

I think that the warmth from below coming from the decomposition of the compost helped keep the plants growing, even in cooler weather.

Back in the day my grandpa used heat from rotting steer manure to keep sweet potatoes warm when growing out the slips in early spring. He buried a layer of fresh manure, topped it with a layer of sand, layed down the sweet potatoes and covered them with more sand. He was growing acres of sweet potatoes at the time.

 

[gtaus]

Stupid Squirrels Digging In My Gardens!

I've been busy making some more protective cages for my raised beds to keep the squirrels out. I planted a bunch of onion bulbs in one of my elevated beds and the next day I discovered that a squirrel had dug up all the bulbs!

Google picture reenactment...

I could not believe that the stupid squirrel would dig up one onion bulb, decide not to eat it, but then dig up each and every other onion bulb just the same. Made a total mess out of my raised bed.

So, I have been ripping some pallet wood 2X4's to make light weight framing for more protective cages to put on my raised beds. I built one yesterday using my new air stapler to put everything together. I am really liking that air brad/stapler gun that I got from Harbor Freight. For light duty stuff, like these frames with chicken wire, the staples are a fast way to build the cages.

BTW, my particular stapler is on clearance at Harbor Freight, so once they are gone, they are gone. If you use any pneumatic tools, this is a great tool to have in your toolbox.

I have to build some more cages and chicken wire panels for my raised beds. It's too bad that I have to protect everything out in the gardens, but if I don't the rabbits, squirrels, and later, the deer, will just eat everything I have worked to grow.

I'll add a few pictures of the type of cages I am building with pallet wood. Some of them have wire on top to totally enclose the beds, some of the cages are open on top if I only have to protect against the deer. Here is one cage with chicken wire top on my raised bed...

In addition to those protective cages, I have built a number of chicken wire panels which I put on my trellis raised beds. They are meant to keep the deer from eating the whole tomato plants like they did last year. Here is a picture from last year of what a panel on a trellis bed looks like...

Using those basic designs, I have been making cages that are 1-foot, 2-foot or 4-foot-high depending on what is planted in that raised bed. So far, all the cages I have built this year have used pallet wood and repurposed chicken wire. Total cost = ZERO dollars. I only have enough used chicken wire for one more small cage. However, I have a new 50-foot roll of 4 feet high chicken wire in my shed, plus a partial roll of 2-foot-high chicken wire that I can use. So, I should be able to make enough cages for all my current garden beds.

I have picked out a spot to put down another new 4X4 foot pallet wood raised bed. But I have to finish building those protective cages and panels to protect the beds I have planted first. We have gone from severe thunderstorms to high heat and humidity this past week, and for an old man, I don't get as much done as I would like. But I am making some progress on my to-do list, so that will have to be good enough for now.

I went with the option of individual protective cages for my garden beds, because I had some old chicken wire to use, plus some plants needed protection from the squirrels and rabbits as well as deer. I have a friend who has a backyard vineyard, and he had to put up 8-foot-tall fencing with angled wire on the top. It looks like a concentration camp, but that is what it took to keep the deer out of his vineyard. I don't want to invest that kind of money to protect my tomatoes and peppers. The cages and panels I have built are working so far.

 

[Molpet]

Squirrels are tasty

https://realtree.com/timber-2-table..._uZBEPIUvMTPQk0jFlLkL0MnSSRRK61ZzpwPWOTVdNBNy

 

[Smokerbill]

I tried enclosing individual raised beds in cages but it got to be too much trouble getting in and out of them so I put up a tall deer fence around the perimeter of the raised bed garden. Made life much easier.

With my new garden area I put up an 8.5 foot tall deer fence from the get go. 4 feet of chicken wire, and above that, plastic deer mesh. There's a wide chicken-wire-panel gate for access.

 

[gtaus]

Squirrels are tasty

https://realtree.com/timber-2-table..._uZBEPIUvMTPQk0jFlLkL0MnSSRRK61ZzpwPWOTVdNBNy

Deer are tasty, too. And yes, I have eaten both!

 

[gtaus]

I tried enclosing individual raised beds in cages but it got to be too much trouble getting in and out of them so I put up a tall deer fence around the perimeter of the raised bed garden. Made life much easier.

With my new garden area I put up an 8.5 foot tall deer fence from the get go. 4 feet of chicken wire, and above that, plastic deer mesh. There's a wide chicken-wire-panel gate for access.

View attachment 4161133

I had considered tall fencing like yours to keep the deer out. But with my setup, I have raised beds that are deliberately spaced out so that I can drive my 48-inch riding mower between the beds. That allows me to tow in carts full of compost and topsoil, which saves me a lot of work. I just don't think I would want my fencing so large that I could drive my mower and cart in the enclosure. And, of course, the cost of building something as nice as yours to fit my raised bed gardens is more than I want to spend.

Well, all that, plus the deer netting is not going to keep out the squirrels which are causing me a lot of problems every year, digging up the plants and bulbs in the raised beds.

Speaking of garden protection, I went into town this morning to buy some 1-1/4-inch narrow crown staples from Harbor Freight. They were on sale this weekend for 30% off items less than $20.00 for Inside Track Club (ITC) members. I wanted them for stapling together my wooden frames for the protective cages. Although the HF app said they were in stock, the store, in fact, did not have any and does not even carry them in stock. That was disappointing.

Clearly indicated as in stock. But not even a stock item on the shelf at our local HF. In fact, they only carried the 1/2-, 1-, and 1-1/2-inch staples. Not a lot of choices. Menards carries 3X as many varieties, but I have to buy them in packs of 5,000. That's more than I need, but I want that specific length.

I do have other staple options to make the cages, so I guess I'll just them work. I just like using the perfect length staple for the project at hand. I was hoping to buy various lengths of staples to add to my stash, but HF let me down today. I'll have to go to Menards later this week and pick up some other sizes there.

I am really liking the narrow crown stapler for these light duty jobs I am currently working on. Very happy with my air stapler for my pallet projects.

 

[Smokerbill]

That makes a lot of sense. My raised beds are spaced just 2 or 3 feet apart. Dang deer! I don't have a squirrel problem, had a rabbit problem and it was resolved with herbs and 5 hours of braising on the stovetop.