What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

I had a whole write up on the BYC forum on how I built that cement mixer compost sifter. It was not very hard. I took the main idea from a YouTube video but, IMHO, improved it by using a system of turnbuckles and eye bolts instead of drilling holes into the cement barrel to attach the compost sifter barrel. If I ever want to convert it back to a cement mixer, all I have to do is remove the eye bolts and put the original bolts back on the mixer. No holes in the cement mixer barrel to worry about.

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When I built my cement mixer compost sifter, I had to buy a brand new cement mixer. That was the major cost. I would strongly recommend getting a used cement mixer to save lots of money. After over a year of looking for a used cement mixer, I gave up and just bought my mixer, brand new, on sale, for a little less than $200. In the end, I probably invested almost $250.00 in that project.

Having said that, I estimated I sifted out finished chicken run compost at the rate of about $60.00 per hour - if I bought bags of compost at the big box store. I covered my costs on that cement mixer compost sifter in about 4 hours. Payback period was just one afternoon!

Every year I sift out hundreds of dollars of finished chicken run compost for my raised beds. Best thing is that I don't trash out my back in the process. I'm at that age where I do just about everything I can to protect my back. I remember the days when I used a 2X4 frame and wire cloth to manually sift out compost. Like you said, it takes a very long time and your back takes a beating. I finally got to a point where I had too much chicken run compost to sift manually. And I'm too old for hard labor like that.

Can you please IM me the link to your write up? Perhaps I can look into building one in the spring.

 

[gtaus]

That's so beautiful. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to make my raised beds out of.

Well, I don't know if you like the looks of a pallet wood raised bed, or if you can get free pallets, but I build my 4X4 foot 16-inch high raised pallet wood beds for less than $2.00 each.

I know I'm biased, but I build these raised beds myself out of free pallet wood. It's a very solid build that should last for years. And, I spent less than $2.00 for the screws and nails. Plus, I like building pallet wood stuff and saving money.

Here is a link to how I built it: Pallet Wood 4X4 Foot, 16 Inch High, Raised Garden Bed - New Design. If the link does not work, you can find the build on the thread "Show Me Your Pallet Projects!" starting on post #1,232 dated May 14, 2023. I have lots of pictures and a step by step instructional. It takes me about half an hour to assemble one of these pallet wood raised beds. Of course, that does not include the time it takes to find the free pallets and break them down for use. Still, depending on the current price of lumber, it could cost you close to $100 per raised bed if you built it with new lumber from the big box stores.

 

[gtaus]

Can you please IM me the link to your write up? Perhaps I can look into building one in the spring.

I posted an in depth explanation of my cement mixer compost sifter build at How to determine quality of different types of compost? post #22 dated Aug 31, 2020.

The improvement I made to the YouTube video design was that I used eye bolts and turnbuckles to attach the sifter barrel to the cement mixer barrel whereas the YouTube video had you drilling holes into the cement mixer barrel to attach the sifter.

I invested almost $250 total in that project, but it took me only about 4 hours of run time to break even on the amount of compost I was able to sift. And, it's almost no work on my back compared to the old 2X4 frame with hardware cloth sifting compost manually. Probably one of the best investments for me personally considering how much chicken run compost I make every year.

 

[akroberts1085]

Well, I don't know if you like the looks of a pallet wood raised bed, or if you can get free pallets, but I build my 4X4 foot 16-inch high raised pallet wood beds for less than $2.00 each.

View attachment 3682214

I know I'm biased, but I build these raised beds myself out of free pallet wood. It's a very solid build that should last for years. And, I spent less than $2.00 for the screws and nails. Plus, I like building pallet wood stuff and saving money.

Here is a link to how I built it: Pallet Wood 4X4 Foot, 16 Inch High, Raised Garden Bed - New Design. If the link does not work, you can find the build on the thread "Show Me Your Pallet Projects!" starting on post #1,232 dated May 14, 2023. I have lots of pictures and a step by step instructional. It takes me about half an hour to assemble one of these pallet wood raised beds. Of course, that does not include the time it takes to find the free pallets and break them down for use. Still, depending on the current price of lumber, it could cost you close to $100 per raised bed if you built it with new lumber from the big box stores.

I think your beds are very nice. They look like they are going to last for a long time. I haven't found anyone around my area that gives pallets away. Thank you for the help.

 

[Sueby]

We tried cement blocks, ugly and a PITA. I decided on metal, wood and plastic deteriorate really quickly here.

We have the same issue sorta. I won't do wood beds again. Even my galvanized beds are rusting out. I've had them 3 years I think. They still have a few good years left, but they aren't as permanent as I would have hoped. It's just always wet here, nothing lasts long enough for me when I consider the prices.

I thought about cinder blocks but DH didn't like the idea.

The Greenstalks have a 5 year warranty & they'll last much longer than that here, but they just aren't big enough to do anything vining - squash, tomatoes, cukes, etc IMO. I'm doing greens, strawberries, peppers & onions in them so that takes away all my rotted wooden raised beds for good.

 

[CNJ]

I found something that I can use like straw, it turns soft when dry. I am not sure what these are called, but it grows back when I cut it with a sickle. It grows wild like a weed in my yard.

 

[akroberts1085]

I found something that I can use like straw, it turns soft when dry. I am not sure what these are called, but it grows back when I cut it with a sickle. It grows wild like a weed in my yard.

View attachment 3682345

It sorta resembles a type of Palm. Maybe bamboo

 

[akroberts1085]

I have a lot of really large rocks I was thinking about stacking them in an oval shape and planting my squash cucumbers and whatever other vines I can. I thought about doing wood but with the way the yard floods with a lot of rain they would not stand up.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Canning chicken today and trying to get my coops cleaned. I still have the big coop which takes the longest to do.

I need to get out to the garden and get the new feeding station set up.

 

[CNJ]

It sorta resembles a type of Palm. Maybe bamboo

My parents told us they can make paper with these plants when I was a kid.

I did a search and found out this paper plant is called Cyperus papyrus. The stems of this papyrus were and are still used to make paper in the Middle East.

The stem is kind of hard when green, but it turns soft when dry.