Today we purchased some 2 cu ft bags of organic raised bed soil and a few of mulch. All that I felt the car could safely handle. After I unloaded them inside the garden gate and changed into gardening gear, I grabbed the tractor key and headed for the barn. The old deck joists are 16′ long and double thickness, so they weigh as much as I do (a very slight exageration). I dragged, pushed, pulled, and tugged one on to the tractor bucket that was strategically parked right at the end of the pile. First I had to remove all the wood that had been added after they were wrestled in to the pile. Once it was on, I could get to some 14′ ones that are single thickness and loaded 1 of them and a 4 X 4. I didn’t raise the bucket high enough and lost the load in the driveway about halfway down. With a lot of maneuvering, I managed to get them back on the bucket and made it to the yard between the house and garden. The doubled joist was marked in half and with the circular saw set at max, I was able to get it cut in half with two cuts. Each half is still heavy, but I could move them. The first box was built, though I need to add another tier on the ends. It was build just below the box I moved yesterday, set on cardboard and filled with most of the soil we just bought. After the potatoes are planted there, I will add more soil as they grow and by the end of the summer, the box will be nearly full.
The other box is going to be 14′ long by 4′ wide, built beside the one I moved. I started weeding the area as I dug a trench for the side that is uphill and the chickens were loving the fresh greens being tossed into their run.
They stayed close to where I was working. I got cardboard down on the uphill edged and fastened one corner to hold the board in place as I continue to weed and level that bed tomorrow. I will add the other end and the other side board then.
I think I have enough cardboard to finish under that box, but not enough to do the path that is to the left of those two boxes and I certainly don’t have enough mulch so another trip will be made just for more mulch later this week before the rain showers begin on Friday. The two reclaimed wood boxes are so much sturdier than the deteriorating cedar ones I bought a few years ago from the local big box hardware store. If I can man handle a few more of the 16′ double joists back down to the garden and figure out how to get them in the garden alone, I may replace the rows of 4 x 4 and 4 x 8 cedar boxes with more home made long beds. If I had power at the barn, I would cut them in half there and move 8′ lengths. The boxes to the right of this one are falling apart, as is the one I moved yesterday, though I added some screws to it today to try to give it another year of use. I think because I am terracing the long bed into the slope, there will be enough soil to mostly fill it, though it is going to mean shoveling piles on top of the cardboard then laying more cardboard and raking it smooth. It may take a few sacks of the purchased soil to give it enough depth.
It didn’t get finished today, dinner had to be prepared and cleaned up, but tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day, so I hope I can get that box finished if not totally filled.
One of the double 16′ joists is on the top of the pile, so maybe I will fight with it tomorrow or the next day. Where are the strong teenage grandsons when you need them.