#I made a raised garden bed out of pallet wood and planted it today

[corseque]

I want to grow an enormous amount of strawberries so badly it is causing me physical pain. I need a strawberry plant that I can endlessly clone into infinite strawberries right now as soon as possible

[elizabeth-234]

Whumptober 2020

Previous Chapter: The Creature From the Blue Lagoon 

Hi! Here is the second chapter of The Creature from the Blue Lagoon and also covers prompt 30 for whumptober: wound reveal and ignoring an injury. enjoy!

Chapter Two: Best Stay Away from the Waters

Penny wandered back to her hut. She stared at her reflection in the water basin on a small table to the left of her bed. The unblemished skin of her cheek didn’t change when she wiped a hand across it though she could feel the residual heat emanating from the skin. It was like she’d never been hurt and, as much as she would like to pretend so, the soreness in her scalp and limbs spoke otherwise. Penny climbed onto her cot in search of a reprieve from the day’s events.  

The sun broke over the sill of her window and Penny opened her eyes with a groan. She threw her arm over her eyes and curled up under the covers huddling closer to the wood wall. With a peek she noticed the discoloration on her arm around the scrapes and bruises. Her muscles protested as she rose from her cot.

First, she went over to the window and, sparing a quick glance outside, got to her knees. The floorboards she built years ago creaked under her weight. Feeling her way down the side of one of the planks she came across a notch. The plank lifted with applied pressure and Penny peered down to the hay and dust below. She reached her arm down into the hole and smiled when she felt the dry material sandwiched between the worn leather cover in her hand before pulling up the small package.

Her fingers caressed the pages with reverence. These bits of broken bindings were all she had left of her parents and she would let nothing happen to them. Illustrations lined the margins throughout and because she couldn’t read all the words, especially the more advanced ones, she used the pictures to guide her search. Lead creatures stared up at her from their homes on the paper. With light fingers she filled until, finding the one she sought, her breath caught. A tail spanned from top to bottom of the page curling around the various notes. She waved her hand over it remembering how such a miracle looked in real life. The quick sight of the multicolored scales reflecting the sunset and ocean before it disappeared into the water. This was what he was.

Mermaid, it said.

Penny traced the words with her eyes wishing she could understand all of them. She almost didn’t believe her sight. Maybe it was a trick of the light or leftover from her attack? Her hand traced the skin of her cheek. Nothing that beautiful and good could come from her imagination. She stared at the image again noting the water surrounding the appendage and closed the pages with a sigh. Back to its place under the floorboards it went and Penny dusted off her smock.

With some creaks in her bones she set off not caring she was still in the same clothes as yesterday. The chill of the morning soaked into the thin material but she breathed in deeply. Walking the path to the marsh dew gathered on the grass fell onto her legs and feet and although Penny shivered, she kept going. She needed to go back.

Penny inched toward the spot she saw him yesterday and when nothing leapt out of the water, she knelt where she had before. Breath stirred in her chest but she dared not exhale yet. Each passing second, she inched closer and closer to the water until her knees sunk into the wet sand. Penny reached out and placed her hand on top of the water. Ripples spread out from the point of contact but still nothing happened. The birds and crickets chirped to the morning sun and Penny stayed there, waiting.

-

She was halfway there to convincing herself it was all her imagination. If not for the lingering scabs and a stubborn pit of hope, Penny would have started to believe her more vocal doubts. Days went by with not a sighting to speak of and though that spot became a favorite thinking spot of hers, there were other chores that needed to be done.

Her mind wandered as she went about her tasks for the day. She woke up one rainy morning to water dripping on the bedding and her forehead. Getting into her oldest set of clothes, Penny walked toward the marsh to a spot dense with reeds. She stood at the edge of the water looking out. The tops of the reeds swayed in the breeze as the spare rainclouds from the morning grew father away. Penny tucked her smock into the front of her apron and waded into the water.

Penny used the sickle to hack the reeds from their base and then threw them on a pallet on the shore so they could dry out in the sun. All afternoon she worked, cutting and dragging the plants back to her home where she laid them out to dry over time. In the coming days when she wasn’t climbing the roof or attaching the reeds in small bunches there, she was sitting by the water. She chose a spot far enough back so she could gain a better view of all the water.  

Penny sat for hours sometimes even falling asleep in the afternoon sun but nothing unusual appeared. She harvested her fishing lines for kelp and saltbush, the latter being good for eating. Nothing disturbed the waters besides her and the animals who lived there and now the initial fear was gone, Penny began to feel the isolation creeping up on her.

One crisp morning weeks later found her taking the shadowed path back into the village. She could not put off resupplying any longer. This time she carried a small knife on her person. It was tucked away behind the belt of her apron and though she had hesitated bringing it before walking out the door, now with the weight pressed against her stomach, her nerves calmed some.

All the market vendors served her with a reluctant sign but the malice she was used to was absent. The whispers she usually heard were not absent but she noted with surprise, she was again not the subject of them. They all spoke in fervent tone of a creature seen from the depths of the bay. Wilson shivered when Penny asked what happened and even the man’s weariness of her wasn’t enough to stop him from gossiping.

“There’s a beast out in the waters disrupting the boats, and lurking in the depths. Best stay away from the waters if you know what’s good for you.”  

His burned into her and Penny shivered. They both turned toward the mouth of the market where a crowd of people gathered. Yells erupted from the mass. Penny with Wilson beside her watched as they hurried off toward the docks. Her stomach flipped. Against her wish to go home as fast as possible Penny trailed behind them. The docks of the village were busy on a normal day but today they were packed like a barrel full of sardines. Everyone, rich and poor, were loitering on the watery planks. Even the village witch, she thought with a sour smile.

Their bodies all gravitated toward a singular central point. Two of the traders yelled at their men while motioning forward.

“Drag it to land so it doesn’t escape!”

Something screeched and all the onlookers gasped. Penny’s hand flew to her cheek.

It wasn’t possible.

Being small had its disadvantages for Penny. People picked on her and felt superior because of her small stature. Today she thanked the stars she was short. Penny wound through the crowds mindful of the weapons and fists. She gasped in horror. There was his tail. The one she saw for only a moment but stood with her for these past weeks. She worried her lip when she spied the white patches of his scales flaking off. His greyish skin was more monotone than before and, most startling, was the net around him. The rope tore into his skin and scales digging into his throat. Penny’s heart pounded in her ears.

She forced herself to relax her shoulders and remain motionless; to not run. They were dragging him down the dock and Penny knew they would kill him. Maybe not at once but some part of her knew he couldn’t be separated from the water. They would hurt and main him for existing. It was absurd but, unlike his tail not something out of the realm of possibility. The rumors never said anyone was hurt so this was all because he was different than them. Just like her.

He hissed at one of the people pulling the nets and Spike stepped forward from the crowd and jabbed him with a two-tined garden fork. A whimpered screech bubbled out of his throat. Penny stepped forward and gripped the knife through her clothes.

What should she do? Should she fight?

“Get him up there, men. We need to hang him for all to see.”



Damn it all. Tears gathered in her eyes. Penny took a breath and rushed forward. She threw herself in front of him and for a moment, they faced each other as they had on their first encounter. This time Penny reached forward and placed a hand on his wrist feeling the facing pulse underneath her fingers. Their eyes connected and recognition lit his eyes. She turned to face the crowd, knife out and poised to ward off any attackers. Most everyone, she noticed, looked startled. As if their wide eyes had deceived them, as if they were only just beginning to believe she was a witch.

“Stop!” She yelled and raised the knife higher. Spike clenched his hands while glaring at her. “He’s done nothing to you. Just release him.”


One of traders, a portly man with a resemblance to Spike stepped forward with hands raised. “Alright there, witch. You step back and we’ll gut this fish like it’s the lord’s day. I can’t be responsible for what happens if you insist on associating with the devil.” He shrugged and a bunch of the men laughed at his words. Penny’s face burned.

“Release him at once. He’s done nothing wrong. Can’t you see this is wrong?”
She gestured behind her, but the silence in front of her made her turn once more. They weren’t laughing anymore. The trader stepped forward a grave acceptance in his eyes. Spike was behind him. His smile made her stomach sour.  

“We should have known you were in league with it. We should have known you conjured this fish monster with a spell to plague our village. We’ll just have to hoist you up next to this… thing.”



He stepped closer again and the creature hissed. Penny knew what she had to do.

She fought.

Penny jabbed her knife and flesh parted under its blade. Blood pooled onto the dock from his tight and he yelled in anger. The man slapped her and she fell into the puddle smearing blood on her face. He bent over her and grabbed her by her hair. She yelled as the strands pulled her scalp.

The mermaid hissed behind her. The dock boards rattled as the waves crashed underneath them. Penny’s arms flung about and after failing twice, she managed to slash the trader’s arm. He let her go and she fell onto the dock with a thud. Groaning, she looked up from under her hair.

The crowds grew closer. Anger clear in their harsh features. Penny tried to back away but she felt the edges of rope and scales on her skin. She moved her hand behind her back and patted the scales there hoping to bestow some small comfort, but there was only so much she could do.

On the dock, surrounded by people who hated her because she was different, Penny came up with an idea and did something she never thought she would do.

Penny pulled herself up so she was kneeling in front of him. She closed her eyes, blocking out all the people and their cruel words, and began to chant. With low guttural sounds she began to sing. Penny raised her arms above her head and the brought them behind her in a graceful motion all while continuing to make up a ‘spell’.

The people looked at each other and with unity began to back away with weary eyes. She raised her voice higher and began to saw the ropes with the knife behind her, praying he could help break the threads; praying this plan would work. One by one she cut and chanted. The crowd’s eyes were fixated on her in horror and a small part of her couldn’t help but enjoy the pwer over them.

The ropes gave from their combined efforts and Penny threw her hands forward. She could feel him rising up behind her and smiled when he screamed. His hands came to rest on her shoulders and the large tail wrapped around them, separating them from the villagers. It was so large she had to strain up to peer around the fin.

With one last hiss at his captures he wrapped his hands around her and they were in the air. She yelped in surprised and tried to jerk away but his arms were strongholds. Water rushed around them. They spun up and down, left and right. She lost track of gravity as they fled. Penny held her breath as they dived underwater but as her lungs began to protest they reached the surface again. Over and under they went. Penny’s eyes closed against the onslaught of water. It was wonderful and she finally knew what it felt like to fly. She laughed loudly. The arms around her tightened.

His tail stopped moving in such ferocious swishes. The water running around them went from the pressure of a waterfall to a small brook. They were stopping. Her eyes fluttered open but they were heavy. Gentle arms carried her.

Her bottom touched land first and then the rest followed. She felt sand underneath her hands. Penny opened one of her eyes and found herself staring at him. His gills moved and she smiled.

“Thank you.” Penny muttered.

“I should thank you, young mortal. For you’ve done me a great service.”

She was too tired to even be shocked. Sleep was taking her but she managed to shake her head before she fell under.

-

Her eyes opened to the sound of the birds screeching. This was not a description she would use on a normal day but the pounding in her head made it all the more fitting. Everything filtered back at once. Penny groaned and tried to roll away from the sounds but they followed her escape. Light poured in from every angle and she was aware she was outside.

Her back hit something. She opened her eyes. He was still here, half emerged in the water. She could see his tail floating amount the grass but his upper body was landed beside her. His eyes resided on the forest and like his tail on the dock he was positioned between her and the menacing trees.

Her eyes trailed the patches of scales not quite the color she remembered when he was in full health. The sand beneath him was stained dark maroon. She crawled the space between them and sucked in a breath at the wound in his side.

“Wake up.” She whispered and repeated the words more urgingly when nothing happened. She shook his shoulder. His eyelids, both the outer and inner sets, blinked before he closed them again with a sigh. The blood dribbled down his side creating its own pool inland.

Penny staggered up. “I’ll be right back. I’m getting some herbs to help heal this.”

Her legs were foreign underneath her. They wobbled and weakened the further away she got from the marsh. Her head pounded where the trader had grabbed her. Her hut was so ordinary, so strange in its commonplace appearance. Penny grimaced at the rows of weathered jars of herbs. There! She grabbed anything she thought would be of use in her shaking fingers and hurried back.

Eons had passed by the time she made it back. The armor guarding his vulnerable skin was ripped and broken in pieces so it was easy to push aside. It revealed a deep gash under his ribs. Scales were broken off at the root. Skin was torn.

She wanted to cry.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She said shaking her head. “Why didn’t I notice?”

Woolgathering would have no benefit and there would be time for regret later. Penny mixed the herbs together and packed them into the wound, careful of any welling or fever. Other than a weak groan he didn’t move as she tried to heal him.

She sat in vigil at his side through the night. The water he was half submerged in kept his total body temperature down, though she suspected his normal temperature was more akin to the waters anyway than what a human temperature would be. The answers could be in the book beneath her floorboards.

All throughout her thoughts raged. Would his body accept the medicine? There could be better, more potent, combination she was missing. Not the least of reasons the term witch was deceitful was she lacked the real knowledge she assumed a witch would possess. Everything she knew was self-taught from her years away from the village. Living by herself, under less than the best circumstances, was difficult for an adult. But for a child barely on the cusp of young adulthood, it was almost impossible. Despite it all she was okay.

Now, he had to be okay. He must be okay.

She thought of the aged pages and the beautiful drawing that did not do the real tail justice. Mermaid. The drawing had water surrounded it. Penny remembered how dry his scales were when she saw him on the dock. Because of this she poured the water over his skin and scales, hoping to all hopes he would heal. That what she was doing was enough.

Water fed her, sustained her, and healed her. It was as much her source of life as his. What would it like to be a part of the water – for it to be home?

After two days of worrying her lip he opened his eyes.

Thank you!

Next Prompt: 

[martyschoenleber]

I am working on some garden projects. A hugelkultur mound (German for, “hill garden” or “hill culture”) that I am preparing for planting in the spring. See the pictures on the left and below for stages 1-5.

Hugelkultur requires the digging of a trench and filling it with rotting logs, sticks and other organic matter that will decay over time and provide nutrients to the plants above. My trench was 16 feet long, 3 feet wide and eight to 18 inches deep. Then I covered it up with the dirt I removed, and covered that with some mulch (mostly leaves, grass clippings, and straw) that I had been cultivating for a couple of weeks. Stage four was covering it again with a layer of hay. As fall drops its leaves, I will mulch the leaves and cover the straw again and let the whole mix continue to decompose over the winter.

Stage #2:Digging the Pit 16′ x 3′ x 10″

Stage #3: Filling it with Organic Matter

  Stage #4: Hugelkultur mound recovered with dirt

Above, in the background of the Hugelkultur mound you can see some composting material made of grass-clippings, potting soil, and decaying straw. Over the next two weeks, I continued to water and turn, and mix those two piles and then used it to top dress the whole mound. You can see that the dirt is very poor and will need the nutrients of the decaying logs underneath as well as the compost and hay that I am putting on top of the mound in order to have any real harvest in the years to come.

Stage #5: Covered with Mulch

Stage 6: Covered with Hay

Next to the hugelkultur mound on the left is about 18 inches of straw-bedding for a footpath and next to that to the right is the start of the “Ruth Stout Method” (RSM) planting bed (see picture #6). Sometimes called the no-weeding method, the RSM is an “imitate nature”, no till, no weeding, and planting directly into straw or hay-covered ground. Here I have covered the ground first with cardboard to kill the grass underneath, put mulch on top and then covered it with a layer of hay. Next will come compost, leaf and grass clippings, more hay, more class clippings, more hay, etc., until I have a good mass of organic material (and another mound) in which to plant.

Doing all this work has made me lust after a backyard potting table to store tools, pots, garden implements of all kinds, and something that will make it easier to work without bending down so much, maybe a cover for that South Carolina sun overhead. For that project I anticipated using some repurposed pallets and pallet wood. After I had located a free source for the pallets, I talked to a friend with a truck who agreed to help me pick them up. Next I put a post on our local home-owners association Facebook page asking if there was anyone who had a reciprocating saw that I could borrow for about an hour to cut the pallets apart. I offered to replace the saw blade when I was finished and within an hour I had a friendly neighbor who I had not yet met, volunteer the device.

There was five large pallets like the one that remains here. Now the other three have been cut up and had all nails removed, yielding the lumber in the stack on the right.  It was a project I could not have done with out my helpful neighbor’s recipricating saw. Now I am looking for the right design and a cooler day to start the next project.

All that to get to this.

I met a new neighbor because I didn’t spend money I didn’t have. 

I learned a dozen things about my neighbor because I tried to ask a new person for some help.

We had a brief but enjoyable conversation and I now have a whole new set of things to pray for, related to my neighbor and my community.

Without going into detail, I got to start a conversation with my neighbor that raised the spiritual awareness of my community. 

My neighbor now knows that I am a Christian and has new spectacles with which to view not only me but every Christians with whom he comes in contact.

What could you borrow today that would give you an opportunity to get to know a neighbor?

        Borrowing Stuff as a Ministry I am working on some garden projects. A hugelkultur mound (German for, "hill garden" or "hill culture") that I am preparing for planting in the spring.

[kangacav69]

Diy Raised Garden Beds Australia

Raised garden beds offer you and your garden a lot of benefits, but you might want to consider installing your garden bed on legs in order to offer yourself more flexibility and utility. Make the width no more than 1.2 metres across.

Good Pic Raised Garden Bed australia Ideas Elevated boxes

Summer garden update when i started sharing about our new diy raised garden beds this summer on instagram, i would have never imagined that y’all would be as invested as i was!

Diy raised garden beds australia. Raised garden beds avoid this issue. Build this raised garden bed 51. The panels can also be used for stylish garden edging.

Raised corrugated iron or colorbond garden beds(picture above) are lightweight already put together in a ‘one piece’ construction. But there are so many ways that you can make your diy raised boxes, so let’s take a look at some different raised garden bed ideas. Winter is the best time to build a raised bed so it’s ready for planting in spring and it only takes a day.

Dig the hole for the support posts at either side of your raised garden bed. Raised corrugated veggie and garden beds adelaide south australia. Brand new design and available to suit all sproutwell® greenhouse models our raised garden bed have been designed to fit down both sides of your greenhouse and in some models across the back wall.

To make a raised bed 2.5m long and 1.25m wide, you'll need: See more ideas about raised garden, garden, raised garden beds. It has two narrow raised beds on either side.

Level the area as best you can. Planting on raised garden beds brings many benefits compared to planting on the ground. You can make them very approachable, according to your needs.

Due to the cost of good soil we are considering rubble as a filler. One of the biggest benefits of raised beds is, you can control the height of them. Here is a list of 42 diy raised garden beds.

Six 2.4 metre cypress pine sleepers. Raised beds are best kept to a maximum of four feet (1.2m) wide. Raised vegetable garden beds corrugated iron diy bed our family projects hawe building.

We started our garden as a way for me to keep myself busy this summer as we went into this season without our […] Raised beds curtail creeping weeds and drifting seeds. It can truly take years to create a large, beautiful plush garden with rows upon rows of thriving crops.

Why use raised planter boxes? We are wanting to build raised garden beds for our mens shed. They also offer the added bonus of excellent drainage.

(this allows easy access for planting and weeding without needing to stand on the garden) peg out the position in the garden. Optimum size for raised beds. Well, turn to this raised garden bed.

Raised garden beds can either be constructed onsite from recycled timber, sleepers, or corrugated iron. The list of reasons for switching to raised vegetable garden beds is long, but these are the main advantages: There are many reasons to install a raised bed, not the least of which is to make gardening easier on your back and your knees.

Rustic raised timber and corrugated steel garden beds from 198 pots gumtree australia pine rivers area kalr 1203404348. Raised garden beds on legs australia against front garden landscaping pictures p austra erhohtepflanzbeete raised garden beds on legs austral front garden landscape building a raised garden vertical vegetable gardens. An issue with most gardens is that we often impact the roots when walking over the soil, stunting plant growth.

If the soil in your backyard isn’t suitable for the plants you want to grow, you can put the soil you need in a planter box and place it in your garden.; This makes it easy to reach the middle of the beds without stepping on the soil. The pallet raised planter bed

Raised beds are a good solution when the soil of a garden is less than ideal for growing. Due to the 2 boards that make up the height of the bed, it really eases all the back problems associated with gardening. Check out our range of raised garden beds products at your local bunnings warehouse.

You can fill them with whatever soil you can find. Assembled on pavers, concrete or grass, our raised garden beds are mobile and ideal for rentals. Visit us today for the widest range of garden & outdoor structures products.

But the most crucial one is you can grow a garden even in a contained soil area. Cheap raised garden beds you can diy. If you don’t have the time or the space to cater to a large garden, you can still have the gratifying garden you’ve always dreamed of having.raised garden beds are the shortcut to a plentiful supply of fresh fruits and veggies, even in the first year.

One of our huge undertakings for our 2018 vegetable garden was building brand new galvanized steel raised garden beds. Compass tanks steel flower herb and vegetable garden beds. So lets grab some lumber and your tools, and let’s get to building these cheap raised garden beds.

Although you may need to fill up the bed with more dirt then. Tending raised plants is a lot easier on the back and knees. > make them accessible to wheel chairs.

Adding legs to your raised garden bed can give you the opportunity to add shelving to the unit which can allow you to store potted plants that don’t require. Leave a gap of between 50 to 100mm between the top of the support posts and the top of the garden bed. Please note that this link takes you to a full video of instructions!

Easier to use the correct soil: See more ideas about raised garden beds, metal raised garden beds, raised garden. The garden boxes are connected by a trellis.

A watering system is included, which can be connected to a tap timer by a garden hose or poly pipe for automatic irrigation. If you have back problems, garden beds can be the perfect solution. These are simple traditional garden beds that go great when constructed near the fences.

Kids don’t run on top of the soil (which compacts it), or get into your veggies as much. Older/ sore back members can work comfortably and > yoiuger one can care for them without back strain. This is a great way to plant larger plants in the box (such as tomatoes) and have running plants (such as green beans) take over the trellis.

How to make your own raised vegie bed. It was our sixth growing season working this space, and that year, we decided it was time to invest in our “forever” beds. Installation is completely diy friendly, no tools, bolts or screws.

They will be substantially higher than yours, as we wish to: Plus they look very astonishing in your home. Woodlogger’s affordable raised garden bed idea is an excellent project for homeowners and gardeners with a lot of unused patches of land in their yard.

Build a raised garden bed materials for our 2.4 metres by 1.2 metres garden bed. 15 cheap easy diy raised garden beds raised garden beds diy diy raised garden raised garden beds. Less weeding than traditional gardens created right in the ground.

Aim for a minimum height of 6 inches (15cm), while up to. In this post, i will share 10 different plans of the raised garden bed that are perfect for senior fellas. Also, check out our article on diy garden beds made from scrap wood.

A dry stone wall can also be used to create a low raised garden, or maybe a simple ‘do it yourself’ raised garden made from timber can provide some added height to the garden.

Garden Landscaping Ideas Australia it is Garden Landscape

ModBOX with custom Deluxe capping and uprights. modbox

With a potential worsening of drought conditions, this

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[josephkitchen0]

Building Your Garden with Upcycled Garden Ideas

A casual stroll through your local home and garden center will lead you to believe that gardening is an expensive endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be wallet-consuming. We’ve found that we can use quite a few reclaimed and cast-off items in our garden. Because we use these upcycled garden ideas, we’re able to spend our gardening money on things that we can’t get for free.

We started growing a garden to feed our family when my husband was in graduate school and we were living below the national poverty level, we relied on reclaimed items for our gardening and homesteading supplies. At first it was hard to think outside the box and not just run to the store to pick up what we thought we needed. But over time we’ve learned that if we slow down and think about what we want to accomplish and what we already have, we can usually figure out an upcycled garden idea to get the results we want.

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Upcycled Tomato Cages

One of our first upcycling in the garden ventures was what do to with our tomatoes. For years we bought the tomato cages from the store but most didn’t last more than one or two seasons. And even then, they weren’t really strong enough to hold a mature tomato plant loaded with tomatoes.

Then we tried to make our own cages with livestock fencing which was labor intensive, somewhat pricey, and they started breaking after two seasons.

Tomato cages made from metal tote cages are a creative upcycle and last.

About eight years ago we started using 250-gallon tote cages for our tomatoes. These are metal cages that surround a 250-gallon industrial tote. We have a friend who uses these in his business and gives us his extra cages. I’ve also seen companies sell these inexpensively, similar to those that sell burn barrels because they don’t have a way to get rid of them after they use the contents in their business.

These are the best tomato cages we have ever used. We can easily put four tomato plants in a cage and use strips of old cotton t-shirts to tie the tomato plants to the cage as they grow. They do take a bit more space to store than a small tomato cage so we just keep the amount we use and store them in the garden year round.

We’ve also used them for pole beans and cucumbers, but they don’t work as well for long vine plants as they do for tomatoes and tomatillos.

A metal frame has new life as a decorative trellis.

Upcycled Trellises

For long vines, we have several upcycled garden ideas we use in our garden.

When we bought our home, the windows had wrought iron bars over them. We removed them and use the largest one in the garden for a trellis.

When our son’s metal futon frame broke we stacked the frames and used t-posts to turn them into another trellis.

Our church was getting rid of some old eight-foot wooden folding tables that had water damage. We took them and removed the legs and tabletop from the metal frame. We staked the frames with t-posts and added string to make seven-foot tall trellises.

My sister uses a couple of 12-pane window frames in her garden as trellises. She had to replace the windows in her home and wanted to do something fun with the old ones. They look so nice in her little cottage garden.

Pretty much anything that is tall and either has a way for vines to grab and climb or you can add string or wire to will make a good upcycled trellis. T-posts are inexpensive and old ones can often be found hanging out in various areas of our property so we use those to stake whatever we’re using for a trellis.

Upcycled Irrigation

Keeping our garden watered is a chore every summer. All of our water supply is near our house and not throughout our property. So we water by hand. I actually don’t mind hand watering because I find it relaxing. But I can’t always get out to the garden every day.

Years ago we started using milk jugs to help water our garden deeply. During the heat of summer, it’s especially important to water deeply and not just the surface of your garden.

We save our milk jugs and use a drill with a small bit to put small holes in each side and the bottom of the milk jug, we don’t put holes past the shoulder of the jug. Depending on the size of the drill bit, we put 10 to 20 holes on each side.

We put two milk jugs in each 4 X 8 bed and bury them up to the neck of the jug. When I’m watering, I can put the hose in the jug and just let it fill and overflow a bit while I do a little weeding and harvesting.

If your space is limited and you’re growing crops in containers, these self-watering planters are a great idea.

Milk jugs buried into the garden help with watering deeply.

Upcycled Raised Beds

I love using raised beds in my garden instead of row planting. Somehow the idea of having many small areas to plan and work is less overwhelming to me than planning and working in one large area.

But building planter boxes can get expensive if you’re using all new materials. We’ve built a few this way, but it’s not my favorite because over time the wood breaks down.

Some people use pallets to build planter boxes because the wood is free. But you need to make sure the pallet isn’t built with treated wood. Not all pallets are stamped (only international ones are required to be stamped) but if you have one that is stamped MB it’s treated with Methyl Bromide and should not be used.

We’ve used fallen tree logs to build some of our raised beds. I love this look even though not all of the beds are the same size or even straight. But over time even these large logs break down.

Pallette collars are upcycled for raised beds.

This year we decided to start looking for salvaged bricks and cinder blocks to build our beds. It will take time. We won’t have it all done in one season, and it won’t all match, but I think it will be beautiful once it’s filled with plants.

And that’s the thing, the beauty of a garden is in what it’s growing and how it’s feeding your family, not in the decorations. So don’t be afraid try some upcycled garden ideas in your garden. Some will work out great and some won’t but it’s worth upcycling in the garden before you buy something.

What upcycled garden ideas do you use in your garden? Let us know in the comments below.

Building Your Garden with Upcycled Garden Ideas was originally posted by All About Chickens

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Old Country Home

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Old Country Home

When we were just tiny toddlers, my older brother and I hopped into our parent’s old Nash automobile so excited about visiting our grandparents in the country. The drive from Corpus Christi to San Antonio brings back some of the most yearned for memories of my life; a simpler, less complicated time in life that I can go back to and take refuge.

My dad, always thinking ahead, had prepared child-sized, home-made “facilities” for use on our road trip. Since gas stations were few and far between, he handed me a small red Folger’s coffee can with a lid and my brother a small glass coke bottle. This little accommodation became a family tradition for road trips back in those days.

Mom packed a large brown grocery bag full of sandwiches and cookies wrapped in waxed paper along with a gallon of iced tea in a clear glass milk jug. Ice chests were still a decade away and so was the technology for plastic baggies. There was no air conditioner in the old Nash so we traveled with the windows open, heads and hands flailing in the breeze (seatbelts hadn’t been invented yet). Dad filled up at a “full-service gas station” for twenty-two cents a gallon (which is sadly extinct now, along with glass gallon milk jugs.)

“San-An-Toni, An-Toni-Oh; She hopped upon a pony, and rode away with Tony; If you see her please let me know, And I’ll meet you in San-Antonio!”

Mom taught us all the road songs she knew; i.e., “You Are my Sunshine,” “Hush Little Baby,” “America the Beautiful,” “Texas Our Texas,” “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Home on the Range,” and “San-An-Toni-O,” come directly to my mind. We came from a musical family where everyone sang, played instruments, danced and played records. No more songs? No problem! We counted wooden telephone poles and read billboard signs until we fell asleep.

After driving about forty-five to fifty miles per hour, on a two lane road, for what seemed like more hours than telephone poles, dad put his left arm out of the window to signal a turn and then slowly pulled onto a bumpy dirt road named Rockport Road. About five miles away was my grandparent’s small dairy farm-turned-cattle ranch. Dad always referred to his childhood home as “The Ranch.”

Rockport Road (later F.M. 1518) was a busy artery in the early part of the twentieth century; connecting many productive little farming communities in the Oak Island Community area to the city of San Antonio. Today, this road is South Loop 1604 West and the old ranch house is right off the highway, about five miles from Somerset on the south side of San Antonio. Later in life, I was to discover that our family was one of the oldest Texas families to settle here as far back as 1825.

“Souvenirs”

“They’re here!” shouted Grandmother. Coming quickly down the old stone steps, I noticed that her dress was covered with many tiny flowers. There is nothing like the smell of a country grandma, for she smelled like cookies and love. We pulled up to their modest dairy farm house that was on the edge of a hundred and twenty-six acres spread. Dad parked in the sandy soil and red dirt clay since there was no driveway. Their entire front yard was their driveway.

The first thing I noticed was a beautiful, circular rock garden that sparkled in the sunlight. We felt the texture and shapes of the stones in the round structure that glittered with samples of their vacations. (There used to be a time when it was not illegal to take a sample or two of Montana or Yellowstone National Park home with you.)

Several layers of rocks were stacked about three feet high with nothing to hold them together but each other. We discovered petrified wood, iron stone, colored chunks of glass, flat oval stones, really soft, glittery sandstone, open geodes with white crystals, small round pebbles, grey flat slabs and blue geodes. This collection represented ten years worth of “souvenirs” from Texas all the way up to their Montana land.

The tiny purple Verbena and the green and white Chaparral were in full bloom with millions of new flowers. They smelled like musky cologne and lay draped like curtains over the fence in their front yard. Years before, Grandmother had planted an orange tree next to the house to protect it from the cold in winter. Everyone told her that orange trees don’t grow in San Antonio, but as long as she was alive that orange tree produced sweet oranges.

Two purple and two pink Crepe Myrtle trees grew in the front yard alongside the Pomegranate trees that were imported from out of state. Grandmother gave mom some jars of her home made mustang jelly that she had made from the wild mustang grapes that grew on the property. She found wild mulberry bushes and raspberry bushes out on the land, but the wildlife usually quenched their appetite on them first.

If it grew on a vine, a bush, or a tree, she could make it grow, preserve it in mason jars and pass it on to friends, family and the community. She even collected fresh eggs every morning from the chicken coop and Granddad milked his own personal Jersey cow twice daily.

Their old farmhouse kitchen was a slanted, add-on cook porch with a roof that was a full foot shorter than the rest of the house. The oven didn’t cook evenly because it sat on a slope, but cookies were still wonderful in Grandmother’s oven! She had a real “ice box” with a chunk of ice in it for refrigeration and an old timey washing machine; the kind that squeezes the clothes through two rollers. After we settled in comfortably, Grandmother called my brother and me into the kitchen for some home made cookies and store bought vanilla ice cream that she had purchased from Henry Edward Butt (H.E.B. grocery store).

That evening, we snuggled into a soft double bed in what used to be “the girl’s room.” I traced the thick raised pink roses on Grandmother’s hand crocheted blankets with my fingers, as if trying to remember them. The bed was big enough for little children but I couldn’t imagine how my three aunts slept together on it. Life was simple back in the day that my three aunts were young, and they were happy there, for farm life was all they knew.

The girl’s room had a conservative, black chiffarobe for their dresses and a matching black dresser for their clothes. They also had an old fashioned vanity table to sit at with a mirror. It was peaceful in my aunts’ old bedroom. I wondered how many times they must have sat there and combed their hair, looking into the long mirror. Now I am looking into the same mirror and feeling like a country girl myself.

When Dad was born in 1928, Granddad built a long, porch-room at the back of the house for him. It had a wooden floor and a slanted tin roof that, like the kitchen, was also a foot lower than the rest of the house. Dad lived in that porch-room all the way through college, at Trinity University. Frugality was the operative word back then. But they always had money for the children’s college education, the girl’s singing engagements, and dad’s football games.

When it rained upon that old tin roof, it sounded like little bee bees falling from heaven. The grown-ups didn’t seem bothered by it because they were caught up in a rousing game of Canasta; a card game that took two decks and at least four people. This was Granddad’s favorite pastime and he played it like a champion.

Later on, as the rain stopped and the night grew still, the boisterous voices coming from the dining room turned into soft, muffled conversations of family visiting family. Grandmother was teaching my mother how to crochet raised roses on a granny square blanket just like my aunts had on their old bed. Later, I was to learn the blanket would be for me! All was well at my grandparent’s home.

Rag Rugs, Button Boxes and Granddad’s Marbles

Grandmother had a gift of creating something out of nothing, or very little. She was very imaginative and always kept her crochet needles and a sewing box near her rocking chair. In her leisure time, like an artist with her pallet full of paints, she made from scratch several dozen beautiful rag rugs out of the family’s old, worn out clothing.

My bare feet were never cold at her house because she had covered all of her wooden floors with colorful, knotted, floppy tie rag rugs. When a work shirt or dress became unusable, she took her large pair of sewing scissors and ripped the garments into thousands of equally measured ribbons. Using her iron, she pressed them into biased tape, and using her crochet needle as a hook, she tied the cloth into limitless, colorful, hand-made floppy tie rag rugs.

My brother spent hours playing with Granddad’s boyhood marbles that he had toted around since his own childhood. I was fascinated with Grandmother’s fancy button box and all of the buttons which were placed in it when a garment needed to be turned into a rug. I organized and color-coded them, playing for hours with her large button box. She had the most interesting and unique buttons I’ve ever seen.

Grandmother Beatrice was ahead of her time with recycling. She gave her floppy tie rag rugs away to friends and those “in need of a rug.” Once, she made a long, narrow, white floppy tie rag rug that flowed down the hallway of her favorite niece, Jane McCabe’s hallway, in her lovely home on the north side of San Antonio. Jane was formerly a Parker, like Grandmother, and came from our wealthy Detroit, Michigan relatives who migrated to San Antonio in the early thirties.

Grandmother gracefully wove dark green ties to make the leaves, red ties to make the cherries into the white background. Jane McCabe proudly displayed her Aunt Beatrice’s long cherry rag rug in her large hallway for twenty-five years, until the old rug needed to reitre. It was quite the envy of all of her neighbors and a conversation piece at her bridge parties, too!

King Snakes and Doodle Bugs

My cousin Stevie, who was just a year and a half younger than me, knew all about the difference between rattle snakes and King snakes. “The rattle snake will kill you, but the King snake is harmless and kills the bad snakes” he said.

He also taught me, ever so gently, how to tap a tiny little grain of sand into a Doodle Bug funnel in the barn next to the chicken coop. A Doodle Bug is a black quarter-inch long hard shelled bug with about a hundred tiny legs at the base of its armor.

These little sand creatures dug their funnels with all those little feet in order to bury themselves beneath the cool sand during the day. We tapped one or two grains of sand in their “little tornadoes” in order to confirm if there really was a Doodle Bug inside the funnel or not. If he was home, the Doodle Bug would fast and furiously kick out the sand with his many legs. When in sight, we quickly scooped him up and let him walk on our hands. We meant no malice to nature’s little tornado diggers and always returned them back to the sand, wherein they would immediately begin to feverishly kick sand up in the air and disappear.

My brother and I returned to “The Ranch” several times. Our grandparent’s house even became a refuge during the evacuation of Corpus Christi when Hurricane Carla came ashore. Today, my brother lives about an eighth of a mile from the old homestead in his own “Ranch.”

In 2003, I was actually able to go back to “The Ranch” over fifty years later, to live with my eighty-eight year old aunt Bebe. She had inherited her parent’s old homestead and moved back there after her retirement from teaching. It was through coming back here that I was able to find my roots and remembered that uncomplicated, simple childhood that I had experienced so many years ago.