Maybe it’s the very slightly extended day-length, but I’ve been out in the yard a lot lately. I’m not planting much (besides peas) yet, but I’ve been busy with little projects to fix irritants from previous years.
Today’s project was multi-purpose:
- Get rid of some of the building up leftover wood from fence projects and pallets.
- Make a planter that is large enough to be useful, potentially add some seating, and get the plants off the ground around the chicken coop.
If you’ve got chickens, you’ll know that the damn things are dusty and destructive. If they can reach it, they’ll try to eat it. If they can’t reach, they’ll kick dust all over it.
Last year, I had a 4×4 raised bed next to the coop, and they ate a bunch (with their stretchy little necks sticking through the chain link) and made the whole thing so dusty the plants wouldn’t grow well.
OK, so today’s project:
I threw down a relatively solid pallete, screwed on some leftover fenceboards, and voila! The top’s a little flimsy for sitting on, so I might need to rethink that, but otherwise, I think it’s big enough to plant a fair amount of chard or whatever, looks nice, and got rid of a whole mess of junk lying around.
I don’t have pictures yet, but I also re-did my trellis for the currants with some “fast-setting” concrete and deeper holes. It made a world of difference. The posts are nice and solid now. If I can figure out how to get a 16′ 2×6 here, I’ll mount that on top.
For what it’s worth, I got the galvanized fencing wire from Coastal Farm Supply (which blows my mind every time I go there… funny how distinctive the Cowboypublicanbeltbucklegunracky vibe is. They must think I’m some kind of East Coast, gay, atheist, abortion doctor when I go in there. They’re mostly wrong.) They also had tensioners and hooks. Had to buy the posts and concrete from Home Depot. So, basically, that trellis was purchased from stores that make me feel like a dirty hypocrite. But the labor was all organic and fair-trade.
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Nice box. Good job.
The first time I saw the Coastal close to us, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. After one too many trips dealing with rude, don’t-give-a-crap employees and gasping at prices that aren’t even trying to be competitive, I stick with Wilco and AG West in Hillsboro now.
Hey, Mr. Hayseed, you’ve got some carpentry skills. Your project turned out well!
Yah… they’re obnoxious all right. I figured it was because my shoes weren’t covered with feces or whatever. I wasn’t all that surprised. Sounds like maybe it’s not just me.
I see there’s a Wilco in Oregon City… I guess if I’m gonna haul ass all that way, I might as well try them. Certainly can’t be any worse.
Thanks, ladies. I appreciate the moral support.
I love Coastal. Haven’t noticed any rudeness but then I don’t like to be “helped” whilst shopping and I like that down home terseness. It is wacky to all of a sudden be in a red state though.
See? There ya go. Let us rejoice in our diversity.
However… they are, objectively, jerks. My wifey feels that way about the entire population of NYC, whereas I appreciate their impatient directness after spending many years in San Fran.
My rendition of a San Francisco Deli Order:
“Oh, wow, my turn, huh? OK, right… sorry, I was just talking to my yoga teacher… haven’t looked at the menu yet… uh… do you have any non-dairy cheeses?… no?… nothing without dairy?… because I’m lactose intolerant and on the Give 110% Diet… no?… ok… well, that’s too bad… lemme see… love cheese, tho… ok… Oh, I can’t decide… is the bread pretty fresh? that all has gluten then?… oh boy, this is tough… how about a tofu and spinach with thai peanut dressing on sprouted wheat… and a large Diet Coke?”