Taking a page from EG's playbook

ribbit32004

17 years ago

Ok, so I knew I was expanding but I just went and bought the wood today. I'm going from 18 sq ft to 106!!! I could go larger, but have restrictions from the man that the lawn tractor has to get through the spaces. He added today that the lawn sweeper (for leaves) had to be able to fit as well, but when I reminded him of the original agreement of only the lawn tractor width, we settled on me raking the additional leaves to a central location. I can do that.

I realized that my fabric for the bottom is a weed block and not as drainable as landscaper's fabric, so I'm going to put the beds (unfilled) into place this month, wait for the sod beneath to die and then poke more holes in them for drainage and fill accordingly.

Sound like it will work?

I've also found a woman in my department that has horses!!!! I asked her to compost some HM for me and she agreed which couldn't make me happier. She asked how much I needed and I said a bit tongue and cheek...a S*&$ load!

Hopefully this will help me fill the extra space since I'm moving to 12' boxes and doubling the heigth on the ones I already have.

I'm on vacation in two weeks so I'm hoping to get the beds constructed by then. I need the man's help again to cut the pieces to size as he says I'm "not qualified", but hopefully I'll get them down before the month is over and post some pictures of the design.

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Comments (12)

anniesgranny
17 years ago
Ribbit, you need a good power miter saw...one with at least a 10" blade. I can cut and build all my own beds with that and my power screwdriver. I do have to sometimes drag everything out to the garden and build in place, as the boards can be very heavy.

I am so envious! I won't be able to sneak in any new beds this coming spring, but I will fill in some pathways and make my existing beds longer. Since I have three 4x8 beds and a 10' circle that have not yet been planted, I'll give Mr. H another year to come to terms with moving the fence to make room for more ;-)

A S*&$ load of HM (or as I call it, HS) is perfect!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden
ribbit32004
Original Author
17 years ago
Oh no! I know I COULD do it if I could gain access to the tools. The man, however, won't let me touch his. I suppose it's a man thing.
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pls8xx
17 years ago
Missing fingers can be a handicap to cooking. Ain't no way I'm going to let my wife get anywhere near my power saws. Besides, I build my walls with concrete.
ribbit32004
Original Author
17 years ago
HA! Pls8xx, it's because of my stellar cooking skills he won't let me near the power tools. I took a few knuckles off with a cheese grater a few years back.

Can't say I blame him. That was a lot of blood.
anniesgranny
17 years ago
I own my own power tools. Won't let Mr. H touch 'em! I also have a leather tool belt and my own tool box. Y'all already heard about my power brad nailer ;-) Mr. H is surprised I don't sleep with my tools!

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden
engineeredgarden
17 years ago
I think you should build those boxes yourself, and show the man...... :)

Anyway, you'll enjoy the extra space, and will be able to grow all kinds of stuff now! I'm so happy for you....

EG
ribbit32004
Original Author
17 years ago
HA! Oh I'd show the man, all right.

Show him how to get to the hospital to reatach my fingers!

Nah. I'll gladly let him do it. Besides, he wants to, it gives him ownership of the project and it lets me have more fingers.
carolynp
17 years ago
I'm with you, I could probably learn to use the power tools, but I let the hubby do it for me (or the guys at the store if I can talk em into it). We distribute the work: I use the hand tools and he uses the power tools. With the exception of the sander: the sander is my domain, lol. I tried to cut tile last year for his workroom and I didn't manage to cut one single tile correctly. I quit, lol.
anniesgranny
17 years ago
I'm terrible with hand tools. No strength in my hands. I keep Mr. H around to open jars for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden
greenbean08_gw
17 years ago
I too like the miter saw. It's the only one I use. I feel much more confident about keeping all my fingers with that one. One of my DH's co-workers years ago cut off all 4 fingers on one hand with a circular saw I believe. What always amazed me about him was he called 911, put the fingers on ice and was waiting for the ambulance at the curb!! Makes me shudder just thinking about it!

Way to go with the new expansion (no matter who builds it!).
soonergrandmom
17 years ago
Grannie, I'm with you and also have my own tools. A miter saw, table saw, radial arm saw, 3 routers, a sander or two, a new reciprocating saw (still in the box), etc. But I am jealous of the brad gun. I have a friend in the construction business that brought over a nail gun the other day that I would love to have. It works on these little gas cartridge things and it is awesome. I am afraid that I can't justify the cost of one of those tho.

My husband hates power tools, but did help me with some baseboard the other day when he knew I was in a hurry. I was surprised that he actually used the miter saw, but he is a little afraid of all of them I think. LOL

I am hoping that this is the year for the yard and garden, but I am sure I will still have some construction going on. Actually I would rather build a house than clean one, so I guess I am OK with the construction most of the time.

Grannie, It may be our age group. In the workplace, we had to prove that we could do everything that men could do so they would take us seriously, and I think it trickled over to the rest of our lives as well. I was always fond of the saying that "Ginger Rogers could do everything Fred Estaire could do, but she did it backward and in high heels." When I was young I had to prove everything to catch a break with my employers, but the workplace changed. Later on, I had two older retired military guys that worked for me in Alaska, and when I asked them to do something, they would just say, "Sure boss". It always made me kind of grin to see how things had changed. In my next job, I had about half civilians and half military and it was never a question there either. I fould it to be a little harder in the civilian world tho.

At least now we know we have the power tools and the knowledge to build what we want to build when we want to build it, so we can build those SFG boxes anytime we want them.

EG - I have your okra on my desk and as soon as I get an address, I will mail them to you.
engineeredgarden
17 years ago
Soonergrandmom - Thanks! I'll try to email you with the info...Want any of my seeds? I've got plenty.

EG