DIY - Raised Beds

A project on Mom's to-do list for a while has been some raised beds for her to expand her new found gardening habit. I like to build things and since Mom has to put up with housing my business, she gets what she wants. I also realized I might be able to offer them to some of my clients and this would be a good test run. With the winter being slow and Matt & Dad available to help, this time of year was the perfect opportunity.

Before we could install the beds we had to cut down a couple maple trees in their backyard. This also had been on the to-do list because they were getting quite large and competing with the turf a little too much. So we got the two trees down and chipped up right before it started pouring rain.

We then got started on the bed frames. We had to work in the garage since it was still raining. It took the rest of the day to build the first one. We did the second one in half the the time the following day since we knew what we were doing. Cook also stopped by and offered a hand. 

The raised beds are constructed out of landscape timbers with the final dimensions of the beds being 8' x 4' x 1'. They are held together with 1/2" rebar. A closed loop of 1/2" drip irrigation lines the inside of the bed with eight 1/4" lines extending from the main line to the middle of the bed with 2 GPH emitters at the end of each line. 

I was very pleased with how they turned out. We may add some more if she gets a large vegetable operation going.

Matt and Dad cutting up the tree. Dad is a little more safety conscious than us.

Chipping up the limbs.

Makeshift work station.

The first layer.

Getting it square.

Future home of the beds. The white in the background is the wood chips for the fresh cut maples.

Drilling the holes for the rebar.

Hammering down the rebar for stability.

Putting on the drip irrigation's main line that goes around the top of the bed and will attach to the hose.

Moving the beds into place.

Leveling up the beds. We put each one over the new stumps so they'll now be hidden.

Adding in the drip lines with emitters. Each emitter is rated for 2 GPH.

Installed.

Christmas

Merry Christmas!

A common topic during this time of year is Christmas traditions. We definitely have things we do every year, but lately our schedule is one thing that never seems to stay the same. Each year we have to rearrange how our families get together in order to maximize time together. This is getting more difficult as our families are expanding.

This year our schedule worked out to:

• Friday night: Rebecca and I open our gifts to each other
• Saturday morning: Rebecca and I with my parents
• Christmas afternoon: Rebecca and I with my parents, grandparents, and family from Minnesota
• Tomorrow evening: Rebecca and I with her parents in Jackson
• Tuesday evening: Rebecca and I with her extended family

It is a hectic schedule but I love every minute of it and look forward to it each year. I love seeing everyone, relaxing, exchanging gifts, eating, and so on. This year I decided to set up the camera and do a stop motion video of us opening presents. We've done two so far and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, but we'll continue to tweak them. The Christmas afternoon one we played toward the camera a little more. 

Saturday Morning

Untitled from Brett Long on Vimeo.

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas 2011 - Stop Motion 2 from Brett Long on Vimeo.

Mom requested the song.

Early Christmas Present

I just entered the smartphone world, so naturally this post is coming from my new iphone. The extra expense is all that has been holding me back. Rebecca got her iPhone last Christmas, so I've had the itch for one ever since. Realizing there was several of my daily business task it could greatly aide in, helped me to pull the trigger. The main one is keeping a log of all my clients. So rather than write the info down at each yard and then later enter it into the computer, I can now do it all at once. I can also keep up better with my schedule and check the radar. Although Rebecca and mom will miss being my weatherman, this will be a little more accurate.

DIY - Compost Bin and Trommel - "Your trash is our cash"

This has been an ongoing project and its finally reached a satisfactory completion for now.

Over multiple posts I have documented the compost bin and then the addition of the trommel. After searching long and hard for a gear motor that was already reduced to the correct RPMs, we gave up and went with a standard motor and geared it down ourselves. Its not a complicated process, just involves more moving parts and thus more room for something to go wrong. The idea for this design came from a video I found on youtube.

Over Thanksgiving we completed the frame around the trommel. With the addition of the castors on top, it made it very difficult to manually turn, so I was concerned there would be too much friction for the motor.

Dad got the motor a few days ago. It is a 1 HP single phase motor registering 1750 RPMs. Through the system of pulleys we got it down to 30 RPMs. This gave good agitation in the trommel to allow lots to pass through.

We got everything hooked up and plugged it in. It worked extremely well and we didn't have to make any adjustments. We then took it outside and got it in place. It handled all the addition of material very well, greatly speeding up the entire process.

I was having trouble keeping up with the demand for composted soil. Manually sifting it was too much work for not enough return. This will greatly speed up the process and allow me to sift by myself.

The top and bottom of the frame.

Wiring the motor.

DIY - Urban Garden Box

Rebecca often laments at her lack of a green thumb. She also accuses me of withholding my plant skills whenever another one of her poor species bites the dust. Maybe I'm not as forthright with tips as I should be, but its not on purpose. I guess its the same reason we don't have very many pictures of ourselves around the house.

So, as a way to redeem myself, I decided to build Rebecca an Urban Garden Box. Since we live in a condo, we have zero yard space and its hard for me to get fired up about stuff in pots. This planter would give her more room to experiment and conveniently located on our balcony. I also have had a desire to build something lately, so this gave me an excuse to use my tools. It also coincided with the weekend David and Emily were in town to visit with us for the weekend. So we deemed Saturday, "Project/Craft Day." David decided to make some cubbie hole shelves for the Lucy's soon to be room. Emily introduced Rebecca to Pinterest so they now have endless ideas for stuff.

David and I went to Lowes to get our supplies. The mitre saw was the only tool we had to borrow from my Dad. The weather was beautiful, so it was hard to beat getting to have a relaxed Saturday working on something you really enjoy. Both projects took us all day. We had to pause during the late afternoon for some Christmas photos at the request of our wives. I set up a TV in the garage so we were able to stay updated on football. I was super pleased with how both projects turned out with our limited carpentry knowledge. I think the shelves will look great in the nursery room. Hopefully the garden box will be just the right vessel to tap into Rebecca's master gardener desire.

Our work area.

The plywood base for my garden box.

The sides before they got cut.

The side boards after getting cut.

The sides put together.

A look at the underside of the box.

Adding drainage holes to the plywood.

The landscape fabric added to the bottom.

Adding some drip irrigation.

Finished product. The main line runs around the top with feeder lines ready to run to the middle.

All done.

Plans for David's project.

Calibrating the saw.

Ready to put the puzzle together.

 

The finishing touches.

All done.