It was quite nice out today, and I was able to get some decent progress on the raised bed walls at the chain link fence.
I also have more materials than I realized, starting with the stakes. Somehow, I got it in my head that all the stakes I’d made and charred were just for the back wall, when I had prepped enough for both the front and back walls. I might even have enough materials for the deadwood wall, too, though that’s harder to say. A lot of those are really wonky and crooked.
First, though, the back wall needed to be done.
In the first image above, I have the stakes pounded into the soil on either side of the boards. The taller ones are on the inside of the bed, so they’ll be easier to reach when supports are attached to them, so they were very specifically spaced out in the three sections of chain link. The shorter pieces went on the outside, between the boards and the chain link. I wanted to stagger them a bit, since the deadwood they’ll be holding is all weirdly shaped. Thankfully, we had such a lovely downpour yesterday, I was able to drive the stakes into the ground quite solidly.
A bit too solidly, with one of the shorter ones.
In the second picture, I’ve laid some deadwood on top of the boards. For this, I chose the shorter ones, as they have to fit between the posts. I alternated which way the thicker and thinner ends were laid out as well. In the end, I added about 3 or 4 inches in height. One of the shorter posts had been driven in far enough that it barely topped the deadwood, but it will still hold.
One of the issues of doing it this way, however, is that there are gaps between the deadwood that soil can fall through. Ordinarily, I’d try to fill those gaps with skinnier pieces of deadwood, but didn’t really have anything appropriate.
The state of the boards gave me an idea, though.
I still had a couple of dollar store vinyl table protectors. I decided to use those to line the back wall from the inside, and pull over the top.
These sheets are for a larger size table, and I decided to cut them into thirds, length wise. The way they are folded in the package made it easy, as I just needed to follow a fold with my utility knife, after spreading the vinyl on the ground and securing it from the wind.
I good with the next two pictures of the slide show above. The third and last picture is the progress shot. Three strips was not enough, though, so I got out the second table protector and cut one more section.
After checking things out with the first strip, I went down the row with the tip of my space and moved soil away from the bottom of the boards. The vinyl strips now extend beyond the bottoms of the boards. I tried to push them under the boards as much as possible, then pushed the soil back to hold them in place. Then the rest got folded over the top of the deadwood and pushed down the outside. The stakes are still on the outsides, and will hold the vinyl in place.
Once that was in place, I secured the stakes and vinyl a bit more, before starting on the front.
I used bale twine, because that stuff is pretty indestructible, and tied the long and short stakes together in pairs, making sure they won’t bow apart while making the vinyl more secure and less likely to blow away. The winds get pretty severe from the south and, unlikely as it seems, has the potential to dislodge the vinyl from the outside of the wall.
After that, I replaced the stakes I had marking where the inside of the bricks were, which makes the bed about 2 inches narrower, with longer charred stakes. For the front wall, the longer stakes will be on the outside.
Once they were pounded in place, lined up with the taller stakes in the back wall, I got the roll of paracord and strung a guide line across, which you can see in the second photo of the slideshow above.
Then I used one of the larger pieces of dead wood to use as a guide to where the shorter stakes would be driven in.
The next two photos of the slide show above show the lines of stakes – with Larence photobombing one of them!
I could not start laying down the deadwood right away, though. The wood I harvested is a mix of poplar, cherry, willow, and even some smaller maple suckers for the ends. Any pieces that will have contact with the soil on the bottom will start growing, if I set them down as is. I needed to debark some of it.
After selecting some of the longest pieces, I took them over to the larger bench, then started debarking with the aid of my utility knife. The draw knife would be more efficient, but the pieces are just too narrow.
Unfortunately, I ended up nicking my thumb in the process. Not a large cut, but with the pressure being put on it while debarking, I was leaving blood all over the places.
So I stopped for the day. This gave me a chance go change and go into town for a few things for my older daughter and refill our water jugs. I will continue tomorrow.
Once I have enough debarked to do the base of the wall, the rest can go on top as is. Hopefully, I’ll have enough to match the height of the back wall but, if not, I’m sure I can find plenty to harvest where I need to clean up more in the spruce grove.
Oh, that reminds me. My brother messages me today, asking about the company we used to clear trees from the roof and do wood shipping for us, a few years back. He has decided it would be better to hire them to take down that Chinese elm in front of the kitchen window, that has so many branches overhanging the roof. He’d originally thought to do it himself, but the first of branches falling onto the roof is too great. Better to have several people on lifts to do it. The other reason the tree needs to go is because its roots are causing cracks in the basement wall, and they would be getting into the weeping tile under the new basement as well.
He plans to grind the stump once its down to get it out completely. That will include getting rid of the roots that are lifting the patio blocks out of position. In some places, water is draining towards the house instead of away. That means, once this is all done, we’ll be able to level the ground before putting the patio blocks back again. It’ll be nice to not have to worry about tripping over the lifted edges anymore!!
I contacted the company for my brother and someone will be coming out some time this week to give us an estimate, which I will pass on to my brother. Then we can work out a day for them to come out.
The tree does provide some nice shade, but it’s going to be so good to not have to worry about branches falling on the roof anymore, or more root damage.
Now that my brother and SIL have sold their acreage and all their equipment is here, things are going to be very different this summer! Things are going to get done that we simply couldn’t do ourselves. We’ll probably see more things done in one summer, than we’ve been able to do in all the years we’ve lived here, just due to lack of tools and equipment.
Until then, I focus on the things I can do.
Like working on garden beds.
Little by little, it’s getting done!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 