Not one for wastefulness, as we’ve worked at cleaning up the overgrowth and saplings choking each other for space in the long unkempt wooded section of our property, I’ve tried to find use for every tree of any size that has to come down aside from just firewood. (All that pine is no account for firewood anyway.) Those paired with the two stacks of forgotten building materials left by the former owners have become the primary materials in building the framework of my garden. From deer fencing corner posts to bed frames, they have played a role in every job involved in building the garden spot saving both money and waste.

       

That in mind, a year and some change ago I shared an entry on the other blog about using otherwise unneeded palettes and cinderblocks for building a garden bed and so well does the idea work that I decided to share it again.

These palette bed frames are too shallow for larger plants, but for leaf lettuces, herbs, and other surface crops they are ideal. They even work well for smaller hot pepper plants after a year of settling in place if you plan to keep them. They can otherwise be removed, seed spread, and no one need ever know they were there, which is great for rental tenants. Even more so, the cinder block as a raised bed edge has become a favorite of mine for giving herbs with encroaching roots space without losing valuable bed space for the vegetables around them. The idea is simple enough: lay out newspaper as a boundary then top it with palettes using the cinder blocks as a barrier on the two open sides of the palettes. I do recommend filling them with dirt a week or two in advance of planting and watering a few times heavily if you have no rainfall. This will allow the dirt to settle in place giving you an idea how much you may need to add before planting. Happy spring everyone!