Shipping Pallet = Bench

Leaving work the other day, and saw this shipping pallet being thrown away. I grabbed it and took it home. 

No idea what to do with it, until it hit me. Those big wide boards - they'd make a great chair. So I se about tearing apart the wood, saving the nails as best I could along the way. 

Then I cut a few pieces to even them out, and reused the nails as I slowly tried to figure out how to make a bench. 

After the nails ran out, I used a few screws and shaped the wood a bit more. Now all that's left is to sand it down and give it a coat of weatherproofing. 

I've sat down and tried to give it my full weight - all 180lbs. So far so good.

The bench was sanded, and it's first coat of water seal has been applied. It was too dark to get a good photo, so unwell post that later. Unlike the log (see below), it's still a bit wet, so it'll stay in the garden shed away from the rain. Directions say to dry it for 48hrs. 

Now here is the lemon tree log:

 The lemon tree log that I trimmed off has been sanded over the past few days. Diane wanted the cut marks I made from the chainsaw removed. So I did the best that I could, and while at Walmart today, I picked up a can of thompsons clear water sealer and a few cheap paintbrushes. $24 total. 

 Came home, read the directions and got to work. I was amazed how dark the log got. The grey around the bottom of the log is cement to give it a nice sold base.

 I used the calibration tool on my smartphone to level it. Depending on where you place the phone - it's either 0%, -1%, or -2%. I think well enough to call it a success. I'd still like to put a small round glass top on it. Not sure what those run cost wise, but I believe Ben Franklin craft stores sell them. 

Chainsaw Saturday

Today was a good day - we got to play with the chainsaw!! Two trees had to be cut back just a bit - the lemon as it was partially dead, and the grapefruit - as its a bit too high. 

   Lemon tree

   Grapefruit

This log is cracked, seems to maybe have some termites - but definitely ants galore.  

 It's the perfect height to maybe make a table out of it. I walked up to Diane's parents house and borrowed a sander. Over the next few weeks we'll sand it down, stain it and try to add a top so when we play darts or work in the garden - our beer will always be in easy reach :)

 

Stay Max! stay!

Our little dog likes to wander... So let's try to make it harder for him to get out of the yard...

Mothers Day Present

What to get Diane for Mother's Day...

How about lighting for her garden! She does love her garden, but Diane can only enjoy it during the day. Now she can enjoy it at night as well. 

These lights are LED, very low voltage and they give off a nice glow as well. The power box is only 40w. We can rest easy at night knowing it's not eating a lot of power. 

 Now to add a few more lights to her circle garden and to the back garden as well.

Watering System - coming together

So I had this idea...

 Use rain gutters as planters, but also to add a pump (fish tank/small water feature) to circulate the water, as not to waste it and to use large jiffy pods as the only type of soil that the plants grow in. 

 I've had some success over the past few months as I've put this idea together. I noticed that with the small jiffy pods - they are just seed starters after all - will quickly dry out if not watered for 2 days. So constant care has been put in to watching the starters we've tested with. 

 Now that we have 99% of everything put together - just needing the tube to return the water to the bucket, it's time to start the next phase of the project - large jiffy pods and seed them with cilantro and lettuce. 

 You can see how much larger these pods are. Would these make a good size plant? Dunno. Usually the smaller the pot - the smaller the plant. In this case, it's lettuce and cilantro - we use a little here and there for sammiches and garnish. 

 6 pods of each were planted. The theory here is - clip from one pod every day or other day moving down the line, a week or two later we're hoping the 1st pod would have grown new leaves by then. 

 We also added a few pods for sunflowers. I'm thinking smaller plant and flower, at dinner or when we sit down for brunch, to take the pod and drop it into a terra cotta pot to decorate the table. 

Bucket with pump

Water slowly coming out on the top gutter, which flowed down.

Plants are placed zig zag down the line, this is to stop the water so it doesn't just flow right past the pods. The pods then soak up the water over a 30 minute period. (Shortest time I can set on the timer) 

 Water drops down to the next gutter, that's angled again slightly downwards. 

The glass beads are place inbetween the plants for easier identification and to pool the water every so often so the pods have time to soak it up and to also stop water flowing past quickly. 

End of the line. Here is where the tubing I bought from City Mill will take the water back down to the bucket. After I had attached it, I used caulking to seal it all up. 

Here the tubing is attached to the lid

Side view of what the lid and return tube looks like

  

The side of the bucket has a notch where the power cable and the water (feeding) tube go out. This way the lid can seal shut keeping the mosquitoes, bugs and dirt out. I placed 12 inches of water in the bucket. 

 Over the next week I'll keep tabs on how much water is used

I have more gutters waiting to be installed. Hoping to have 4 to 6 layers. Bird netting is place all around.

Outdoor timer. It's set to go off 3 times a day, and at 30 min each time. Looking to see if this is too much and what an ideal time would be to run it.