Raised Garden Bed

My friend wanted a garden, or maybe I convinced her that she should have a garden. Either way, there are a number of challenges to gardening in her location. The first is that the ground is not suitable for tilling. The second is some physical limitations. So, after two years of experimenting, we sat down and discussed ways of making what she wanted, or what I believed she wanted, come to life. This project is the result. I ran into some snags, so this project is going to be split into two articles, this month and next month. I will discuss the design process in the essay later in the newsletter.You will need HT pallets, and screws, linn seed oil or other sealing oil is optional.Tools I used: hammer, circular saw, tape measure, square, drill, pencil, screw driver.

1) Measure the space for the raised bed and acquire the pallets. $1 each for 12 pallets.

2) I pulled the extra boards off the pallets that I was going to use and set the best aside to be used to fill in the gaps. 5 hours over 2 days.

3) Wait for the rain to stop. Waiting. More waiting. Write the other articles. More waiting. Mow lawn between storms. 10 days later...

4) Cut the pallets down to the size that is needed for the height of the bed and lay out the pallets to make sure that I have enough cut.

5) Screw everything down tight and fill the gaps with the extra wood. This took about 15 hours over the course of a week.

As of the publishing date of the newsletter, I have the sections prepared and laid out where they go for one side and the ends. The sections for the other side need to be prepared. Then put the sections together. It will take me another week IF everything goes well. I expect a little longer to give time for trouble shooting. I will add the steps to the Buy Me a Coffee article as I do the work and publish the second part of the project in the June newsletter

For more complete instructions with pictures, click the button below.

Listening

Everyone starts a journey somewhere. Where you are right now on your journey towards resilience and sustainability is the perfect place for you to be. Every journey is a collection of individual steps that are taken with a bigger picture in mind. These steps start with listening, learning and prioritizing.

The first place to listen is to Earth herself. She is our greatest teacher when it comes to sustainability and resiliency. She wastes nothing and cycles everything.

The second place to listen is to your own heart. When you take time to listen to yourself and to what is most important to you, you will move forward faster on your journey.

One way to get to your heart of the matter is with some basic questions.

What do you need in your life to be more resilient? sustainable? secure?

What aspect of your life or environment makes you most uncomfortable? nervous?

What aspect of your life or environment is the most fragile or brittle?

What are the limitations or challenges in your life?

What would make you feel safer? more secure? more confident?

Ask yourself the questions that are designed to get to the heart of what matters to you and your highest values. Try to boil it down to no more than 10 to 12 items or concepts. Then, I use a decision tree to prioritize the list. The button below will take you to a decision tree and the instructions for using it.

Next list 3 to 5 limitations or obstacles that stand between you and your top 2 or 3 priorities. don't go overboard, but if there were no obstacles, you would already have what you want.

Now, come up with several potential solutions for each obstacle, or a place to look for the solutions

Finally. be patient. Take your time. Things don't always go smoothly.

This month's project is a good example of this process.

* Friend's first priority that I can help her with is food security; i.e. a garden.

• The limitations and obstacles: The ground is hard and filled with gravel. Ground hogs and deer are watching and waiting for the first tasty morsel from the garden. Physical limitations and the time available make a standard garden impractical. I have a number of injuries that limit my working time. Cash is limited.

• The solutions: We chose to build raised beds in the sunniest portion of the yard and fence the area with a more stable fence. We chose to recycle used pallets for the project. I spent two months looking for the pallets that balanced the cost of the pallets and the gas to get them. I gave myself a month to get the project done to compensate for the damaged cartilage in my joints.

• Enter the weather. After the pallets were pulled apart, we had about two weeks of rain, leaving me a week to finish the project for the newsletter. yeah, well.

• This is where patience and flexibility comes in. I split the project between two newsletters. I do a little dance. Life happens. It's more fun when you take the pressure off, smile, and adjust.

• I am using very basic power and hand tools. Fancy work is not an option. The result will be sturdy, functional, and very rustic.

Things rarely go smoothly with projects. It is best to plan for this and allow extra time to make adjustments. Every step took longer than I expected. An unusual weather pattern set in, and we had other challenges as well. Life happens. Keep the end goal in mind and adjust.

Pieces of the Puzzle

This web of life on Earth is made up of bits and pieces.

We humans like to take them apart and analyze them bit by bit.

But until we put the bits back into the web,

They are only pieces that make little sense.

........

To download the print, the poem, and the description, click the button.

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And for a little bit more

Events Calendar

May 19 - New Moon

May 21 - World Day for Cultural Diversity

May 29 - Memorial Day USA

June 3 - Full Moon

June 5 - World Environment Day

June 16 - 18, ULEN Powwow. I will be participating so the newsletter will be late

June 18 - New Moon, Father's Day

June 21 - Summer Solstice, Next Rising of the Phoenix published

OREGANO

Like most of the "Italian" herbs, oregano originates from the mountains around the Mediterranean. This is the Greek "Joy of the Mountain". This short lived perennial has found its way into foods around the world because of its delightful flavor. This favorite of the mint family has the added benefit of being easy to grow in both pots and gardens. It will live for several years with minimal care and just a short dormancy period.

It easily propagated from cuttings or seed and is widely available from garden centers. A quick cheat: I have propagated oregano from fresh cut herbs from the farmer's market or supermarket.

Besides being a delicious flavor, oregano has a number of health benefits. It might give some relief from aches and pains and digestive distress. It can be an overall tonic for good health.

This calming herb might just help you listen to your intuition and your deepest truth and desires.

HAWK

Where I am currently finding my stomping grounds, raptors are a fairly common sight. There is a "wild" river area about 1/4 mile from my friend's house. Eagles, osprey, falcons, and hawks are often out hunting. Hawks carry powerful significance and energy for the Native Americans of this area.

The primary energy of this raptor is as a messenger. She may bring messages from spirit, ancestors, or guides. Sometimes, hawk is a reminder to listen to your own truth and intuition. Always, hawk is a reminder to listen and observe.

So, if you are lucky enough to have hawks in your area. Take a few minutes and enjoy the gifts that they are bringing to you.

For a longer article on Hawks, click on the button. Then explore the site for more info and my artistic work.

And I'm Not The Only One

Here are a couple of places to find more information.

Here are a couple of books that I find useful

20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak

The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman

Some one I'm following:

If you like the idea of building with pallets, here are some ideas from someone using a little fancier tools than I have. The YouTube channel: The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni.