Cheap and Cheerful

[Duronal]

Hi all

I've recently completed my house and garden move. I managed to transport all 120 plants in pots and i'm finally getting on top of the garden. I've opted to go down the recycling route and i've just finished building my raised bed and compost box from palletes.

I've attatched some photos so you can have a look - they're not finished and for a full time musician who's about as practical as a chocolate tea pot i think i've done alright.

I'm interestd if people think i should stain the outside of the compost box or not, i was cautious because i didn't want to introduce any chemicals into it.

[Duronal]

and these were the other photos

[Kristen]

"I'm interestd if people think i should stain the outside of the compost box or not"

If you have any of those one-ton-bags you could maybe line the pallets with that?? Woudl keep the help more moist, and away from the wood.

[rustylady]

If you do stain the wood, please check that the product you use in non-harmful to plants. You don 't really need to make it look pretty. I think natural wood looks good anyway. Your main aim should be preserving the wood, and a reputable stain/preserver like Cuprinol is pretty good for the outside of the bin. However when wood is in contact with soil, plants, etc it tends to rot or break down anyway, so your bin will probably eventually rot from the inside outwards. This is a natural process, just as wood is a natural material. You can line your bin with black plastic but this will cut down on the air getting into the compost and may interfere with the composting process. It may just be better to leave it as it is and replace in the future - Should last you at least 3 years anyway, and in the meantime keep your eyes open for pallets to build a new one. BTW It might be a good idea to do this now, build another bin next to the one you already have, then you have one rotting down and another one starting off.

[Duronal]

many thanks for the speedy replies. I think i'll hold off on staining the bin and see how it colours in the elements,

Hopefully i should be filling the beds with well rotted horse manure (free from fungicide that's doing the rounds) for free. I'm really looking forward to producing some amazing veggies next year.

D

[Demeter]

Looks great! Just two questions - how are you going to get the finished compost out of the bin? and how on earth are you going to pick runner beans of that very very tall plant!!?

[Two_Sheds]

You could line your compost bin with flattened cardboard boxes, to keep heat & moisture (and the compost!) in.

[Duronal]

ahhh well my intial plan was to go straight from bin to bed this year and then think about what happens after that

I've worked out i need approximately a cubic meter of soil to fill my raised bed i've been granted some access to some manure but i don't think my car could handle a tonne and a half of horse poo.

flattened cardboard sounds good i've got more than a few pieces spare after the move!

I'm planning to pick the runners using a trampoline........no i'm kidding i'll just pop up a ladder, i'm not too sure that i'll get to many runners this year as the plants been savaged by ants and black fly. How deep do most people make their raised beds? I've got about a foot of sandy loam under the bed and i was planning to fill above by another 20cm with horse manure, do you think this will be enough?

[Kristen]

"free from fungicide that's doing the rounds"

Not wanting to be alarmist, but do please make sure that the stables has not bought in any hay / silage from another farm that might have used the herbicide (and of course worth checking any locally grown hay/silage has not been treated either)

[Kristen]

Sorry, meant to also say: can you dig the soil from the paths onto the beds? That's mostly what I used to "raise" my beds.

[Duronal]

unfortunately i can't no. I've made the beds at the edge of the lawn and i'm pretty sure the landlady would go insane of i turned her turf into an allotment.