Next up!

My poor main garden bed. It's been a couple years since we've added onto the timbers that we used for this bed. The sugar sand here seems to just eat them up, sinking about 1" per year. That means my bed is 3" shorter than it was when I put it in. We'd already added on top once, but now as the wood ages it's been warping. I started looking around at just replacing the wood all together and cost wise it wasn't feasible right away. Also, I really wanted the bed to be a bit taller.

Here it is when I put it in 3 timbers high... Now it's only 1 timber high LOL

So... last weekend I went to pick up something off Craigslist that will start a long term project for me....This weekend I will be going back for more. Turns out 200 (free) landscaping blocks will fit into the back of our pickup. It's hard work getting them all out of the ground and then stacking them up into the bed of the truck. It's higher than a regular truck, so your arms get a good workout. The first 200 blocks will be used to extend the main garden area by 8 feet and up by 4". After that I'll be slowly but surely taking out the old landscaping timbers and replacing with these. I'll have to find room in my budget somewhere for the dirt that I will need to fill these new/improved beds with. Good news is the place I get it from is located at the entrance to my community. Truckload is about $40 if I remember right, and if I do this in 2 8' sections at a time the cubic yard should be perfect to finish raising up those beds.

That also means I won't be rushing to get it all done in a single weekend as I did when I built the beds. Instead I'll try to do each section - one every 2 -4 weeks to complement my pay schedule.

The downside to this project? Ah- all those lovely little plants I have in right now will be ripped out in order to make way. Honestly, I'll probably leave them to become more organic matter, but I will lose the vast majority of them. Beans okra, and corn won't transplant well - at all. BOO, HISS!

OLD nasty blocks:

They are stacked up nicely so that I can clean them easier. I'd rather have them cleaned prior to rebuilding with them as the chemicals would leach into the garden. This way I can clean them easier with chemicals and don't have to break my neck using a wire brush.

Here they are after the first washing. I'll wash once again before using them to finish brightening them, but honestly I'm happy with them just like this. In the picture they are still wet so they are a little brighter than it looks. Plus by the time I finished the sun was beginning to set so they are in shadow as well.

Wish me luck I don't try to break my back doing all this. Should be interesting, but I can't wait to put in new weed barrier and fresh compost. EXCITING changes are coming!

See you soon!

Barbie~