Pallet Projects

I don't know if it is because I have been building little things out of wood since I was young or if it is just a quirk of homesteading, but it seems like there is always some small something or 'nother that needs to be built. Luckily, I work in a warehouse with a good supply of pallets.





There are some downsides to re-using pallets. The wood is not the highest quality and breaking down the pallet is time consuming. I usually could build my current project from new wood in less time than it takes me to reclaim what I need from a pallet and time is a precious resource. But, so is money and the pallets are free so, I am really just trading my time to save money.

There are as many, if not more, advantages; the largest being that every bit of wood and nail I reuse is something saved from a landfill. I started by taking only the double-length and odd sized pallets that would have gone to the dumpster but, as I think of more things to do with reclaimed pallet wood, the more I start eyeballing the nicer pallets that would mostly likely be reused by someone else.

The pallet wood has character. Most of the time it is rough cut, often with knots, bows, splits, and breaks. Even on the same pallet, most of the slats aren't the same thickness since many have been repaired at a couple points in their lifetime. They are darkened by age, stained, and covered in the insidious 'warehouse dust'. That character gives the finished product a rustic feel that fits right in with rest of the homestead. The challenge is to take this ragged wood and put it to the best use.

I have built a few things already from this retired wood:

A 6-hen nest box

A hopper feeder for one of our rooster pens that holds 5 gallons of feed. You add feed from the top and it drops down into the trough as the chickens eat it.

A cold frame

A seedling box

The seedling box is 12”x24”. An upcoming post will be directions on how to build one, but the example will be a 12”x12”. You can put soil directly into them or, of course, use small pots like I did in the picture.

Framing raised beds in the garden using two slats nailed together for stability

This bed is framed using the 2x4 runners from the double-length skids

Unfortunately, every time I finish one pallet wood project I think up at least 2 more.

Some things I hope to build in the near future:

• Chicken Tractor
• Greenhouse Foundation
• Potting Table
• Shade Shelters for the Chickens
• Garden Bench/Chairs

I am sure there will be more before that list is complete. Good news is that there are more pallets for the taking than I have time to break apart.

Broody Hen

A few weeks ago we had our first hen start to set. We were not prepared for it and the opportunity passed before I figured out the best way to separate her from the rest of the flock. I had plans to make a small coop and add a small pen on the end of the chicken run as a place to keep broody hens. I could also use it to isolate hens for various reasons, as additional justification for the incurred cost of new fencing and coop.

Of course, once she stopped setting, the whole project got pushed to the back burner until earlier this week when I started to notice one of the nest boxes in the coop always had a Barred Rock hen in it. Unfortunately with 14 BR hens, it is hard to tell them apart so I just had to keep checking the nest boxes at odd hours to see if there was still a hen on the nest. After a couple days of one nest box always being occupied I felt sure we had a hen that wanted to hatch. On Wednesday I started working on a one-chicken-sized coop for the brooder pen.

What started out as





ended up as





The plans I had made used 1/4 inch plywood siding supported by 2x3s but we had a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood siding left by previous occupants of the house. The good news is that it was thick enough to not require extra support so I could save my 2x3s for another project and was free. The bad news was that the sheet was only 45 inches wide, not 48, so it required a couple of adjustments on the fly. That's the fun of woodworking.

The dimensions of the coop are roughly 22 inches long and wide, and 24 inches high in the back, 18 inches in the front. That leaves just enough room for an open nest box and a feeder. I will the chicken's water out side the coop to keep things dry. Below is a picture of the coop in progress.

I hinged the roof just under 3 inches from the back edge and will use shingle scraps to cover it over the gap to stop leaks. In retrospect it would have been better to just hinge at the back and just pick up the whole roof for access to the coop. That would solve the problem of having a gap in the roof. I still plan to build a chicken tractor and will use what I learned in this project to design the tractor.


The next step is to put up the fencing for the small seclusion pen. I will post more pics once everything is complete. So far I have saved 9 easter-egger eggs, and 3 BR eggs. I don't plan to collect any more, I will let her set on those plus whatever she currently has under her in the main coop. I expect that she is only setting on a couple eggs.

From what we have read, the blue egg gene is dominant so any green eggs we can get to hatch as hens should lay green eggs. I am interested to see how the barred rock genes present themselves in the new chicks. The easter-eggers are already a mutt breed, so there is really no telling what the offspring will look like. I hope at least the rooster are a little larger than our current green egg layers since they are noticeable smaller than most of the barred rock hens.

Letting the hen set is really just a learning experience, it is something we haven't done before. There is always something new happening on our little mini-farm.

Dirt under the nails

So this weekend was a magic time, the first bit of gardening for the year. I don't know what possessed me but somehow on Saturday I pulled myself away from the computer and ventured outside for some good old fashioned yard work. The plan was to break through the thick layer of grass covering my smallest raised bed to get it ready for a cool crop planting experiment. For a bit of background, being a gardening novice I am not sure when certain plants will sprout and grow, and whether it is based of length of sunlight exposure or ground temperature. Being the info-addict nerd I am, I have done research on the net with conflicting results. For some reason it suddenly occurred to me that hell, I can plant some seeds and see what happens. So the plan is take the 4x4 bed, abandon the strict 16 cell configuration demanded by the square-foot-garden mantra and plant in wide rows. I want to try turnips first, they are supposed to be almost impossible to not grow (a theory I will most certainly test), then also swiss chard, spinach, corn salad, and an early lettuce mix. If my mom was reading this she would have passed out before believing I would eat that many greens. (Please note, I was able to completely avoid suggesting we plant any of the dreaded collards.) I hope to get the seeds in the earth this Sunday since we are planning a trip to Boone to see the flurries they are calling for on Saturday. I will also throw together a hoop house using 8ft pvc piping, heavy plastic, and the ever holy duct tape. (Seriously, I have mulled it over, how do you attach the plastic to the piping without the tape?) I just have to hope I can both figure out a way to secure it against the terrible winds we have at home, and that it survives said blow. So that is the plan, now for the action.

As I said, the grass had completely covered over all my beds in a nice thick mat that centipede is so well known for. If only it would grow that well in the front yard. I had made the beds early last spring, but had never put them to use due to a nasty combination of lack of 'follow-through-ness' and the beginnings of the hellish drought we are currently under. So out I drag my trusty weedeater, or is it trusty at all. The thing refuses to start, mostly because of the solidified fuel in the lines. Being the lazy yet stubborn person that makes me who I am, the fact that is won't start doesn't stop me from continually pressing the little valve on the side in a vain hope that following the starting directions will work this time even if it hadn't the 20 times before. After finally reaching my limit, I go primitive and grab the shovel and rake. Now as anyone that has dealt with centipede is aware it may have been easier to get a garden rake to pierce concrete than put a dent in the hefty weave that had invaded my precious garden plot.

This sends me right back to the weedeater in hopes that I can cut the dead grass back then chew through its' defenses with the tilling attachment for said weedeater. So more fiddling, cursing, pulling on the start chain, and finally the most fun part of any mechanical endeavor, disassemble. Once I start seeing what pieces I can remove without the use of tools, I notice there is a bubble in the gas line where there used to be a solid chunk of fuel. That was a most promising sight, and after adjusting the choke that I didn't know was there, the beast finally starts. Now here is a conundrum. I am excited because I will soon be playing in the lush dirt of my garden, but I am also saddened because the first task is a most hated one, the cutting of the grass. I hate cutting grass, as the overlong dead grass in my lawn will prove. Sometimes I feel as though most summers of my youth was spent cutting someone's yard, and the more I consider the amount of time I have wasted riding a mower around in circles the less I want to continue. So there we are, the second of February and I am cutting grass, oh the humanity of it all. Not only do I trim the grass back on the small bed, but continue to trim around all the beds and move on to the base of the bird feeder. I get a nice reward of actual green plants which can now be seen since the dead grass towering overing has been obliterated.

Finally, I get to do what I first set out to do which is work on the garden bed. I must admit, the Mel Mix from the SFG guy is a very nice soil mix, being equal parts compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Despite sitting for months and months unloved by the human hand it is still light, and even moist which is a rarity given the current climate. As I dig through it pulling foot long roots out, the soil is cold yet has a lush feel and smell. I move on to the next bed in the row, which is a strong contrast. I did not stick to the Mel Mix for my 3 4x8 beds, mostly from the trouble of finding coarse vermiculite. I was lucky to find a 4 cu ft bag at the Hudson's Hardware in Garner, but they only had the one bag, and they were the only ones to carry it. The vast majority of that bag was used in the 4x4 leaving very little for the other beds. Lowes did carry it in smaller bags, but at triple the cost. So after doing pricing checks the cheapest way to go was a half and half mix of top soil and turkey compost supplied by the pick-up truck load at a local landscaping company. I did add in some peat moss here and there, but from tilling in this second bed, I did not use enough which is not a surprise since I was really just adding in the last of what I had on hand. The difference between the two really drove the point home in regards to the superior texture of the Mel Mix The dirt is more like normal soil and less like the dense potting soil consistency of the Mel Mix. However, we must remember, texture is not the most important aspect of garden soil, the ability to produce is key. Regardless, I am still quite happy to sit and dig through the dirt tool-lessly, removing clumps of grass roots and other weeds. I am not sure how to explain it but the act of nurturing and caring for a garden is extremely therapeutic. Even at this early stage I found it tiring, yet relaxing at the same time. It was a small taste of what was to come, and it got me revved up for the upcoming season.

Left on the to do list:

• Plant the cool weather crops in hope they sprout.

• Make a hoop house for the 4x4 bed.

• Do a second till on the first 4x8 bed, and an initial till on the other three.

I am considering adding a combination of some or all the following ingredients:
our own compost
leaves from the in-laws' yard
peat moss
vermiculite
As usual, what I actual add in will be decided during the heat of the moment.

• Start a true garden journal.

Hopefully this go around I will have some early success and can follow through on my plans. Given the beds I have available, I should be able to produce an excess of food that would allow us to start canning and freezing home grown food. I also hope to expand on what I have by trying some container garden, both in pots on the porch to take advantage of the shade and wind protection there, and also through trying the trash can method of growing potatoes. This should prove an eventful and educational spring and summer.