The Garden-

This year, thanks to Pintrest, we have found a way to create new and improved raised garden beds to help keep critters out, and increase the amount of growing space around our garden.  These are made from pallets that we get for free.  the pallets are 50"x30" and is put together with screws and plates.  The cost of materials is about $3.00 each and they take about 10 minutes per box.

This gives us the ability to grow lettuce and other "desirable" plants away from those pesky rabbits.  The pallets should last about 5-7 years, and will be easy to change.  As you can see we add a floor to the box, this way we do not have to fill it with dirt, the one completed box took almost a yard of dirt/compost mix to fill, so if you multiple that by 12-15 boxes, that's a lot of dirt.

This is the "holding bin" or the first of three compost bins that we will be putting together.  Right now it is full of horse manure, which we got for....you guessed it FREE.  It was well seasoned, and will break down really nice for next spring.  Right now, including gas we have about $60.00 in to the whole project, which is not bad considering that it will increase the output of the garden by about 200% when done.  It is amazing the ideas that you can get from that stupid web site Pintrest.  But it is easy to put together and looks really nice when looking from the house.  When everything is done, it will also provide a fence to help keep the dogs, rabbits, deer etc from helping themselves.

If you are interested in more technical information, just email me, and I would be happy to give it to you.
It is amazing what you can do with just a couple of bucks a little sweat, and some imagination.

Be good to one another because in reality that's all we got.

What a Difference just a week can make-

Wow what  a week it has been.  I have been undergoing some test by doctors, now there is a new exercise in patience, to determine why I have been losing weight, and generally feeling like crap.  Well the preliminaries are in, and I need to undergo very minor surgery on Wednesday so that they can biopsy some atypical lymph nodes.  Of course that means more waiting and patience.  But I guess that is what this whole thing called life is.

On a happier note, I have made great progress on the raised garden beds this week.  Using all of the pallets that were the same size.  For those of you that have room, and heck if you don't it is a way to increase your planting area and minimize the amount of critters getting the good stuff.  What I am doing is taking three pallets, all the same size (30"x50") and creating a box, with the bottom being about 13" off the ground.  Then the box will be lined with a light gauge chicken wire and landscape fabric.  Fill the box with dirt, compost, and peat moss and there is a raised bed.  All you need to do then is add veggies (or flowers) and let nature do it's thing.  If you get fancy with it you could stain the outside and make it a nice addition to your home landscape.

I have also been playing around with making a table out of a pallet that was to small to use in the garden.  This will be finished hopefully this week, while I am 'resting' after surgery.  I will get pictures posted real soon  of both projects along with a detail on how to do them.

I have been trying to stay positive with all of the change that has taken place over the past month and continue to remain that way.  One thing that I have been doing is riding with the Patriot Guard Riders, and doing some funerals, escorting both veterans and those who were killed in action to their final resting place.  No matter what your politics are, we as a nation do owe that much to our veterans, the respect and honor of escorting their remains.  The one funeral that I did last week was really hard.  It was that of a 23 year old who was KIA in Afghanistan.  What I believe made this really hard was the fact that I watched as he young bride (21-23) sat next to his casket and wept.  They were only married 4 months before his death.  I can only imagine what was going through her mind, the fact that they had their whole life in front of them, and now he is gone.  I will get on my political soap box and just say that it is time that we get our troops home and not to worry about what happens.  If Afghanistan was to fall to pieces and end up in Civil War so be it, as long as our troops are back home and safe.

The one nice thing about the Patriot Guard is that they do not care about anything except that you must have honor and respect for our Veterans.  You do not need a bike, we have many members who drive their cars and trucks (cages).  I will guarantee in January and February my bike will not be on the road but the missions continue.  We also welcome troops home, and one of the best things we do is welcome the WWII vets back at the airport when they do an honor flight.  It is a great feeling.

Well I hope everyone has a great week, and I will try to continue the updates...Be good to one another.

Just the Average guy.