A Major Milestone Reached

Today I finished assembly and lining the interior of my 2x7 TT with landscape fabric.  I am making a 140 mile round trip tomorrow to get more compost to finish out my mix.  By the end of the week I will have the 2x7 filled and planted with herbs for the kitchen.  I still have to put hardware cloth in the 2 4x4s and the 4x10 and line them with landscape fabric.  That and mixing enough MM to fill them and I will FINALLY be ready to plant something.   I had originally planned to be done by March 21, but had some health problems that limited my activities.  That seems to be fixed and I'm getting stronger by the day; so I'm optimistic that the weekend or this time next week will see me with all TTs finished, loaded with MM and some things planted.  I've missed a significant period for cool weather plants and Texas heat will soon stop most things growing well, but I should be more than ready for the second Texas planting and harvesting season and I'll do brassica's next fall to over-winter.

Next year, I'm REALLY LOOKING FORWARD to just cleaning up, topping up with compost and planting.  This construction project just about wore me out.

 

Congratulations! I'm looking forward to both doing the same thing (a tabletop or two) and even more so to being done with it. This sort of thing can be a lot of work, can't it!

Show us some pictures when you're done!

 Way to go Rabbithutch!

Good stuff rabbithutch!  Remember, regarding the health issues, slow and steady wins the race!

rabbithutch wrote:...Next year, I'm REALLY LOOKING FORWARD to just cleaning up, topping up with compost and planting.  This construction project just about wore me out.

 

It's been explained to me that gardening's hard work is something like giving birth: The joy of the product quickly makes the pain and effort a distant memory!   

For a lot of us, along about September, we start thinking about (and can't wait) to do it all over again!

Thanks for the encouragement, folks!

Boffer - because you are my TT guru . . .   My TTs are 2x8s with half-inch hardware cloth for bottoms with support slats every 12 inches and landscape fabric liner. 

Should I install a double layer of landscape fabric before putting in MM?

RH -   

rabbithutch wrote:Thanks for the encouragement, folks!

Boffer - because you are my TT guru . . .   My TTs are 2x8s with half-inch hardware cloth for bottoms with support slats every 12 inches and landscape fabric liner. 

Should I install a double layer of landscape fabric before putting in MM?

No reason that I can think of. My first TTs are in their 7th season, and all is well with just one layer.

Thank you, Boffer!  . . .   and everyone else for their kind words of encouragement and support.

Here are a few pics.  I intend to write a how-to later that will be more detailed and illustrative.

How I joined sides and ends.  I drilled through from top to bottom and used spikes to hold them together.



Here are some of the parts, painted on the outside and tops



Here is one of the TTs turned upside down to show how I attached the hardware cloth.


Here you see how the bottom slats are placed.  This is before adding the liner.


And here is the finished unit with liner installed.  This is literally 10 steps from my kitchen sink and will be used to grow herbs and maybe some determinate cherry tomatoes.  You can see the leg assemblies in this shot.

Still have to add some bracing for stability and complete the painting.


Bye for now.  Have to drive 150 miles to get cotton bur compost.

rabbithutch wrote:  Have to drive 150 miles to get cotton bur compost.

Only a SFGer would do that!

sanderson wrote:

rabbithutch wrote:  Have to drive 150 miles to get cotton bur compost.

Only a SFGer would do that!

Yeah, we DO seem to bit a little bit different, don't we?  It wasn't as bad as I made it sound, though.  I got to spend a half day in Austin, TX with a lot of it spent at my favorite store - so far - in Texas, Callahan's Farm and Ranch on Burnet Highway.

I brought home 14 cu.ft. of the cotton bur compost which will be more than enough for the compost mix.  I now have Black Cow, Mushroom humus, composted sheep manure, cotton bur compost, and maybe two bucketsful (1.5 - 3.0 cu.ft.) of my own  yard waste compost that has been amplified by kitchen scraps and some composted sheep manure.  I hope to get some worm castings, too; but if that doesn't pan out, I'm going ahead with the mix this weekend come H#ll or high water.

Congratulations  RH take it steady in the effort of fill the TT's don't wreck your recovery ( been there , seen it , got the video & T shirt as well ) .

I like the bottom brace bars being used as a shelf ..is it all screwed in place ?
I've asked because there will be a fair weight in the bed once it is filled & watered .
You don't wanting it sliding /wobbling around .

If it does move around perhaps make an apex type support anchored at each end  leg and screwed to a central plank in the middle of the underside of the bed .

Agreed, love the idea of the bottom bracers doing double duty as shelf supports. Looking good!

Hey, it's fun to see some old school wood joinery.  
About which we used to say, 'good mechanical strength'!  

rabbithutch, I did hope that you were making use of that 150 mile journey for compost by doing something else on the way.  Otherwise I was thinking you were really daft.    

Kelejan wrote:rabbithutch, I did hope that you were making use of that 150 mile journey for compost by doing something else on the way.  Otherwise I was thinking you were really daft.    

In Texas, 150 miles can be just a visit to the next door neighbor in some places.  When my daughter was shopping for prom dresses some years ago, I came home from work and we drove 140 miles to Dallas, had dinner, then returned home before bedtime. 

The things dads won't do for their daughters, eh?

rabbithutch wrote:

Kelejan wrote:rabbithutch, I did hope that you were making use of that 150 mile journey for compost by doing something else on the way.  Otherwise I was thinking you were really daft.    

In Texas, 150 miles can be just a visit to the next door neighbor in some places.  When my daughter was shopping for prom dresses some years ago, I came home from work and we drove 140 miles to Dallas, had dinner, then returned home before bedtime. 

The things dads won't do for their daughters, eh?

Of course, being from England I am still inclined to think that travelling all that way is a lot, as 150 miles in England is half-way across the country. The conditions are a lot different though, very few long stretches of road then. But coming to Canada my DH and I would travel to Spokane to take part in an annual golf tournament (VFW v Royal Canadian Legion) have a banquet then returned home. About eight hours travel time all told. Nowadays I make sure when I drive that I have about six places to call and that is in our little town.
I'm happy you are a good Dad.  

Howdy, Kelejan!

I spent the first half century of my life in North Carolina.  I thought a trip of 150 miles each way required a 3-day weekend even with long stretches of empty road.  After moving to Texas, where I've been for 20 years now, I realized that distance is relative to scenery.  The more scenery, the longer the trip seems, in some perverse way.  There are places here where you can drive for an hour at 80 mph and the scenery never changes, and distances don't seem as far.

You certainly live in a beautiful part of the world.  I've had great vacations in Banff and Jasper national parks in Alberta and even more pleasant ones in Vancouver and Victoria.  Do you miss England?

Best regards, rh

rabbithutch wrote:Howdy, Kelejan!

= = =
You certainly live in a beautiful part of the world.  I've had great vacations in Banff and Jasper national parks in Alberta and even more pleasant ones in Vancouver and Victoria.  Do you miss England?

Best regards, rh

rh, yes, I do, except it is the England I knew that I miss. A lot changes over the years.  When I have returned to visit, I sometimes feel like a stranger now, it has changed so much. Of course there is still the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the Cotswolds, all places you cannot afford to live and also the fact that they need to keep out too many people settling there it changes things. But with increasing population things cannot but change. Since I was born the population has doubled.
I also miss the seasons there, as Spring comes sooner and lasts longer, the Summer sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, Fall (Autumn) lasts longer and the winters are generally shorter. Also the change in the seasons is gradual,  Here, one lives in shorts for a couple of months, and the next day it is time for sweaters etc.
I am happy here, we have some lovely scenery around, just wish the winter was not so long, ( I do snowshoe) but it sure gives one the incentive to get out and do something when Spring finally arrives. When my mom and sister visited years ago they were struck dumb by the mountains, trees, space and the hours we had to travel to get anywhere.  My sister still lives in Hull, a city of 100s of thousands of people, with small terrace houses just like Coronation Street (if you have ever seen Britain's longest running soap on TV).
Sorry for getting off the subject of this thread.  

I also like the bottom shelf on your TT. When I get around to have some TTs I think I will build them like strong, sturdy boxes, with doors that can be opened to store all sorts of stuff like small tools, vermiculate, peat, etc. etc. Useful if you were limited for storage space.

Kelejan, What a wonderful idea putting a cupboard beneath the TT's for storage. Have to solve the drip-drip problem from the bed above but totally doable.   

My TTs are pretty high by most standards, but even they do not have a lot of space from the horizontal braces to the bottom of the beds.  I doubt that it would be feasible to build actual cabinets.  I plan to use plastic containers with good tops to keep things in that I want close to the beds.  A piece of PVC with a plywood plug will hold my  trowels - one for each TT.  Maybe that way I won't always be trying to remember where I had it last.  . . .  if only I can be disciplined enough to always put it away.

 

I have a problem with finding small tools as I never leave them in the same place twice.  I am now having some success with the red Folgers coffee cans. They take my small fork, trowel, bent fork, and other small stuff I am using that day, such as string, hammer and nails, scissors, paper and pencil etc. I just have to look for the red can, it stands out quite well. The cans have two indentations for easy holding.
These Folgers cans I got from Freecycle, about a dozen of them and I use them for all sorts of things.  I go to a small cafe twice a week for coffee and sometimes lunch and collect the coffee grounds from them. One red and  one small green does for the first three days, then one red copes with the remaining two days. It took me a long time to find a regular supplier that was within walking distance but I got there in the end and now they would be a little upset if I stopped collecting the grounds.  So easy for them to put the filters and coffee straight into the can, a perfect fit.

Kelejan
You might want to consider one of those carpenter aprons, puches in the front with a few hanging gidgets..
It will always be with you, just wear it around your waist or shoulder.
Used coffee grinds..terrific, I was picking them up at Starbucks all winter, no one else was and I hated seeing them thrown away.
I had about 700 lbs, using them on everything, wife loves em on flowers and shrubs.

I think I have one.  Somewhere.  Got it when I made a donation to Public Television.

Left to right:  Composts, Vermiculite, Peat


Mixed and ready: I didn't put much water on the ingredients before mixing them - only enough to hold down the peat dust.


Yours truly almost worn out:


In the TT (Table Top):  This one will be for herbs.



It took 4 trips with a mini-wheelbarrow to get all the MM around and into the bed. I wet the material well after each load.  After loading the last of it, I spent about half an hour watering and mixing with my hands to be certain that I got water into all the layers and that I could find no spots that looked dry.

I have marks on the sides and ends for the squares.  I plan to use fencing staples and plastic coated clothesline.  We will debate what herbs to plant and make the trip to the garden center Monday.  The plants you see are herbs, tomatoes, peppers. lemongrass and citronella that I bought 3 weeks ago at the Master Gardener plant sale.

I have 3 more TTs to finish assembling and then I'll have another MM party  
I'll rent a mixer for the next one.  That was a lot harder work than I had planned on and I still haven't recovered fully from statin poisoning.