Today was kind of unique because the day was not centered around building the other raised bed like I did the other day. We originally spent the greater part of the day getting another load of gravel from the gravel place, not to spread over any area in the compound but to patch up some ruts on a neighbor's driveway and fill some ruts in our main driveway going to the side road which comes from the main road (yeah we're that far out in the country). After taking care of that business we came back up and parked the F250 and from there I had my original plan of trying to at least get some of the boards for the next raised bed cut so I could go ahead and build the other half of the plastic drum up. Funny thing was, I had about 45 minutes to do whatever I was going to do, so I went into a zone and just started lining up boards and getting boards cut in bulk, starting with the cradle portion of the raised bed, the part that actually holds the barrel half, I cut all those boards first then nailed everything together quick. After getting the cradle nailed together the next thing I did was grab some washers and wood screws and quickly secured the top of the barrel half to the cradle, getting it ready to accept the posts. I was on a roll, hardly a few minutes passed up to this point. As before, I had to drill pilot holes in the posts so I can drill in the long wood screws where they'll bottom out and allow more thread to stick out. I drilled all four posts first then sank the screws into all the holes. I then did each post, taking time to make sure they were straight before drilling home the second screw. Once all four posts were secured to the cradle I moved on to the stabilizer boards. I set the bar by nailing one board to a midway point on between the first set of posts then cutting the excess off afterward. I measured the distance from the cradle to the board then marked those measurements on the other side and nailed the second board on the other side. I cut the excess off from that board then flipped the assembly upside down to allow me to place the other stabilizer boards on the ends. I stretched the posts to ensure their straightness then marked the point on the first board so I could cut it. After cutting that board I used it to mark the 2nd board so I could get it cut to the same measurements. From there I nailed the two boards to the bottoms of the first set of stabilizer boards, securing the two sets of posts together straight. After that the last thing for me to do was drill the drainage holes in the bottom of the barrel. As before, I used the same drill bit that was used for drilling the pilot holes in the posts. After drilling the five drainage holes that pretty much concluded the construction of the barrel raised bed. We moved the assembly to the back of the garden, setting it up next to an unfinished hydroponic garden assembly I started working on last year. I will finish up on the next session with some boards underneath to level off the assembly on the uneven ground and keep the bottoms of the posts off the moist ground, then fill with dirt and plants to finish things up in its entirety. Surprisingly I managed to get this all done including tool cleanup in that 45 minute span, which was a record for me building these beds. Granted the drum was already cut but still, this shows that I could crank these things out in fast order if I really wanted to. The measurements were true enough that everything was straight and sturdy. If I can gather enough materials I'll probably start on another pair of barrel raised beds since I did drag out another unused plastic drum. Since I do need more planting space for the plants I still have, it would only make sense to keep building these things so I can handle those plants as well as establish the planting capacity of the overall garden. Since there is plenty of area I still have to develop in the garden, making more raised beds, and hydroponic gardens to boot, will allow me to capitalize on all the available space within so I can have a garden that will be able to produce way more than I could ever imagine.
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