New Trellises

Finally built the new trellises for my tomatoes and pole beans this afternoon.  When I worked out the material list I was surprised with just how much lumbar I actually needed, it's one of those projects that seems like it will be quick and simple but ended up being a bit more involved.

Picked up my old truck from the office to make a home depot run for the (28) 2x2 8' lumbar and some other materials.  Because the truck just sits in the parking lot all the time we(I) haven't kept the registration current - driving the truck around is risky with all the cops in my area.

I sorted the lumber into different categories based on what it would be used for.  Pieces with more knots were used for vertical posts or if the knots where near the ends they would be used to make the (4) 6' pieces I needed.  After sorting things out I built a jig for the table saw to cut the pointed end on the posts.  Jigs are really worth it for cuts like this; not only is it safer but you get a nice consistent result.  I saved the jig for future use when I make more posts.  The only problem I ran into with this operation was that the waste pieces kept getting stuck in the blade opening on the top of the saw so I'd have to shut it down to clear the piece.

My mistake is obvious in this photo - you can see the
pilot hole is not centered correctly and ends up opening
the joint by a fat 1/8"  :(

Next up was to make the cuts for the lap joint where two pieces would meet at a post.  A lap joint is perfect for this as it let's both horizontal boards rest on the post.  I had originally thought about using an angled lap join (rather than notched) but instead just narrowed the joint so that 1/4" or so of each horizontal piece would rest on the post.  The joint worked correctly, but unfortunately I miscalculated my drilling jig and put the hole about 1/6" off-center resulting in a combine 1/8" gap in the joint.  To make things worse, this reduce my 1/4" "ledge" to only 1/8".

Another jig was created to drill out the pilot hole in the tops of the posts.  The idea is that you simply drop a nail in to hold everything together, more like a pin, then you can easily remove it for later disassembly.  The cross-cut for the lap joint was done on the table saw, but the lengthwise cut was with the jig saw which is why it looks a little crappy - I couldn't figure out what other tool to use for the cut!

Posts driven to same depth, well actually to the same
finish height - the depth varies a bit I'm sure

I drove in the posts first using a string and level to guide the depth.  Basically I drove one end post to the desired depth, then drove the opposing end post in far enough to be stable.  I then marked the set post 12" down from the top and strung a string from that point to the opposing post.  Next I marked each of the middle posts 12" from the top and drove them in until the mark lined up with the string.  Finally I used a regular stright level to drive the final end post in.

Next time I do this I need to use something to protect the top of the post as I drive it down with the sledge - it really beat some of them up and I'm worried about splitting the posts during future installations.

Again, you can see my bummer mistake with the pilot hole.  You can also see how little of the left rail is
sitting on the top of the post.  I may end up redoing the lap joint at the end of the season to correct this
stupid mistake

Fortex on the left and Red Noodle on the right - these are my first
pole beans and I'm learning as I go

With the top rails installed it's time to start stringing some things up.  The beans need the attention more than the tomatoes so I took care of them first.  I've never done this before so I was thinking about the different options and methods to train the beans up the twine. I didn't want to anchor or stake the twine into the dirt so I ended up looping the twine under the "shoulders" of the cotyledons then twisting it 4-6" back up the line and tying off to secure it.  This approach will still let me pinch of the cotyledon if needed while still leaving the shoulder stubs for the twine.  As the vine grows I will twist the twine around the main step once a week or so.

I was eager to solve the same problem for the tomatoes; how to attach the twine without using clips or staking the bottom of the line into the ground.  I basically went with the same approach I used for the beans, but I doubled up the twine to account for the substantially heavier load of the tomato plants.  It looks like this could create a problem if you don't consider that there is currently NO "load" on the twine, that is the plant is not being supported by the twin yet so the fact that it's wrapped around the base of the lower branches won't matter.  After I wrap the main stem around the twine 2-3 times it should start to increase the friction to a point that the bottom loop around those lower branches won't have much stress on it.

Finished Off the Pallet Scraps

The white wood is from my old laundry room cabinets, the

closet pole is from the closet that used to be in the office

I'm sitting in right now.  Everything else is from pallets.

16p nails used for linchpins

I decided a couple days ago that I'm gonna take another shot at starting plants indoors.  Like any good student I've learned along the way and will tap into my past experiences to hopefully find more success this time around.  The main thing I learned is that I should not mix many different types of plants in a single large cell flat, but rather use individual or (and this is my plan) use 6-pack flats.  Having many varied plants in a single flat makes it difficult to correctly water and fertilize as each species may have slightly different needs.  I also learned that insufficient light will result in VERY leggy plants that end up collapsing on themselves and suffering stem damage.

To address these issues I'm ditching the 52 cell flats and going with a bunch of used 6-cell packs.  For the light I rigged up a new "growing base" from my pallet scraps left over from the potting bench.  This new base has a few advantages:

• It spans across my sink so that I can get the plants in the center of the light
• The light is much more adjustable, I can adjust it all the way to the deck
• It relieves the stress of having the fixture hanging off my wall sconce
• It looks much better, has that reclaimed material look that I like
• It's portable, I can move out to the shed as it warms up in the coming months

Heat pads and lights ready.  Tomorrow I hope to get the
seed sown

I've been programming all day and hit a design block for almost two hours.  I just keep drawing the same UML class diagrams and sequence diagrams over and over and couldn't clear the blockage.  This "growing base" project was a nice 2 hour distraction and change of pace.

1/4" Screen

I needed to screen my soil to a finer texture for sowing.  Stopped by OSH and picked up some mesh (and lots of other stuff).  Went home, grabbed scraps of wood and banged together a quick screen.  Initial test results are exactly what I wanted.  Win!

So here's the story with those snips there....  About 8 months ago I bought a Harley Sportster from a woman (It's my first, gimme a break) and it had tassels all over it.  Of course when I bought it I knew I would give it a haircut immediately and I did, I also removed the clutch and brake level tassel "slip ons" and, after several adult beverages, thought it would be funny to install them onto an old pair of WISS shears.  Yeah, funny...  until Today I needed to use them and was caught by my neighbor walking by: "What in the world is that??"  "It's uhm, it's a joke, they were on my motorcycle and I...  never mind, it's stupid, forget it"  It was like getting caught with porn. 

Ha ha...

Spinach Crystals

New spinach leaves have these great crsytal-like particles all over their leaves.  I've checked and they aren't insects so I'm not concerned.  I'm becoming more and more of a macro photography fan, it's so fun to capture details with so much resolution.

The light bouncing off the wet dirt and making the leaves glow translucent is nice too.  I think I like this photo!

see those holes in the bed on the bottom right?
Bad Dog!!

Moved my new bench into the farm area where I put it right to work potting-up my tomatoes.  I've got to admit that there is something so right about standing in the yard at the bench, hands caked in dirt and mud, dog walking around smelling and peeing on stuff, sun going low behind the trees and just..... relaxing.  I don't do that very often.

Ran out of containers to plant up to and decided that 1 gal. was too big anyways.  As an experiment I devised a simple partition of cardboard to split the volume into 4 equal(ish) sections.  The roots can shoot deep which is what I'm mostly concerned about.  Physically isolating the roots should make transplanting less stressful due to reduced root damage separating the plants.

Old cardboard, razor and a sharpie

Pallet Potting Bench

I've been wanting a "potting bench" outside, near my beds.  I'll use it to start seedlings, take notes, pot-up or transplant, etc.  I'm a big fan of using pallets to construct stuff.  In the past I've always used them as they are, never bothering to modify them for what I need.  That changes with my most recent project.  I took a break from coding for an hour Today and banged out my bench.

Start with these

Do a bunch of this

*Some planning, measuring and cutting and you have

*It's 6' long so I had to use some existing scrap wood for the 6' rails.  SOOooo it's not ALL pallet, but damn close.

Tips on working with pallets:

• Pallet wood is typically really crummy, split, cracked and beat up wood - but that's where the great look comes from.  Special care needs to be taken when working with wood like this, if you aren't careful you will split this stuff just for looking at it wrong.
• Drill pilot holes before nailing
• Never use screws - the tapered head acts as a splitting wedge
• When prying boards off the frame, alternate from side to side and work the board up SLOWLY - once you get it about 1/2" up, smack it down which will usually leave the nail heads exposed for easy removal