Recycling and Cheapskate gardening

I need to raise the beds a little bit since I am gardening along a low slope. I am also building cold frames for the winter and for spring seedlings.   New wood is quite expensive as are tools like a new circular saw. So what about pre-cut and perfectly sized wood from old shipping pallets?

Using Freecycle in my town I found a few businesses that have plenty of pallets and were willing / happy to get rid of some of them. So I grabbed a few bungee cords and headed out to find the pallets- then I stopped at hardware store and invested in a $9 nail puller / crow bar.      I can take a pallet apart, including nail removal/recovery in 25-60 minutes.

Reassembly is next and the first re-use project will be the cold frame.

Love Composters- My Own Black Gold

I bought two inexpensive compost bins a few years ago ($28 and $34) and they are doing a great job.

I fill with grass clippings, leaves, garden scraps/weeds and veggie scraps from the kitchen compost pail. I also add shredded plain paper from junk mail and newspaper.  Adds nice carbon and air.

I have a shovel and a compost turner with flip-down wings that does a great job turning the piles and cranking up the break down.

I have also experimented with some compost activators and have found the best and least expensive to be organic veggie based rabbit feed. A few days after and a few dampened pounds of feed the bin is well over 100 degrees and turning black and nutritious..  I have one bin almost completely full and the others is just under halfway.. Should be perfect for fall cover up and then spring Kickoff.

I also have worm bins to let those little buggers crank out some fuel for plants.