just a few blocks (66)
and a pallet of peat moss, composted manure, and sand
getting ready, i hauled those blocks out over the previous two days with my trusty green wagon.
the first layer (and my dad) resting on the layer of sand to level them out. glued together with weatherproof construction adhesive for concrete
mixing up the mortar in the dogs old kiddie pool that had a leak
the second layer, mortared to the first
the third layer, as far as we got before we used up all the mortar we had mixed up
we'll get to the remaining blocks another time. lifting that many blocks was hard work and we were more than ready to be done.
i'm very excited!
final pictures over in this entry http://s2.photobucket.com/user/yesididit/media/house%20projects/9-19-10103.jpg.html
Nice! Do you have a pressure cooker canner? Your gardens look pretty good.
ReplyDeletedave, thanks! i do not have a pressure cooker canner. my mom had the unfortunate experience of having to clean up after her dad exploded a pressure cooker as a child, and she doesnt want anything to do with them, so i've never learned how to use them. i would like to though. it would sure make canning tomato sauce easier than freezing.
ReplyDeleteput heavy cardboard at the bottom before you fill it to kill the grass and weeds. works great.
ReplyDeletehis is a cool looking garden bed!!!
ReplyDeleteand all you did was lay down some sand to level the ground? no gravel/foundation/whatever else?
Looking good!!!
yes, only sand to level the ground. it took 3-4 bags of sand, 50 pounds each.
Deletewe used mortar, and steel masonry reinforcement ladders (visible on top of the blocks in the 4th picture down) on the horizontal layers between the blocks. we used construction adhesive on the vertical joints between the blocks.
in the 3 years since, its held up well. none of the masonry joints have cracked.
I like the idea but how much would it cost to do similar with bricks?
ReplyDeletecheck out home depot on line for cost.
Deletei'm sorry but i dont know how many bricks it would take so i dont know what the cost would be for bricks instead of cinder blocks.
Deletelooks nice, thanks for the size breakdown vs pieces of block. I'm getting ready to build 2 of the same and I will use yours as a guide. any update on how the garden is doing inside?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Andy
here is a post with some pictures of goodies growing in the raised bed
Deletehttp://minnesotapears.blogspot.com/2011/07/at-long-last-garden-update.html
and here is a post where my dad helped me build a second raised bed
http://minnesotapears.blogspot.com/2014/10/raised-bed-garden-version-20.html
that one will be getting blueberry bushes in it soon. it takes a lot of soil to fill it when its that tall of a raised bed. i've seen suggestions on using overturned crates or such to fill the space.