The End of a Season

The end of the mountain bike season is quickly approaching. The Fall Color festival has passed. WORS is holding its final event on October 11th and WEMS has their Championship event on October 3rd. The Metro Mountain Bikers Fall Social Ride is approaching. Plan now if you can. In Australia The Simpson Desert Classic is on now. I am not sure if it is the beginning of their season down under or the end; if their season runs in the cool or warm season. You have a year to plan for the next.

Broccoli is a cool season plant related to cabbage and I was very satisfied with my experience growing it in the garden. Only one plant produced broccoli over the Summer and I had slim hopes for a harvest. But the others came around and the plants seem to have no enemies. After cutting off the main head of buds, afterwards small offshoots will soon mature and give you quite a secondary bounty. Still you would have to plant a row ten foot long if you really enjoy broccoli to get the most out of your labors. Every part of the plant is edible and we enjoyed cooking up the leaves.

Another end has come. I showed you a pile of wood some time back and promised to let you know what would become of it. I made a wish, clicked my slippers together and it turned into a fine raised planting bed.

First, I cut the wood beginning with the long members; all of each length cut before I cut the next length, making sure each end was square. I offset every length with a five inch block per my design. These were rough sawn red cedar 2x4’s which made them 1-3/4” by 3-3/4” true dimension.

I arrange the pieces by length.

I arranged them by side.

I aligned the pieces for each side and ran a centerline down… the center. Note the altering lengths. The corners will interlock.

I marked where the screws will go and predrilled where the lower screw will go only through the horizontal. I drilled where the upper screw will go at a slight angle through the horizontal and into the vertical member (placed under the horizontals). The angle is to push the horizontal members upward (or forward as it sits)  against the secure blocking to the top of the wall of the planter; even with the top of the vetical.

Major brain spasmatragic attack. I created this wood jig to allow my Kreg jig to drill the angled guide holes. Sometimes my mind get stuck on irrelevant details. The precision of the Kreg jig system is to precisely set screws at corners where precision is absolutely necessary. No precision is required for these angled predrills accept for the holes location for aesthetic reason. So I wasted half of a good afternoon pursuing a solution to a nonexistent problem.

Essentially I made rafts held together by a single central tie.

All four. Make sure you work out the interlock before you cut and assemble. They are upside down.

I used the Kreg jig to predrill the corner connections on the ends of the short members.

Then I drilled precise counter sunk guide holes along the top edge for when I attach the cap made from some cedar decking; not too close to the corners.

I use two drills (see way above). It makes the work go quicker when using the Kreg jig. They have bits that switch out with a snap from drill bit to driver but that cost money. I snapped the Kreg screws with my electric plug-in drill on a previous project. I bought a small cordless drill with torque setting to resolve that problem. If you don’t have a torque setting on your drill, a cordless gives more when hitting resistance and when you take your finger off the trigger, than a power drill plugged into an outlet. So the plug-in drills and the cordless drives.

I clamped this wood into the corners to keep each member in line when connecting the corners. Then I made sure the top and bottom horizontals aligned before I began to secured the corners.

Here it is before the final panel. They all interlocked easily. Cutting each end square with the miter saw nearly ensures it will all be square when assembled.

There it is. Now, after the box is complete, I can measure for the cap.

Measure twice cut once. I should have checked the angle on my miter saw. When swung to the right it is spot on 45 degrees. Not so when swung to the left. A fact I soon learned when trying to make the cap square. I had to trim the angle cut ends.

I checked the fit of the cap and lined the inside of the box with a good quality weed barrier fabric. I thought of using 2x4 PVC board for the bottom rail and the verticals which will be exposed to the earth. PVC lumber is expensive and 2x4’s are not typically stocked.

I used the cap to mark out where the box would set. I sealed the top of the cap before securing it to the box. I could have waited until the very end.

Then I set four bricks on level at each corner. In the end the box will not depend on these bricks to remain level. Dirt will fill in underneath when you fill the box. I set the top of the bricks a bit above grade to protect the bottom rail of the panel.

I secured the cap to the box outdoors. I didn’t want to damage the cap edge carrying the whole assembly up the stairs out of the basement.

I placed the box where I wanted. I tried to set it square to its surrounding but the fence line, the house, the walk and patio are all on a slightly different axis. I pulled it back and dug out where the verticals stab into the ground. Then after getting it set on the bricks I checked the level again and shimmed at the bricks to bring the top of the box to level. Note the garden fabric is pulled out to allow the dirt to fill in underneath. The verticals planted in the ground and the cap should keep the sides from bulging out.

Then I drilled the guide hole into the vertical and put in the second screw for each horizontal. I wanted a tiny bit of play in all the members until I got it all settled where I wanted it.

The dirt. I sifted these rocks out of some crud I had dug out for a previous project. The rocks would take up space at the bottom but what happens if in the future the planter is removed? You’ll have all sorts of obnoxious rocks on your lawn.

This is the sifted dirt. It went in first. Then I took two bushels, seen below, from my composter. I bought three square yards (three bags topsoil one of composted manure) for additional fill. Then I mixed in the compost. I still need some ten square foot more of good garden soil.

Now we’ll see how my design holds up over time. Check out the poker table I built here.

The $116 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.