We’ve been scurrying to hurry up and build some new raised beds for the garden. Our preference is to use cedar boxes, but last fall I saw two concrete block raised beds for free on craigslist. Unlike some of my craigslist adventures, this one was really close–technically in the same town as us.  Concrete blocks are not light. So the first hurdle was just schlepping them home. Because of the weight in the truck, it took two trips. Good thing it was close! Anyway, with the cost of wood sky high these days, I figured a couple of free garden beds was a deal.

Ha! It took us over a week to build them! (That’s an editorial “we,” since Rick did most of the work.) What I hadn’t figured on was that Rick is constitutionally unable to just stack and go, like these blocks had been in their first incarnation. And, we’re on a slope, so there was the issue of cutting into the existing compacted sand, at just the right angle…and compaction of the “footing area.” Thankfully he didn’t insist on an actual footing. But he did use concrete to tie together the keys in the block, and he did mortar on the cap blocks.

All I did was clean the bricks and haul them. It’s quite the installation. Rick calls it the bunker. So, for only a week of backbreaking labor, and the cost of a couple of bags of concrete and mortar, we have some free garden beds. I have to learn to be more discriminating in my materials acquisition.  

Little seedlings awaiting their new homes