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.
tworockchronicles 
Now the difficult bit begins (sorry :)). That is a lot of soil to find and fill into those beds but once done you should be sorted apart from adding the compost in the winter. Amelia
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Not so bad…that’s what tractors are for. We have big piles of topsoil, left over from construction; the tractor can just scoop it up and dump it, and we need only spread it around.
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I must admit that I had not thought of using a tractor.
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Those look sturdy. The ones I worked in this past week, I barely had to bend over! Loved that.
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When do the next 4 layers of block go on? (snicker…)
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Won’t happen, that’s all the block we got. (But in a year or two, we’re planning an earthbermed greenhouse, and then, we’ll go crazy on the block.
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Your husband must be related to mine. Nothing is ever as simple and as straightforward as I think it is. Every single project must take all the time you don’t have, many rethinks, some alterations to make it ‘better’…..🤦♀️
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Yes. But I cannot argue with results. (Overbuild is his middle name.) As I sit in a house we built, looking at a barn we designed (and he built, with a crew), I cannot complain. He doesn’t meddle with my important things, and I don’t mess with building. (In fact, I am the ready acolyte, throwing in an extra pair of hands whenever I can be ‘of use.’) So, I sigh, wait, and know the end will be worth it. In fact, some of our delays have saved us–as we learned on the fly, and came up with much improved end products along the way.
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You have a good point – sometimes by waiting the end result turns out much better. I’m an impatient sort though….and I absolutely hate the mess created when he’s building in the house. Hate hate hate. I almost run around with a broom behind him. Putting away tools before he’s even done with them 😂. Overbuild yes – should we ever sell – somebody’s going to have to love the place, or rent a D9 to take it down 😄
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