Raised Beds From Repurposed Shipping Pallets

 Building a RRR (Reduce~Reuse~Recycle) Garden at Cabrillo Elementary

 

Caleb watering the RRR Garden.

My son, Max is a First Grader at Cabrillo Elementary School in San Diego, California. I help out in the classroom quite a bit and I was shocked at how far removed our kids are from the food chain.  This got me thinking.  The first graders should have a first person, hands on experience with their food...and what better way than to start a garden.  The largest issue was that starting a garden is expensive.  Materials, soil, plants and seeds can add up.  Where there is a will, there is a way.

I had been looking on youtube and came across several variations of using a shipping pallet to build a raised bed.  None of the videos were exactly what I was looking for, but they were definitely the catalyst for the project.  I checked on the "Free" section of craigslist and found that a neighbor was doing some landscape work and had pallets to spare.  

I was after a simple method.  My initial thought was to use 2 pallets per bed.  I figured we could just cut the first pallet in half and the second pallet in quarters.  The only issue with this was that I needed my husband's tools (& help) so with that came his vision of the project.  He is more of a perfectionist where I am more of a 'quick and easy as long as it works' type, so we actually did both methods!

Larry assembling the "pretty" version of the boxes.

Larry's idea was to take the pallets apart and reassemble them into the planter boxes.  This method produced much more attractive planter boxes, but it was a pain in the neck.  We used a nail pry bar to loosen the boards and then took them apart.  We removed all of the nails, since they would be used by kids and reassembled the boards with an impact driver (like a drill & screwdriver combo) into a finished box.

Small box made of left over short boards.

The other added advantage to Larry's method is that the boards are close together so the soil will stay in the boxes without additional steps.  For another class of older kids, we made the box Larry is working on (above) that was square, about 42 inches on each side.  For the First Graders, we made them about 42 inches by 21 inches or a half pallet by a quarter pallet.  We did this because we wanted the kids to be able to reach into the boxes.

Two of the finished boxes.

My method was to cut the pallet in half (Larry used a sawzall to cut through the board and nails) and used the short scraps (like 1/4 pallet size) to form the sides using the impact driver and screws.  Although this was much faster, the main drawback  was that there are gaps between the boards of a pallet, so cardboard was needed to line the inside of the boxes to keep the dirt in as pictured above right.

Larry & Max at Miramar Landfill.

So now we needed to fill these boxes.  Because the area that they were being placed was on asphalt, they needed to be fairly tall so that the roots of the plants wouldn't be scorched.  We filled the the bottom half of the boxes with composed hay, left over from the school's 71st annual Halloween Carnival.

As much free compost as you want...Max was in heaven!

The top portion was of each box was filled with FREE compost from our city's landfill.  Basically, they take the green waste collected from households and turn it into compost, which is then offered for free to any resident of San Diego.  Check your city to see what's offered in your area.

Finished Product!

 So our next step was to plant out the boxes.  Since it was nearing the end of the year, we needed items that would grow fast.  I had sprouted some sunflower seeds from raw seeds at Trader Joes.  The only issue is you know you're going to get a sunflower, but not sure what variety...giant or dwarf.  The plus is that you get thousands of seeds for about $1.50 and can eat the rest.

The kids then each got to plant beans, radishes or lettuce, all of which grow pretty fast.  Our local Crown-Ace hardware donated the marigolds and tomato plants.

Cabrillo Elementary School First Grade RRR Garden Area.
Box on the left contains yellow squash, sunflowers & marigolds.
Box on the right contains sunflowers, beans, radishes,
lettuce, tomato,marigolds & pinwheels keep the birds away!

Brianna, Jennifer, Margarita & Miguel.

 As part of the curriculum, the kids made observations on the things they had planted, including drawings!  In the red tub, each kid threw in a hand full of birdseed and made predictions as to what would grow.  We got predictions on everything from a peach tree to watermelon...lol!  The green pots are potatoes, which grow green plants very quickly.

Overall, the RRR Garden Project at Cabrillo Elementary was a success.  The kids have a better understanding of where food comes from and the classes next year are set up to do the same.  On the last day of school, each kid got to take home a plant from the garden.  They were so proud of their accomplishments..."I grew this!"

Brandon & Reggie watering the garden &
making observations in their Science notebooks.

Max's Award

Max won an award at school today!!! 

I realize that those of you who know our family personally are used to my Max stories, but I've come to realize that some folks might not know how awesome he is...so I'll give a little background.  Max was born in December of 2004 with a severe heart condition and Down syndrome, both of which were diagnosed before he was born.  The difference between that medically fragile (and blue hued) little baby and the jokster that lives with us today are tremendous!

Pretty much every day Max has us laughing in stitches!  Max attends a regular Kindergarten class in our neighborhood school.  Today Larry and I attended their morning assembly to see Max receive his award for Academic Achievement and Citizenship.

It was hard to get  picture of Max with the award, because he had had a long day at school.  He was just home from school, it was HOT (89 degrees) and he had stuff to do!!

Here is part of what the award says: 

Max has a smile that is contagious and brings smiles to all of our faces.  Our class has learned sign language and we use it every day in our classroom.  Max's hard work has caused our class to become more unified and has created a very supportive environment.  Thank you Max, you are our best friend.  We appreciate your loving heart and personality.

Wow...this is amazing!  When you have a child with special needs, you really question their placement.  Will he fit in?  Will he disrupt the class?  Will he fall behind?  Will he like school?  Will the other kids be adversely affected by having our child in the class?  Seeing this award and reading the words really verify that we made the right decision.  This is the right placement for Max...and for the other kids in his class.  Contrary to my fears that Max would hold the class back, it seems that Max is pulling the class together and enriching their experience.

It's not just Max's class, it's the whole school.  Max is known by all of the kids.  They all say hello and good-bye to Max....the older kids give him high fives and the younger kids give him a hug!  Max has a special relationship with the principal, the lunch staff, the librarian, the office staff and the school nurse (even though he doesn't visit for health reasons...he just likes Mr. King!). 

Max is different from the other kids at Cabrillo, and it's embraced.  When he was waiting to get his award this morning, he was sitting on the stage with the other award winners and his aide, Ms. Alma.  All seemed to be going well until we started saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  Max bolted from the stage, so Ms. Alma bolted after him.  He didn't go far....he was looking for his teacher, Mr. C.  You see, Max always says the Pledge of Allegiance with Mr. C!  Why would today be any different?

Another thing about Max is he really doesn't like to wear clothing unless it's absolutely necessary.  We have one main rule:  We need to wear clothes in public and in the front yard.  Our back yard is pretty secluded and we don't have close neighbors, so it's ok to be naked back there and in the house, unless we have guests.

So one of the first things Max did when he got home from school was strip down and blow some bubbles.  Max LOVES bubbles.....and being naked.  What a perfect way to spend a hot San Diego afternoon!

I hope you enjoyed this little slice of Max's life.  Every day I feel lucky to be part of it!

Cheers~
Marti