This year I will be planting a large salad garden and I thought it would be fun to grow my lettuce and other greens in wood pallets to change things up a bit in the backyard.
All you really need to do a little pallet gardening is a wood pallet, some good soil, and a few seeds. Using a wood pallet to start a garden can be a great space saver, plus as a bonus, there is no soil to til or weed. This is exactly the kind of project young children would love, especially if they could have their own wood pallet to work with.
What to look for in a wood pallet:
If you live in the Tacoma area you can purchase new pallets from Girard Wood Products in Puyallup, Washington for about $9 each. We purchased our pallets here for this years wood pallet garden. The photo you see above is a picture of some recycled wood pallets we found behind buildings last year.
Personally, I suggest using a new, clean, fresh pallet.
But if you like to live life on the edge,
Here are a few pointers when looking for recycled pallets:
Look for a pallet that has HT stamped somewhere on the pallet. This means the pallet was heat treated, or kiln dried as opposed to chemically treated.
Because you can never be sure chemicals were stored on an old pallet, or that there is some sort of bacteria lurking inside the recycled pallets, I would scrub the wood down with some bleach and soapy water and let it dry out before using it to plant anything.
Also, watch out for old, rusty nails or staples.
When I first pictured my wood pallet garden, I thought I would only use 3 wood pallets. But every time I walked by something about it didn’t look right. So I decided to expand the pallet garden to include 6 wood pallets.
One of the cool things about gardening, is there are so many different ways to grow food. So many containers to chose from, and more growing methods than I care to imagine. Everybody has an opinion, and their own way of doing things and I think that’s the best part.
No two gardens will ever been the same, or have the same growing conditions, but the desire to try new things is something we all have in common. Wouldn’t you agree?
So here we go. This is my new pallet gardening area. I planted more lettuce seeds this morning, and I’m ready to get started. Next on the agenda is getting the area mulched so it looks a little more put together and like it belongs in a suburban backyard.
If you an apartment or condo dweller and want to “grow up” a vertical pallet garden might be the way to go instead. Anyway you look at it, garden is about the coolest hobby on the planet.
UPDATE : As you can see by the photos the pallet garden was a huge success! I found that strawberries, herbs and lettuce seemed to do the best.
The bush beans did pretty well too.
Lettuce though… Not only did it grow well, but it looks cool too. 🙂
Will you be using any ultra-creative methods in your garden this year?
If so, please let us know in the comment section below.
~Mavis
Looking for a little more inspiration? Small Space Container Gardening by Fern Richardson is a great place to start. Amazon currently has Small-Space Container Gardens in stock and ready to ship.
Krista says
hmm my neighbor has a pallet sitting in his backyard not using it at all i think i may go ask if i can have it this would be awesome for my smaller yard
Janice Griffin says
What do you have under the pallets?
Mavis Butterfield says
Landscape fabric.
Rose says
Is the depth of the soil deep enough to grow peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers. I have 3 big pallets about 3x8ft.. Each one has 8 squares. They are about 1ft square each. Nice for planting. Should I be digging the dirt under them to loosen the dirt, maybe add some compost, then put my pellets down and fill with dirt? I’ve also seen them with a square box frame under them with the pellets on top which gives you more depth. Which way do I go?
Kim Hunter says
Probably not a good idea for tomatoes, but definitely good for smaller vegetables like the peppers and cucumbers.
BillSF9c says
1 sq ft is v small for a tomato, but Sq Ft Gardeners do that. I believe they do a bit as hydroponicists do, and prune to 1-2-3 or 4 leaders, and train vertically. It’s more labor intensive, but does produce more per sq ft of garden. And a board below will remove too much access to the soil, for tomatoes and most squash or melons; so yes, remove some lumber below. You might consider leaving the 2 end-most boards for stability of the pallet.
BillSF9c
Michele says
How do you know which ones don’t have chemicals?
BillSF9c says
Some straw is hrown w chemucals. A test they use is make a tea from soaking the straw… then usung the tea to water pea starts/seeds. They ate apparently sensitive.
Judith lees says
I had my husband staple the landscape fabric on the bottom and sides to prevent the dirt from falling out. I have two pallets this year and put my herbs, onions and a few peppers to see how they do. So far the herbs are doing great. Peppers are a little slow with all the rain we have had.
Susan DiFiore says
We have the additional problem of a sloped (slightly) garden area and lots of rain. This season. So I stacked the pallets in a series of steps (overlapping about two inches. Looks good, and is staying unflooded. No fabric below, just filled it with soil, then laid down pallet and filled it with mixed soil/compost and peat
Amber Knight says
Mavis,
I enjoy following your gardening journey. Just came in after taking pictures of my potatoes growing in sacks and strawberry pallet. And here you are with 6 pallets pictures. I put plastic on the front of my pallet so I could plant it upright. Planted 40 bare root plants 2 weeks ago and they are starting to grow. Also have a winter garden of 20 straw bales that I planted in September. Want pictures ?
Amber
Sue in NC says
Send pictures! I want to see! We just got a free futon bunk bed thing off of Craigslist. We are going to use the wood for framing rabbit cages. After looking over the metal frame part we decided we are going to bury it in the ground a few feet and use it as a trellis to grow cucumbers.
lisa says
Rabbits should be kept indoors. Not outside in a cage. Don’t get one if you don’t plan to care for it the way a rabbit should be cared for.
Ron says
I have raised rabbits all of my life and NEVER had them indoors…. but then they were not pets! They were food……
P says
WHAT???????
Hmmm, rabbits eat grass, other weeds and berries. they love to run and I see them in the headlights at night on the side of the road and in my driveway. And I believe they are a natual creature.
You can keep your cat inside all of the time but not rabbits. I had 2 rabbits and after they grew a little, I put them in a pen with a rabbit hutch and that still wasn’t good enough they chewed their way out of the fence. I’d see the just about daily running through the yard to get the food that I put out for them and then they stopped coming altogether, guessing that they went off and made a family life of their own. I never bought another one since. I keep chickens (fenced) 4 dogs inside and outside and 1 cat inside only.
Simona says
That depends if they are food or not. You don’t dais chicken inside your house, do you? Rabbits were food long before someone thought to make pets out of them. And they are delicious, high in protein and very low in fat!
Sharon Kettlewell says
I would love to raise rabbits for food but we, (my mother and I) are allergic to the fur.
Are there any naked rabbits that we could raise?
wayne says
sorry lisa
your wrong ….by a mile rabbits are food first pets second …taste great
and as a child i had rabbit skin mittens …
wayne
BillSF9c says
My rabbits (owned just 1 at a time) came inside but also had a warm house ourdoors on the porch. It’s not cold nor warm In San Francisco. OTHERS’ Mileage, May Vary. ;>) We didn’t eat these, as they were pets, and interacted with out cats. Otherwise I’ve eaten my share of wild rabbit & etc. Rabbit fert is good for a garden and very mild in N-strength and odor & carries v lil disease. A “cage” of pallets (with wire) might add to the pallet-theme of a garden, offering SOME wind & sun shelter, for not overbearing weather, if they have a good house also. Plant 1 upright side with strawberries???
Spring, commeth; traditionally anyway. Weather has been a bit… inconsistant? Fruit trees sure hate that. I got BEES in 2013. There’s JUST barely time to locate some, if you are interested! We’ve had some bad drought in Calif for a couple-3 years, So I’m not taking honey. I mostly just want the foragers to pollinate. They are v mellow. I own no bee suit and had no experience, but especially bought a v calm bee. I used to sit 1 ft away on a bucket and watch them for an hour.
Best !
BillSF9c
Brian Blom says
Keeping rabbits indoors is almost comical. I’m sure there are some people that do…but they are likely tree huggers, vegans and certainly democrats.
Greenthumb says
What does political affiliation have to do with this? I know republicans that have rabbits as pets.
DeniseinFlorida says
OMG… here we go again with a political affiliation… Really Brian???????
BillSF9c says
> Keeping rabbits indoors is almost comical. I’m sure there are some people that do…but they are likely tree huggers, vegans and certainly democrats. Brian
Yup. Been there; Done that. ;>) Funny to see that cat chase the rabbit behind the couch 5 times in a circle. But the last time the cat went in after the rabbit, the cat didn’t chase the rabbit out, but visa-versa. ENOUGH, Cat!!! LMAO! Pocket Gophers make a nice ant-fram-hamstaer, minus the smells. VERY clean animal, and solitary. Hmmm… I could grow rabbits in a pallet garden, using pallets… But each of mine were just pets. I Liked that Michell had a garden and bees. Trying ro reacquire bees, now, although it’s QUITE late in the season for that. Ants got mine when I failed to tend the anti-ant moat. Make a hive this winter for $20 and populate it next spring.
Ex-Demo BillSF9c
BDunn says
I had a pet rabbit, and I am neither a tree hugger, vegan or democrat. She was a great joy as well as my cats and my dog.
My father was a rabbit hunter so I have had my share of rabbit meat.
Mavis says
Yes. 🙂 Send them to onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail .com {spaces removed} Thanks Amber.
Cynthia says
Amber, strawberries growing in a pallet – what a great idea! I was just thinking last night about wanting to move my strawberries to a new idea, and thinking the original regular bed I was doing to move them to won’t be great. I like the idea of growing them in guttering, but watering is a problem here. A pallet sounds great, as the fruit could be on or over the wood and not getting dirty. Has it worked well for you?
lucille small says
Interested in how you made your strawberry pallet. Maybe you could send me a little more information and a picture! I love this idea and wanted to try this last year but wasn’t sure how. Thanks
Mavis Butterfield says
Here is how I made my strawberry pallet. –> http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/how-to-make-a-recycled-pallet-vertical-garden/
Fe says
Awesome
donna says
Thank yo, there are definitely a lot of good ideas!
BillSF9c says
V nice Donna! Might be.my favorite – vertical. But you are waiting for the roots to knit the soil? I don’t want to suggest uprooting your implanted crowns, but a layer of landacaping fabric on the front and then plant into a small “X” that you cut. Maybe not even an X… just a 2″ long slice, maybe 1″ above each slat so the slat does most of the work….with the slats being horizontal, of course.
BillSF9c
linda says
plz post pics for me
Lisa says
Amber what was you soil mix for the strawberries?
Chelsea says
Do you know if giards delivers wood pallets? If not do you know of any other wood places maybe in Tacoma?
Lori says
Thanks for the pallet tutorial and the one on blueberries. I just scored the container gardening book – new – on Amazon from a third party vendor, more than $6 off the Amazon new price. There are a few more. Love a bargain!
Mari says
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but they are not worth the time and energy.
I am an experienced gardener (40+ yrs) and decided to plant two pallets last spring as a trial. One with strawberries and one with dwarf beans. I was very disappointed with the system. I did get a few strawberries, but the rest curled up and died and the beans grew well initially, but turned yellow and died at the flowering stage. I have decided they are not worth using and have changed to raised gardens the same size and and getting so much more produce in the same area..
When I dismantled the beans bed, I found everything was root bound. The root size exceeded the tops size. It was beautifully moist, but I lost a whole bean crop. My strawberries never grew like they should have… producing hard fruit. Again they are rootbound. The 4 or 5′” of soil the pallet allows is not deep enough for most crops.
I thought the idea was wonderful, but it has been a disappointment. You have to really pack the soil in and under the slats to fill them. Just raking the soil over is not sufficient as it settles down with watering. I suspect the wood slats increase the soil temperature and put the warmth into root production.
I think it might work for fast turn around things like lettuce and radishes, but not for long term things like beans, peppers, tomatoes or cabbages. It is also no good for root veges.
Mavis says
I am using the pallets for my salad garden. 🙂 I grew green in pallets last year and they did great.
Cynthia says
Mari, I’m wondering what did you have underneath your pallets? Were they straight on top of the ground (dirt)? Or did they have landscape cloth or a solid surface underneath? I’m wondering if putting them right on dirt would allow the roots to keep growing as much as needed.
BillSF9c says
Well Mari, I was thinking that (you need to pack the soil, some, esp under the top slats,) as I looked at the pics. I’ll go further – I might pull a slat or two 0ff the bottom, opening the roots to go downward, even more, and add them to the ends, which are open… and could lead to soil drying & soil loss. Some copper around the side and you roughly have a snail resistant raised 4×4 bed. (See also, Sq Ft. I’m not a total advocate of them, but take ideas from here and there.)
Sq Ft advocates 4×4 is a size for 1 salad for 1 person, daily. Slats keep strawberries off the soil but do limit soil access, IF you wanted to follow Sq Ft’s v dense planting of lettuce. Cute idea, as it gives lil kids a place to walk when the cannot merely reach. Perfect? No… but ok. Clean- if the pallets are. Caution in sourcing them as they are considered valuable. many stores return them or have to pay for then if “missing.”
Looby says
I’ve not done it yet but found an article about growing strawberries in a pallet – plastic (from an old compost sack or similar) was tacked onto the back and one side of the pallet, the pallet was then stood up (plastic covered side down) and held upright with posts and cascading strawberries grown out of the slats – using it on the side means it takes up next to no space!
M.A. White says
Please explain 2 things to a new Gulf coast gardener.
Is that cardboard or paper under your pallets?
Also I read the comment about turning the pallets
upright for strawberries. Is there soil in them? If so,
how did they keep it in?
I am a relative new comer to gardening, so I need all
the help I can get!!!! Thanks, M.A.
Mavis says
I placed landscape fabric under my garden pallets. Here is the link for the strawberry vertical pallet garden —>http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2012/03/how-to-make-a-recycled-pallet-vertical-garden/
Anna b says
My plan was to stack two on top of each other for more space.
BillSF9c says
More “space???” More depth than lettuce needs. Or strawberries, & harder to infill and infill is already an issue with which to deal. You *can* make a patchwork football with a sow’s ear, but I’d skip the purse… Esp if DEEP pockets are not the “requirement.” Because you can do a thing, does not make it wise. The shoe doesn’t fit, in my eyes. But 2 pallets side by side, or 2 feet apart…
Trina says
You’re near Tacoma? Sweet! Lacey gal here 🙂 Do you know what type of wood that company uses for the pallets? We built two more raised garden beds (6′ x3′ ) this year for a total of four beds. Hubby uses cedar proclaiming it lasts a really long time. I love the look of the pallets.
It’s tough living in-city. I had to run outside yesterday to make sure that the chemicals my neighbor was spraying didn’t accidentally land on my herb garden. We have an open wire fence between us, so it probably did. Then there’s run off when it rains. Oh well. I have the same problem with the neighbor behind us. I have four blueberry bushes on that fence and he is always out there spraying- not a single weed in his yard. *sigh* I can’t wait to until we buy some real land…
Elyse says
I just made my first pallet garden yesterday. We’ve been getting a lot of rain where I live, and the ground is too wet to till, yet. A coworker suggested I try using a pallet, and I”m in love with the idea! I planted cauliflower, cabbages, eggplant, and the smaller peppers in the pallets. Looking for tips to make sure I do things correctly, I found your webpage and am really excited to learn from it 🙂 If things go well, I may invest in more pallets for next year!
Jen says
I first saw these at the 4-H State Day here in Vermont and thought it was a great idea! My husband got a pallet for me, but it does not have the heat treated stamp. He says he will prime it which will seal it. Would this be equivalent to having the HE stamp? thanks!
Wendy says
You ask about creative methods in gardening this year….I found, on pinterest, an idea to use a canoe. Well, my husband put an add in a local swap and sell magazine and we got a call from a man just wanting to get his leaky canoe off his property. Well we went and got it, free, and put it in front of our deck. (Drilled 6 wholes about 2 inches up the sides for drainage) We went to a friends and got manure to fill it 3/4 of the way, again free. Then I got some soil from the store for cover and to keep the smell of the manure away. 8 – $6 bags. Now with an old canoe that has moss on the side, in front of the house, it has added a lot of character and the plants I chose (3 tomato 3 lettuce 3 cuke 3 pumpkin two rows of peas approx 3 feet long and an area approx 6 sq ft for carrots) are thriving. My children have always enjoyed our little raised bed and eating veggies straight from the garden but this one is so much cooler! No weeds growing up from under, tall enough so my back doesn’t hurt when I work on it, narrow enough that the children can work on it from both sides, adds character to my front yard and best of all Cheap!!
bonnie fuentevilla says
Wendy,
What a wonderful idea. Sounds great.
Kathy says
Wendy,
You ROCK, green thumb girl…that sounds sooooo cool
Kathy Hobelman says
I planted my onions and garlic in a pallet this year. We removed the top slats and I put heavy paper underneath. So far they are doing wonderfully. I thought about doing strawberries the same way but now maybe I won’t.
Kay says
how do you keep the dirt from falling out the ends of the pallets?
Mavis Butterfield says
You can staple landscape fabric to the back of the pallets.
BillSF9c says
An extra pallet can be disassembled for wood to close the ends of a few pallets. Placing them one next to thew other also works, except for the 1st & last. I live creative ideas – But the difficulty in packing the soil in, (normally undesireable, but somewhat needed w/these,) & the other issues makes it an idea that can be non-intuitive for beginner gardeners. For pallet gardeneing, I’d say it falls into the catagory of; “Just because you can do a thing, does not mean that you ought.” Or in this case, ought not try, if you have other venues. $9 for a pallet will buy enough 2×6 for a similar sized raised bed.
Edison tried over 400 filaments before he settled on a decent one. (Filaments – light bulbs – remember? BTW, these vanish by law, VERY shortly. Show one to your kids.) Edison said, “Genius is 99% inspiration & 1% perspiration.” Pallets were a good idea. A GREAT idea. Not a perfect idea for everyone, or every crop. They DO give a lightweight kid something to step onto to reach the center. In “Sq Ft,” kids’ raised beds are made not 4×4 but 3×3 or less. 2×3 works nicely. Grow On!
BillSF9c
Michelle says
That’s a great idea!! I live in south Georgia, so lettuce is out for me I think. I could try growing other vegetables this way…have any ideas anybody??
Robi says
Mavis! You are an inspiration! And this post solved my problem. I live Off Grid in Slab-City (desert) so the pallet garden will greatly reduce the amount of dirt I would have to buy to start a garden! Thanks so much! Come check out my blog in a couple months to see how I faired!
BillSF9c says
Cute idea for fun, but to grow a bit more for the space I find that the wood atop is constraining. But then, I am thinking leaf lettuce or mesculin mixes. head lettuce needs more space so they might serve well to separate the heads. I find that a shower pan is nearly idea if on a slab. A wooden border can add depth, but they are ~4″… JUST adequate. At 4×4 feet (if large) they are gre4at for area and “4×4” (sq ft) planting. (Some are smaller. Check Craigs List & FreeCycle.) If lined inside with landscape or shade fabric and fitted with a simple homemade drip system, vertical planting becomes possible.
Paul O'Hanlon says
This is cool….
I was doing some research on getting rid of mold in my basement, and bleach will only treat the surface of wood, the chlorine molecules won’t enter the wood….. so mold or anything growing inside the wood, would not be killed by bleach.
BillSF9c says
Somewhat true about bleach. It also degrades the wood. Beekeepers often use a torch. Very loose newsopapaer stuffed inside it can be set abalze. Hose it after all the papser is burned. (Don’t if sparks or wind occur!) You don’t need much temp to kill mold. 140F will penetrate 1mm deep in a minute. That’s enough for this purpose. As soon as wood touches unsterilized soil, it reinnoculates it. Bleach as a surface fungicidal then becomes ok, again. Spray on, wait 5-10 minutes, rinse. Allow wood to dry.
Rotted wood in a garden is akin to a method of burying wood, (usually logs,) called hugelkultur. “Log culture?” Anyway, rotted wood is good for a garden. pallets will last long enough for some fun. Try to remove the nails when the pallet starts to go. Good for soil but bad for fingers. (Had a tetnus shot in the last 10 years? It’s not the nail or the glass. It’s a puncture or cut. The germ is common in soil.)
Dana Saxton says
Few years ago I planted potatoes in recycled tires. I put landscape fabric on the bottom, filled the tires with dirt, and put the potatoes in. Got a great crop, and no weeds. I put them in a honeycomb pattern, and got lots of potatoes in a small area.
BillSF9c says
Part of a garden, might be bees. This isn’t my website, but it shows an old way to raise bees. pallets are used for the lu,ber, sometimes. An Abby Warré tested ~500 hives & designed this as “The People’s hive,” rather as a “Folks-Wagon,” was created for the masses for their shoestring budget. Scrap 2×4 can be used, similat to pallet cross-support lumber. (Many prefer thicker lumber for cold areas.) So if you tore pallets apart to cover ends of your pallet garden, this may be a use for your scraps.
Lea says
My grandfather grew sustenance crops in tires for as long as I can remember. We were in the Appalachian Mountains (coal miners, SW Virginia) and a lot of the land was very steep, he would take re-bar or similar scrap metal , drive it deep to hold the tires against the slopes, and stack them 2 or three high. He got so many different things from those tires, cucumbers and potatoes and even pumpkins and sometimes he would use them to start trees, so they could root firmly and not slide down the hill. Tires with mulch can save a plant in a hard frost, too.
Lea says
I plan to stack some pallets two high, and remove the inner pieces of wood and every other rung on the top. I have not done this before but I think it might work. I will try to send pics as I go.
Also, I am going to get to use two raised beds, complete with fencing from a Boyscout project last year – I wonder how many of those are just going to waste, if you knew where to ask???
Elaine Brown says
I have read with great interest all the comments about pallet gardening. I have seen several mentions of using landscape fabric under the pallets. A few years ago, my daughter had such a severe reaction to some landscape fabric that she was sick for weeks. Are there different kinds? If that fabric made her sick just from being close to it, what would it do to plants we plan to eat? Any help?
Stacey says
Pallets make great beds for growing melons and cukes and squashes, things that you don’t want sitting on the ground. Plant the plants in the openings and as they grow lay them over the wood. The melons/cukes/squashes grow well and don’t get that ‘ground rot’ (I don’t know what it is, but I would always lose a % to it) and I found far fewer bugs (don’t know why, didn’t really care lol)
Rose says
Can you use any type of vegetable in these. I do not eat most of what people use in them. I like corn,cucumbers,crook neck squash,beans. If i make a trellis and attach it to the pallet will that work for the vine veggies? And if you staked one top of each other making it a bit taller,would that hinder the growth of the veggies if the garden fabric is put on the pallet that holds the veggies?
Jodie Sissons says
I know this is a dumb question but how does the soil stay in the pallet – especially if you are doing a vertical one?
Mo Hoyal says
I was wondering the same about keeping the soil in unless you remove some slats and hammer them around the outsides of the pallet? I bought 4 pallets for a dollar each yesterday and do plan to use them for lettuces and herbs but would never try corn or anything larger, or tomatoes either. I do think this is a great idea and here in the south, these pallets should keep the local armadillos from rooting my plants out, grrrrr!
Mo Hoyal says
Hooray! I did find my own way of doing these pallets and have already started planting my first one! I was amazed at how much space one has in these to grow and also to fill. I lay 4′ x 8′ landscape timbers around the exteriors and two pallets fit nicely into them! Thanks so much for giving us all such a wonderful idea for gardening and being disabled, this is a very easy way for me to garden.
Mo Hoyal
Cheryl Good says
I am a VPK (Voluntary Pre Kindergarten) teacher (4 & 5 year olds). We have begun creating a class garden using containers and hanging plants. I would like to expand it with wooden pallets. We have three ready to use. Looking at the pics above I do not see that you use any type of lining in the pallet to help retain the soil. I am wondering how to keep the soil from flowing out during rain/watering if there are no sides or any bottom. I had considered lining the pallets with weed barrier to retain the soil and allow proper drainage but is this an unnecessary step? We will plant lettuces, radishes, baby carrots, possibly some beans on an upright frame in one pallet. We are in Florida on the Gulf coast, lot’s of sun, very warm now leading into hot months toward the end of school in June. We will begin again in September. Thanks for any and all ideas!!
BillSF9c says
Being on the ground, there’s no great need for the bottom. Make the ground sorta level… (*I* would loosen the top 4″ of that soil, somewhat. Push the pallet down ONTO the soil surface. If it simnks in a lot, consider removing it and then releveling and slight tamping of the loosened soil, then replace the pallet. Only when satisfied, add the extra soil.) The ends I would largely block. Ideally, you’d have a spare pallet to use a board from, saw or simply split to the width needed to fit. It need not be perfect.
Maybe Mavis or others would comment on a thought that I just had.
That is to bury the pallet to 1/4 of it’s depth. It will rot sooner, but the soil removed can be added to the ends to create a berm with which to hold the soil that would potentially escape from the ends.
Also, teach, consider 2 – 2x4s carefully and firmly pounded into the soil vertically, to block the open ends I’m mentioning. carefully line the pallet with weed barrier and make it upright. Determine some pattern of small holes to plant through. Run the pallet N-S. No compass? http://www.sunrisesunset.com/calendar.asp Use Solar Noon. At noon, the sun makes N-S shadows. If you are on DLST, that’s at 1PM, now. (Some states don’t use DLST.) And since a sundial is right just 4x a year, the siderial loop is compensated for, so Solar Noon for me in San Francisco is at 1:17 today… (as if your helper is going to place your 2×4’s that accurately.)
Now plant kid-loving strawberries or such, if you dare. Setting the crown depth is semi-critical, compounded by shifting soil etc, so make holes small and pack the soil-mix into this vertical garden. OR face less N-S and put fruits to the south and greens on the north. Send a note home for ideas from parents who garden.
BillSF9c
shasha says
After reading many of the posts I’m wondering if removing the the boards from the side of the pallets being set to the ground might solve the rootbound issue. This way the roots can spread diectly to the ground if necessary. The top boards and frame make a nice seperation at the surface to prevent weeds and make harvesting the crops easier. Just a thought.
Whiterabbit says
To the poster asking about tomatoes: I do believe you could do tomatoes in a pallet garden. To get the depth you likely require, simply use two pallets. The bottom one turn upside down, as there are few slats on a pallet bottom then put the top pallet slat side up. this will double your depth. You may have to remove any pesky slats on the bottom pallet that get in the way of the spaces of the top one, but other than that it should be good. I also think this would be a great way to grow carrots or any other veggie that requires some added depth…
ann daniel says
I have just gad my yard dug up to repair a water line. I have set 2 rock gardens using the leftover rocks from the dig and as most of my lovely soil ended up in the trench, I will be trying this. I will send pictures if it worke!
CHRIS HENRY says
can you plant anything with a pallet system like zucchini and such peppers
Mavis says
You can pretty much plant anything. Some things do better than others (I plant a lot of lettuce and strawberries), but in my experience, zucchini will grow like crazy most places!
Jennifer says
I live in Alabama. Is it already too late to plant veggies by seed here? I’m going to try pallet gardening. This will be my very first garden! Hope I can keep my chickens, ducks, and guinea out of it! Ha ha!
BillSF9c says
Hope will not do it. You’ll need a fence for your stuff or for them! HAHA!
You’re too late for long-season stuff; corn, melons… But lettuce can be 40 days. Egg cartons can be starter-cells. You might get luck with a cheery tomato asa cascade down the side of a pallet that is vertical, as they are not long season. Seeds, if available, will be cheap now, or packed away and not available at any price. SOME cropas are fall-crops, like some onions. Maybe your local library has some Alabama info… or the state Agricultural office. The 1″ bottom of discarded green onions can be replanted and may survive the winter and if you pluck just 1 leaf from each of many, add to omletts and salads all winter. Onions like a richer soil, like tomatoes do.
Hey, rapidly approaching is the time to buy tillers, BBQ’s and all that. Next years models are coming with an engine 10cc larger, so old mondels must go! The store won’t have that missing gas cap, but the Mfr will send it for FREE, (Troy-Bilt, anyway…) Stuff is half price, when the price is right.
BillSF9c (‘Frisco area)
Sarah says
I noticed you use wood chippings on the ground. Can you use anything else like pebbles etc??
Mavis Butterfield says
I don’t see why not.
billSF9c says
You may have noticed at some point, that gardeners screen out pebbles. Also read up a lil on hugelkulture..Admittedly they are burying loga and half logs, but many of us bury wood chips. Sometimes these are no more than last year’s wood-chip mulch. As such, despite theit good qualities, they are “brown,” (composters code) and will need a tad of N. In a forest, bunnies et al with provide this.
BillSF9c
Jasmine says
When you place your pallet on the ground, did you dig a little first? And also, you left the whole pallet altogether? I was wondering if I should remove the bottom of the pallet so that the roots have more space.
Thank you for your suggestions! Your garden looks beautiful!
Mavis Butterfield says
I have found that lettuce and strawberries so extremely well in pallets. I did not dig a little dirt first but if you are growing something with a long root system I would.
billSF9c says
Most radishes.qould also be fine with the soil depth a pallet can offer. Of course if you do more soil digging and remove some bottom boards, you are ready for anything. Nut if your soil is hard to dig after a season of lettuce it will be easier to dig! Save boards you remove. They can block soil from escaping open ends.
What do you want to grow now, & in the future? (In that location?)
BillSF9c
Darlyn chacon says
Hello what kind of soil did you use maybe I just missed it. Thank you
Drew says
These pallet gardens are amazing! I am planning to create some myself (vertical) but haven’t found a good place in the Bay Area (San Jose, California) to buy new pallets. I’ve called local pallet supply companies, but their prices are a lot more expensive. Anyone know where to buy new heat-treated pallets in San Jose?