Digital dumpster diving
Gardening can be expensive… and it can be inexpensive.
Craigslist is a rather interesting resource.
It started out many years ago as a type of bulletin board for San Francisco area folks. Initially it was mostly about events/places/things to do. It expanded from there to a huge classifieds type site. Real estate for rent and for sale. Jobs, gigs, services. Stuff for sale, stuff wanted. Community and personal sections were added.
I’ve used Craigslist off and on over the years. But recently I’ve been hanging out in the “Free” section and also checking the “Materials” section and “Farm+Garden” section.
Since we’re planning on adding 4-6 raised beds I started looking for free or cheap wood.
The best wood to use for a raised bed is 2″ thick Redwood.
2″ because it’s much less likely to warp. And Redwood because it holds up well in the “elements”.
Cedar works well also. But Redwood is quite expensive, cedar slightly less so.
We added 4 Redwood beds about 5 years ago. They were 3′ x 6′. The boards were 2″ thick, 10″ wide. The wood was around $500. We got nice wood… the kind you would use for a deck.
You can opt for less nice wood to bring the cost down some… but I’m looking for much cheaper.
Well after spending about two weeks searching, I can say:
good stuff moves lightning fast and seldom does anyone give away any decent wood.
Wood was what tempted me, but once I started checking multiple (many multiple) times a day, my interests expanded…
We have a driveway. Two strips of not in great shape concrete. Not level. Dirt in between that turns to mud during rainy season. Grassy weeds that grow in the dirt and requiring maintenance.
I didn’t like dealing with the gassy weed so last fall I took pick ax to it and dug it up… much work.
I’m sure the driveway is a mile long… more or less.
We had some concrete pavers that are 22″ long and 12″ wide. They were in use as a sort of patio… more like a hmm, where can I stick these.
I dug out some dirt, put down plastic and put the pavers over that… tho I didn’t have enough pavers to finish so I used some oval stepping stones.
Took care of the grassy weed maintenance and the mud issue. But didn’t look very appealing.
I noticed somewhat regular postings for free bricks. Often from a chimney that was taken down.
I thought ‘wouldn’t the driveway look nice with brick down the middle’. Ok, at least it would look less bad.
So I started scoping out posts for nearby bricks.
So far we’ve collected bricks from three places. The bricks have mortar on them and require cleaning.
Meanwhile I have to dig out the dirt deeper. I’m not 1/2 way done this project… remember I said the driveway is a mile long… give or take 
But now we have a stack of concrete pavers… not to worry.
We’ve decided to construct four raised beds with the pavers. Which significantly lessens any need for wood… which was what initially led me to my digital dumpster diving adventure.
Raised beds can be made out of a lot of materials. You want to be sure the material is relatively warp resistent and is non-toxic. So you don’t want to use pressure treated wood since it’s treated with toxic chemicals.
Recycling of course is a good thing. But even higher up the chain is re-using or re-purposing.
Craigslist is a great place to find stuff to re-purpose.
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