Weekend Warriors: Making Planter Boxes With Garden Buddy

I won't rehash the whole I-can't-find-a-planter-box-to-fit-my-homemade-plant-stand deal but today was the day that GB and I made planter boxes for the homemade plant stand!

One of the reasons that I think GB and I make such a good team is that we are both fairly heavy planners. Neither of us seem to be the type to just go and buy some crap without some preparation. Granted, our plans consist of what we jot down on random post-it notes at work, but still, we put a fair amount of analysis and research into it. Where we differ is that GB is all about the quality. "Get the good stuff so it'll last as long as possible" is what she always says. Me? I'm more the "if I can get 3 to 5 years out of it, I'll go with the cheap stuff." This came into play when determining the type of wood for said planter boxes. Of course I took her suggestion, I'm not a moron! She's the expert here. We went with Cedar.

She came over this morning and we went over our plans then took a quick walk through the garden so that she could see how it was progressing. She was pretty impressed with all my tomatoes and cantaloupes - that made me feel proud like when your teacher tells you how smart you are.

Have you ever shopped for lumber? There is sooooooo much to choose from! We decided that there must be some system to the way it was organized but we couldn't figure it out so we just roamed around until we found what we needed. Her plan: build a 6 foot long 10 inch tall cedar planter box. My plan: build two 30 inch long 10 inch tall cedar planter boxes. After struggling to find a suitable cart we loaded our lumber then proceeded to roam around the store looking for various things like screws and potting soil. We were imagining that somebody somewhere was watching us driving the lumber cart around the store laughing at us but after lapping the store we eventually made it to the cutter guy. He wouldn't let me take a picture of him making the cuts "I don't think that's allowed in the store and I just don't want you to get in trouble". Whatever, dude!

After arriving home we set up a work bench on the patio table and got down to business. You should have seen us trying to get the first screw in. The screw was wobbling like crazy and I was laughing so hard I almost peed myself.

Did I mention that it was like a thousand degrees outside today? And that my patio was in full blazing sun at this time? We did my 2 smaller planter boxes first and then moved on to hers.

The only problem with this was that by the time we got to her planter box we were near heat stroke and had to get on the ground to attach it. At some point I think we started to get worried about actually dieing in the heat and we kicked into "LETS DO THE DAMN THING" gear and by the time we were attaching sides of her planter, we were working like a finely oiled machine (or whatever that saying is). She was moving ahead of me pre-drilling the holes (we learned that this would prevent the boards from cracking) and I followed along behind her drilling the deck screws into place. We were so hot and tired when we finished that we did the wimpiest high 5 I've ever seen.

Afterward we hurriedly snapped a few pictures and I invited her in to cool off for a bit before heading home but she was concerned that she had left Mr. Garden Buddy home with the kids all day. It was 3pm and I didn't realize that neither of us had lunch. Heat and hypoglycemia are a bad combination! She ran for her car and I ran for the shower.

Things that I can't stop laughing about now as I am trying to recuperate:

1. We must have each burned our fingers at least 10 times from removing the pre-drilling screws that had become hot. We did it over and over and over again making me wonder if Pavlov's dog is smarter than us. It was the heat! We are both really smart - I swear!
2. Conversation while trying to use my drill: GB "how do you know which way is reverse" Me: "I dunno"....next screw GB: "how do you know which way is reverse? my dads has a yellow thing" Me: "I dunno". We had this conversation at least 5 times. I still don't know! For some reason I have used this thing over and over and never even tried to figure it out. I just try it and if it doesn't work I assume it goes the other way.

I am so excited about my planter boxes! Check them out! They are a perfect fit for the aquarium stand! And isn't her long planter box awesome???

We had a good time today and we are already thinking of building benches next. We figure we are pros now.