9.20.2009

The Re-Use of Old Kiddie Pools

We've been using plastic kiddie pools for the geese and dogs for over a year now. We've gone through quite a few, as the dogs tend to punch holes into the pools with their nails. Never was able to throw the pools away, and tried a variety of methods to patch & re-use, to no avail. Now we've found an honorable way to re-use those pools... as raised garden beds!

First, I cut large holes out of the bottom to allow root & water penetration. Didn't cut away too much, however, as I wanted the pools to retain some strength and structure:



Then we filled the pools with soil. Renting the backhoe/loader saved us hours of labor:



The loader bucket was wider than the pools, so we still had to do some soil shoveling, but not too much:



End result: all of the pools re-used.



Final pic: Spouse having a good time on the rental unit.



We also filled in a longstanding hole, and Spouse found actual soil on the property. We were going to put the goose pool in that initial spot, but have decided to save it for orchard trees. New pool spot: in front of some young oaks. More updates later!

6 comments:

  1. I like the idea of using the pools for raised bed gardens. I may try it in the spring..if I can find some old pools.

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  2. This is awesome! What soil mix do you use, and from where? I'm not sure what's coming first in our kitchen garden - the fence, or the terraced beds. It sure would be nice to be able to fill them with a bobcat or something, but not sure if there will be room to maneuver in there (and not sure if I trust DH to play with one!)

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  3. hey What a great idea I think its good when people re-use things
    How is all the farm going anyway
    My Geese finally hatched out yesterday morning out of 8 eggs we got 8 goslings they are all doing well but the father is a bit clumsy and keeps standing on them

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  4. @HCH - we got the soil from Gardenville, a whopping 20 cubic yards. Most of it will be mixed with native soil and used for planting upcoming fruit & nut trees. Wicked spendy, but will hopefully give everything a good healthy start.

    @Mitch: congrats on the goslings! Hope the father figures out how not to step on the little fuzzy butts. :-)

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  5. Good idea. I'll be anxious to hear how long they last...a couple of years would be great!

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