This year is the year of the garden at M.T. Acres. We have plans on putting up 6 raised bed gardens this year, whether we get that far or not remains a mystery, but that is the plan.
In support of that, I got the forms done for pouring the cast concrete panels for them today.
They are all screwed together and have two heavy coats of butcher block oil. So the only thing that is left is to fill in the corners with latex caulk and do the concrete pour.
I intentionally left the sides with about a 1/16 to 1/8 inch gap to be filled in with latex caulk to make it easier to take the forms off. I figure I can just remove the screws holding it all together and run the corner of a putty knife to break it free.
I am going with a 4000 PSI premixed concrete rather than the CSA concrete. The CSA concrete can achieve strengths of up to 7000 PSI, but the work time with it is so fast, I do not think I can get it cast and smoothed properly in the time allowed. With a portland cement based solution, I have about an hour to get everything done properly. Yes, it means that I will only be able to do about 4 casting per day, but it is a small price to pay for being able to work it for more than 10 minutes.
Tomorrow I will caulk the forms and hopefully get the first pour done. I have no idea how well, or even if this will work. It may be a wild success or an abject failure. I am going out on a limb here because I have no idea.
Updates to follow...
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