Re-using broken pallets

Naturally, all buildings sites are left with a huge amount of waste.  Ours was no different.

Amongst the broken bricks, broken roof tiles, large quantities of wasted cement (what is it with builders, don't they know much cement they should mix at a time in order to minimise wastage???), scraps of wood, I was fortunate enough to find I had 6-odd wooden pallets in various stages of disrepare.  Our brick supply company returned (over 180km trip!?!) to the site after the builders were finished, in order to collect any pallets which were still viable.  The rest - they left them for me :)

Great - I KNOW exactly what I want them for...

... my compost heap.

We live in an area of hectic winds, and incredible heat in the summertime.  So creating an open pile of compost is just not an option.

RMan and John, the local labourer, measured out according to my requirements ;)

RMan and John measuring out the future compost
heap

Then, it was up to John and his trusty "koevoet" (crowbar without the turned bit at the end) to make the holes for the support poles, and, once the poles were in situ, using the "koevoet" again to firmly pack the soil back round the poles.

A "koevoet" is the only way to dig a hole in our
summer baked ground

Trust me - this was h-a-r-d work.  I have the greatest admiration for John - he doesn't seem to feel the heat (perhaps the constant flow of iced juice helps), his back never seems to give a twinge, and he has incredible strength.

Any hole which needs to be dug in summer can only be dug using the "koevoet" - be that for a pole, or a tree - any hole.  Our gound is so hard there is no other way to break through.

John, using a tin to scoop out the soil he has
loosened with the "koevoet" 

Then RMan bolted the pallets to the poles, and the end result is...

My shadesloth covered compost heap

... a shadecloth covered compost heap - the shadecloth is required to keep the compost from blowing away, and to keep some moisture in the compost.

Lovely, lovely compost :)

We cheated - as we required compost for the winter vegetable beds, we purchased 2 mtrs3 of compost from a local supplier.  But any garden refuse that we had was placed at the bottom of the compost pile.  Hopefully, by next spring the garden refuse will have broken down, and will be usable.

So, instead of those precious pieces of wood being cast aside to rot away over time (if they had been left to lie in the open) I gained a compost heap made from pallets.  I'm a happy little puppy :)