Making a timeline or schedule for any project is critical to its success! This particular project is no different: this blog post outlines the construction timeline to make the Shipping Pallet Garden.

Timeline:

• Finalize design and make bill of materials
  • This step will require me to finalize my design (how many shelves, overall shape, etc.) and come up with a bill of materials for my project. At this point in time, this step is almost complete but I am lacking a few design choices. For example the angle of the feet of my garden.
  • Current bill of materials:
    • Wood stain — Purchased
    • Chalkboard paint — Purchased
    • Transparent weather proofing
    • Wood planks (1″x6″, length still unknown)
    • Plywood (for backing)
    • Nails
    • 2 Hinges
    • Soil
    • Bulbs & seeds
  • Timeline: Monday April 3rd — Friday April 7th
• Purchase materials
  • Most of my material will be purchased from Home Depot in Boulder. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to procure any used crates. My goal was to find two, but the ones I found were different shapes and had relatively dark. Additionally, many of the crates had broken planks.
  • Timeline: Saturday April 8th — Sunday April 9th
• Stain and weatherproof wood
  • Hopefully I can stain all the wood, let it dry, and then weatherproof it and let it dry on Sunday. Staining the wood doesn’t take too long, but it needs to sit for an hour and a half to be completely dry before being weather proofed. I can let the weatherproof coating dry over night. This should take a total of 4 hours.
  • Timeline: Sunday April 9th
• Apply Chalkboard paint and weatherproof wood
  • The following morning, I plan to apply the chalkboard paint to the wood. Even though the chalkboard paint will only be applied to a few planks, laying out the shape with painters tape will take some time. Additionally, the drying time is much longer: 4 hours. I plan to do all the painting before class, then return in the afternoon to weatherproof those planks again.
  • Timeline: Monday April 10th
• Construct the standing garden
  • Constructing the garden will take the most amount of time. Several days, along with some additional unintended visits to Home Depot, will be necessary. I have done several wood working projects, but do not have the necessary tools at my house so my design will have to be well thought out and detailed before starting this. Hopefully, this step will not take as long as expected and I can plant everything early.
  • Timeline: Tuesday April 11th — Thursday April 13th
• Fill with soil & plants
  • This part will be a struggle as I have never managed or maintained a garden before. I have researched what types of plants, flowers, and herbs grow well in Colorado at this time of year and have asked several family friends who have similar gardens what types of plants do well in confined spaces. This may take an additional trip to Home Depot.
  • Timeline: Friday April 14th
• Let it grow!!
  • Timeline: Saturday April 15th –> end of school year

In class the other day, we talked about Known Known, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns. I felt it important to list them below to help me develop a realistic timeline.

Known Knowns:

• Wood working
• Where to source wood & fasteners
• Staining wood
• Painting with Chalkboard paint

Known Unknowns:

• Weather proofing wood
• Growing plants // Gardening
• Angle of foot (depending on how it leans against the wall)

Unknown Unknowns: as the title explains, these unknowns will come out of nowhere and cause me to fall behind schedule on my project.