Making a pallet wood boardwalk: Taking it one step at a time…💦

Living on a well, we’ve grown to be pretty mindful of water. How often it comes, where it goes, how quickly it can run away. Bless a previous owner who put in rainwater catchment from our roof – it’s how we keep our food gardens going, and a comforting safety blanket in years of drought.

In years of abundant water, we have opposite challenges. Fast flowing water can quickly create cavernous ruts in a driveway, swamp and drown plantings, erode the hill’s edge.

Around the house, we try to “plant the rain”. To increase the time the water has to seep into the ground near the well, and steady its rate of flow down the hill. We’ve planted willows and rain gardens, designed to sop up excess and calm the occasional torrents.

How the water flows through and over our property means there are some spots that in some seasons and after some storms get pretty squidgy. Vernal ponds in the woods, low-lying areas where rainwater overflows.

So I’ve been keen to try making boardwalks – for the areas where we want the water to seep into the earth, but still be comfortably passable.

This little prototype boardwalk here is designed so it can be built in sections, each connecting to the next like train tracks (another Neil design special). Since we know we want these several places, we’ve built this first one as a platform (har har) for learning, so we can iterate and improve for the rest.

But my favourite part of this project is that the boardwalk is made from used pallets gifted us by our neighbours. I measure, cut, and pry off each upcycled board by hand. Then I walk it over, space it, and attach it. Then I cut another, walk over and attach it. And then the next, and then the next.

I could do it faster. I have power tools that would speed things up. And for a bigger project, perhaps I’d use them. But I’ve found so much pleasure in handcrafting this little one slowly by prybar and saw. One cut, one plank, one step at a time. Using my arms to build a path for our feet. Drip drop. Slow and steady. A gentle rain.

Have a great weekend folks 🌦️