Monday
31Aug2009
Beating Swords Into Plowshares, Part 1
Mon, August 31, 2009 at 20:38
Or, Rocket Science Meets Gardening?
The big pipes you see laying in the bed of RecycleBill's Dodge Ram pick-up aren't your everyday pipes. They are in-fact fiberglass remnants of something the Army calls a POD. You see, in their former life, each one of these tubes contained an M26 Rocket and were once part of an HIMARS rocket launcher. It's my understanding that the PODs are only used a limited number of times because of safety concerns and that my PODs were past their prime. Think of them as if they were a removable magazine for a semi-automatic pistol with a much bigger boom. And no, I wasn't offered any actual rockets or HIMARS launch vehicles.
These fiberglass POD tubes were held together six at a time by a mostly aluminum frame which has since gone to the shredder for recycling. Soon they will become part of a semicircular retaining wall in front of my house, each one filled with soil and planted with hanging strawberries. In the center of the semicircle I plan to plant a single dwarf cherry tree which should only grow about 8-10' tall.
Here's the before shot of my home.
As you can see in this last picture I've removed the sod and top soil from the area where I plan to erect my rocket launcher... er... ah... I mean, retaining wall. The fiberglass tubes are waiting in the yard.
Tomorrow I begin digging the ditch I plan to stand my pipes in. I hope it rains a little tonight to soften the ground as I'm going to need to go about 3' deep.
Update: Wed. Sept 2nd. The digging is going slow so give me a few days to get through the hardened subsoil and I'll move on to Part 2.
The big pipes you see laying in the bed of RecycleBill's Dodge Ram pick-up aren't your everyday pipes. They are in-fact fiberglass remnants of something the Army calls a POD. You see, in their former life, each one of these tubes contained an M26 Rocket and were once part of an HIMARS rocket launcher. It's my understanding that the PODs are only used a limited number of times because of safety concerns and that my PODs were past their prime. Think of them as if they were a removable magazine for a semi-automatic pistol with a much bigger boom. And no, I wasn't offered any actual rockets or HIMARS launch vehicles.
These fiberglass POD tubes were held together six at a time by a mostly aluminum frame which has since gone to the shredder for recycling. Soon they will become part of a semicircular retaining wall in front of my house, each one filled with soil and planted with hanging strawberries. In the center of the semicircle I plan to plant a single dwarf cherry tree which should only grow about 8-10' tall.
Here's the before shot of my home.
As you can see in this last picture I've removed the sod and top soil from the area where I plan to erect my rocket launcher... er... ah... I mean, retaining wall. The fiberglass tubes are waiting in the yard.
Tomorrow I begin digging the ditch I plan to stand my pipes in. I hope it rains a little tonight to soften the ground as I'm going to need to go about 3' deep.
Update: Wed. Sept 2nd. The digging is going slow so give me a few days to get through the hardened subsoil and I'll move on to Part 2.
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Reader Comments (5)
I just love creative minds that take "junk" and turn it into something fabulous ... like a wall with strawberries growing out of it. I can't wait to see the finished masterpiece (you'll post pictures, right?).
Thanks for sharing this exciting project with us!
Small Footprints
BTW ... I stumbled this post with a thumbs up. :)
SF,
Of course I'll post more pictures, every step of the way. And thanks for the stumble!
Cool! My daughter has told me about these things, she's a soldier.
Lovin' the way you're going to use them, can't wait for the finished project pics!
If only the ground wasn't so hard... Oh my poor aching back.