Starting a garden for the first time, want to use pallets, help?

[Elliotmarie]

Hi! I’ve never really grown in ground plants but I’ve been really struggling and figured it would be a good project. I have pallets I’m trying to get ride of, would this work for the plants I want to use?
I want to do: strawberries, raspberries, other berries if it would work, bell peppers, tomatoes, melons?, carrots, garlic and possibly snap peas but I think I’m too late for those for my zone which is 8b. All of these work in our zone and I have someone giving me adult berry plants! I’m moving soon (but it’s my parents house but they don’t mind and are all for it) so I don’t want anything too permanent but I think it’s way too cute! Do I use potting soil and my starts or would seeds be fine? Any tips for setting up are appreciated!
Also my first seeds sprouted for the first time ever!!!

 

[Meadowlark]

Very clever approach. Should work with the right choices.

Yes, too late in zone 8b for winter peas, but cow peas would do just fine.

Not sure about tomatoes...would have to find a way to support them as they get large and heavy with fruit. Peppers would be fantastic, carrots ideal but getting too late in 8b for this spring, onions would be fantastic, any root crop radishes, turnips, etc would work great but getting late for those. Melons? Not in my mid because they wander so much. Strawberries should be great....raspberries really are invasive and would have to be watched carefully. Bush beans of all types would be great. You might even try corn...with 5 rows in a pallet it could conceivably pollinate and produce. Corn is a fantastic tasting home veggie.

I hope you will give this a good try....and post pictures as you go. Really interesting approach.

 

[DrMike27]

I did the exact same thing last year with my first attempt at a garden. The biggest problem I faced was that the pallets were just not deep enough to have a horizontal placement. My sunflowers grew to about 12” in a 4-5” deep pallet, and the same flowers are at 5-6’ this year in a roughly 14-16” deep raised bed. I am in zone 9b and the things that really worked for me in a pallet were summer squash, zucchini, and Bibb lettuce. Peas, Bush beans, lavender, and garlic all failed miserably. Carrots will definitely not work at that depth unless you plant Parisian carrots (they look like golf balls and are actually super sweet), but you are a little too late for them right now anyway unless you really do some work to keep them cool. If you want to do a pallet for anything that should grow over 12” I would recommend you do a vertical pallet instead of a horizontal one. Here are some of my pics from last year and one from my sunflowers so far this year (I’m 6’3” to give perspective on where my arm is).

 

[jasper]

Good for shallow roots.