By Stephanie Kasper, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Program…

Maya and Ed Skopal, the owners of I-TAL Acres, a medicinal plant…

So many of our projects on the farm require building structures out of wood. I’m always building a new raised bed or chicken coop or fences to keep the chickens from messing with my vegetables, but a recent trip to the local hardware store was a rude awakening. Wood prices were double what I paid six months ago. Why? They said it had something to do with the fires out west. After taking a moment to reflect on the inter-connectedness of everything, I paid for the wood I needed and went on my merry way. My trip home was merry indeed because I passed by an opportunity, literally: pallets. Stacks and stacks of pallets.
By Justin Duncan, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist