Contrary to popular belief, concrete in consistently wet ground not only absorbs and holds water for longer than regular dirt causing accelerated rot it also weakens very fast and will become less stable than dirt after a few years.(we learned this lesson with our fence and pole barns located in lower areas that stay wet much of the year. This can be confirmed by talking to ultility company engineers. Don't trust that questioin to people wanting to build you pole bard type structures though, they'll sell you 4x4 posts sunk in concrete knowing in 10 years you'll be calling them back to fix the rotten posts.) You are MUCh better off with pea gravel and dirt than concrete.Originally Posted by oldgringo
One ancient way of dealing with this is to char the end of the wood you plan to put into the ground, charring the outside, then coating it with tar to fill up the holes in the charred areas prevents the organisms that promote decay from ever getting into the wood, much less destroying it. There have been ancient underground dwellings from the iron age found around the world still structurally sound after thousands of years and they simply used a charred and tarred post and beam approach to structural support. We used this approach the last time we built a fence in my bottom 5 acres and the fence posts don't even absorb water from the ground anymore and show no sign of losing structural integrity after 15 years.
But I agree with most here an above ground portable stand is more than likely your best option.
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