Raised Garden Beds

Remember how I spent the first day of spring cleaning out the old over grown garden area behind the garage? Now that it's cleared, we're ready to begin planting our own vegetables. However we had done some research and decided that raised garden beds may be the best bet for our location and our lack of garden expertise. Wanna know how we made them? Follow along:

1. Measure your desired area for the garden. If you have a larger area it may be easier to build and plant multiple beds. This way you can seperate your vegetables. We're going to plant green (basil and spinach) in one bed and vegetables (tomatoes and cucumbers) in a seperate one. Our beds were 4' x 4' which made measuring, buying and cutting a breeze.

2. Once you know the dimensions of your bed you'll need to purchase your supplies and gather your tools. For one 4' x 4' box we used the following:

Supplies:
-Four 1" x 6" x 8' Cedar Tongue & Groove Boards or 1" x 6" x 8' Regular Cedar Boards
-One 6' long 4 x 4 treated post
-Thirty-two 2" or 3" wood screws

Tools:
-Saw (or have your hardware store cut the wood for you like we did)
-Power screwdriver
-Level


3. Cut the 6' long 4'x4' post into four 16" sections. These will be your corner posts.

4. Cut each 8' cedar board into 4' sections, leaving you with a total of eight 4' pieces.

5. If using tongue & goove boards, lock two 4' cedar boards together using the tongue and groove edges. If you're using regular cedar boards you can skip this step.

6. Using a flat surface, align the 4' cedar wall on its thin edge (tongue side up) against the pavement. Place two 16" posts at each end of the cedar wall.

7. Attach the cedar wall with two 2" screws per each board.

8. For the next wall, align the corners like this:

9. Continue until all walls have been attached.

10. Carry the bed to the desired spot and lay bed with legs facing down out.

11. Mark each corner and dig a 4"-6" hole for each post.

12. Place the bed and legs into the four holes.

13. Lay level on all walls to ensure bed is level. Fill holes with dirt and soil.

14. Fill beds with a potting soil-compost mix and water enough to leave the soil damp.

15. Finally stand back and admire your work and then begin thinking about what you want to grow this season.