Building your raised bed garden.

So you've decided to garden using a raised bed garden box! Congratulations, it is well worth it. The very first step in this project is to decide whether you want to build it or buy it, and how large. Keep in mind that you do not want to go any wider than 3'-4'. This is so that you may still weed the beds, trim the plants and harvest the vegetables without having to step into these beds. This will prevent the soil from compacting. You can make the beds as long as you like 3'x3', 4'x6', 3'x9' and so on. It is a good idea to monitor the amount of sunlight in the area of the yard you plan on building the raised bed garden box. Vegetables like sunlight and need proper amounts of direct sunlight to grow and produce good harvests. I chose to use some twine and stakes. I measured and staked the corners of where my raised garden box would be, and used twine to mark the perimeter around to form the outline. Over the next day I looked at the area to record the amount of sunlight that cast into the box. I was achieving 10+ hours!! Next outline the area using a can of orange spray paint. If you have a level yard chances are you can build the box directly on top of the area. My yard on the other hand slopes, so I decided to build mine partially buried so that the end result was a level garden box. It is very important to have a level garden box or your plants can suffer from water running to one side and leaving the other side dry. If your yard is level lay out some landscape weed blocker material inside the marked area to help slow any weeds or grass from growing up into your garden. It won’t eliminate it, but you will see noticeably less. Next decide what materials you will be using to build your box. (if you bought a kit, then go ahead and assemble in area). I used white pine boards from my local Home Depot. For those of you that know wood I know this is not the best choice, but was what I could spend at the time. My top choice would have been to use cedar due to it outstanding slow rate of rotting. The gentleman that was at Home Depot tried to sell me pressure treated decking boards. He said that they will last 10x longer. This is NOT a good idea, over time the chemicals used in pressure treated wood seeps into the soil and is very toxic. Your plants will be in that soil!

            So once you have decided where to build and what material you will be using, you need to figure out how much material you will need. If you are building a 3’x6’ bed you will need 18’ of material. If you are going to build up 2 levels high as I did, then you will need 36’ of material. The higher you build up allows you to not have to bend over as far to weed the beds and care for plants. I used deck screws as these do not rust. I also bought some metal tie straps to attach the second level of the box to the first level.  If building on top of the ground then you have what you need to begin assembling. If your yard is sloping we have a little ways to go.

         If you are going to level the area before building I recommend using my technique. I rented a tiller from Home Depot and tilled the entire area that the box would be. Removing the grass and roots. Next I dug a trench around the perimeter of box to lay my 1^st level in. I bought 2”x12” for the first layer knowing that a lot of the board would be buried. Build the first level of the raised garden box in the trench. Use a 4’ level and level each board as you begin assembling making certain that box is level all around. You can use a hammer and block of wood to tap on boards to level. When screwing the boards together drill a pilot hole for the screws slightly smaller than threads to make it easier to screw together. You will also want to check that corners are square (90 Degrees).   Next assemble 2^nd level of box on top of 1^st level. Attach to 1^st using the metal tie straps. Fill around the outside parameter of the box with the dirt that was dug out. Next you will be filling the box with good garden soil, humus and manure for the perfect blend of soil for your garden. I bought 40lbs bags and mixed in the box as I added bags.  Lastly plant your seeds or plants, fertilize and add a good layer of mulch and water deeply. Congratulations on a job well done!!

Happy Homesteading!!!