Putting the Garden Issue to Bed
It did not take long to decide that one of our first "Covid" projects would be a raised garden bed. I really wanted to plant vegetables and doing so in a raised garden bed offered a lot of benefits.
A raised garden bed can offer some protection from pests (I see you, bunny rabbit), allows you to control the soil you add (thanks, Jones Topsoil and worm friends), allows stronger root growth (especially for root veggies, obviously, like carrots and potatoes), offers safety from kid and pet traffic in the yard, extends your growing season by keeping your plants warmer in the Spring and Fall, and they are easier to manage (logistically there is less bending over and its physically harder for weeds to creep in), and I think they look nice, too.
So I headed to Home Depot to pick up 12 1in x 4in x 8ft, 3 1in x 4in x 12ft, and 1 4in x 4in x 12ft cedar boards and a roll of wire mesh. I had a box of 2.5 in exterior/deck screws and a staple gun on hand, as well as a boxed miter saw that had been begging to be set up ever since my Dad had given it to me for my previous birthday. Please note that I started this project before the price of wood skyrocketed, and at that point cedar felt like a no brainer. It generally lasts longer since it is more rot resistant than other options, and its slightly acidic nature means it has some anti-insect qualities, too. Plus our fence was cedar so I felt it would better match in our yard. This choice would be slightly painful later in the season, but I maintain it was still the right call.
Sometimes simple is best and as my first ever wood working project, there was no question I needed to stick to as simple as possible. I decided to make the garden bed 4 feet by 8 feet. This size allows for easy access to everything planted, as well as minimizing the need to cut boards. 4 of the 1in x 4in x 8 ft boards would make the length of each side, while the last 4 boards of that size were all cut in half to make the width ends. Straight no non-sense cuts for the miter saw with my Dad's wisdom, "measure twice, cut once" ringing in my ears.
Next I cut 4 brace pieces from the 4in x 4in, and began my assembly. An extra set of hands came in handy a few times to hold boards aligned properly while I used my drill to secure the deck screws (thanks, R!). I made 4 identical individual rectangular boxes and then stacked them on top of each other, securing them to the 4inx4in corner pieces, once they were all lined up how I liked them. An easy way to go astray at this step is to not pay attention to which pieces are on the "outside" of the corners. I had the long sides tuck into the shorter sides, so that you would only see the edge of the 4 foot pieces exposed.
Next, I finally got to enjoy the miter saw with my first 45 degree angle cuts (of the 1in x 4in x 12ft boards) to make an edge that would serve as seating and give the bed a more finished appearance. I used some scrapes to secure extra support for the seating on the inside of the bed, and then it was time to add wire mesh to the bottom of the garden in hopes of discouraging animals from digging up into the garden from below. I secured the wire mesh using my staple gun, and used my own version of Hugelkultur to fill in the bottom of the garden. This allowed me to throw sticks from downed tree branches as well as leaves into the base, partly solving the problem of how to fill up the garden and how to get rid of the yard waste at once.
Finally, we brought dirt to top off the garden, and I decided to add an identical second 4 ft x 8 ft garden bed. By the time I circled back to this project, well into summer, cedar was both hard to come by and extremely expensive, but I think it was worth it in the end. I had a vision for the next season that I thought would look nice and might keep future plants from trying to invade the house like the butternut squash pictured below, but for 2020, I was satisfied enough to call this project complete. 2021 continuation...