Wes and Linda's Raised Garden Bed Project - June 2014

We've wanted raised garden beds for many years. This is the year we got them done.




The overgrown back area that used to be a fenced dog run and a garden. We had kind of given up on it.




Soil in the existing garden area was very poor and prone to bugs and slugs...not great fun to work in! Linda dug out and cleared the area, then leveled where the raised beds would be placed.




The project was triggered by the purchase of Trex composite decking boards, which are rot-proof. We got 208' of unused black Trex for only $75. New Trex typically runs $3 per running foot. Shown is the construction jig that Wes built to accurately and quickly build the long sides of the beds.




The four completed long sides stacked against the house. The posts are redwood and the lag screws are galvanized.




The end boards are being pre-fit and numbered for re-assembly in the garden area. The bins are upside down in this view




The raised beds after re-assembly in the garden area. Linda is measuring and squaring the frames to each other and the corner walls. The frames have not been set into the ground yet.




The bed frames and posts are now sunk into the ground. Portions of black plastic nursery planting pots are used as cement forms.




This is our cement mixer. We bought this several years ago. It holds 80 pounds of cement and water, and you mix the cement by rolling the container on the ground. The rolling is hard work, but the effort produces well-mixed concrete.




One post is set in concrete




Linda cleans cement off the posts and boards.




Friend Steve assisted us with his truck and trailer to haul 2-1/2 cubic yards of enhanced garden soil from Redmond Greenhouse.




"Contractor" Wes makes last minute adjustments to his construction before we fill the bins with soil.




This simple photo shows the end result of an afternoon of grunt work. 24 wheelbarrow loads of soil were hauled from the street, across the front yard, into the back yard, and down a ramp to the garden area.




Linda starts to plant the boxes. The sitting ledges are not screwed into the bins yet.




The finished project after 11 bags of bark were put down to cut down on dust and mud. We will be harvesting within a couple of months, yay!

Missing here is a pic of the two happy raised bed builders with smiley faces. We will add that when we can get somebody to take the picture.