How to build a raised garden bed – or outsource it

No joke, I have been working on this post all week. Should I tell you how we did it, or simply show you what we did and explain why we did it that way? It’s that whole “speak with authority” thing I struggle with in blogging. You can’t just “do” you have to “own.”  But since I own at nothing, I’ll just ramble on for a bit and show you some pretty pictures.

I recently finished reading The 4-Hour Workweek. Have you heard of it? Typically I’m not one for the self-help-ish snake oil salesman section of B&N.com, but my trainer mentioned it the other day while repeatedly pointing at me and saying he was “outsourcing” his web design to me (aside: Nate – you’re in the queue).

I guess there’s not a better way of saying that I have mixed feelings about the concept of outsourcing. I grew up in an environment that strongly encouraged self-sufficiency and independence — possibly to an extreme. As an adult, I now find achieving any real “down time” difficult because I feel like I have to learn and know as much as possible about everything so I can do it myself. You know, “in case.”

I’ve put off building this bed for weeks because “I just wasn’t ready.” I’ve been reading and gleaning as much as I can, but the idea of using tools, buying wood and knowing what to build felt debilitating. It’s not that I can’t do it, but the fear of not doing it perfectly — oh the horror!

It doesn’t help that I’m surrounded by master gardeners, both in my neighborhood and family. My aunt and uncle were in Minnesota Monthly, my mom knows the common and latin names of almost every plant in existence, an entire side of my family are farmers and my in-laws have built an entire farm from recycled and re-purposed materials. To say I’m intimidated is an understatement.

I’m also feeling a bit anxious as preparations begin for the sale of my grandparents home, a mecca of love through nature and the only consistent home I’ve ever had. My grandma’s garden beds are legend and I want so badly to have my own so maybe I can capture a piece of them.

I finally admitted I was beaten — by myself — and decided to ask for help. Neil’s dad, who I forgot to mention above is a horticulture consultant, had been wanting to make the trek up, and the timing was perfect. He took one look at the yard, we hopped in the car, and came back from the hardware store with everything in under an hour. It took us longer to build our saw horse table. for our desk. I think asking for help was the right way to go.

We laid everything out in the driveway, and Neil’s Dad went to work. I was still inside putting sunblock on my ginger skin when his mom ran in and said that I was missing all the photo opportunities. I ran outside to find two sides already built. Everything came together in seemingly just minutes. Had it not started pouring, I think  from start to finish the whole project would have taken about four hours — including digging and pouring cement and removing a small tree.

We’re starting with one 4×8 bed this year, and adding another next year. That’s another 4-Hour Workweek revelation: “start small and evaluate constantly.” Realistically we also have no shortage of other yard projects with which to disperse our income. I’ve been working on a realistic and achievable plan, and I’ll share that next week if the rain will stop long enough to take more pictures.

We loosely followed the How-To in Sunset Magazine, however we did make some changes to both simplify and account for the grade of our yard.

Materials Needed:

Qty 3 – Treated 2×12 8 foot lumber
Qty 2 – Treated 4×4 8 foot lumber
Qty 2 – 1 inch PVC pipe (this is to allow you to install PVC arches and plastic)
Qty 8 – 1 inch PVC metal pipe straps
Qty 30 – 4 inch lag bolts
Qty 30 – lag bolt washers
Qty 1 – Chicken wire, or other mesh to line bottom of the bed (mole preventative!)

Assembled! Now to dig holes for the legs.

We put some Quickcrete cement in the holes we dug for the legs to prevent any settling or movement. We also added chicken wire to the bottom to prevent moles (the unfortunate stay-over visitors from last year’s cicadas) from coming through the bottom. Since the ground was not flat we added some wood to the end to complete the box.

The pups look on in amazement and possibly boredom…

To fill the bed we used:

Qty 1 – 7 cubic ft of rice hulls (courtesy of Dad)
Qty 2 – 3 cubic ft bags of pine bark mulch
Qty 1 – 3 cubic ft bag of peat moss
Qty 2 – 1 cubic ft mushroom compost soil
Qty 10 – 1 cubic ft bags of dark garden soil (doesn’t have to be bags, any nutrient rich soil)
Qty 1 – small/medium bag of any misc garden fertilizer

Rice hulls:

Mushroom compost:

Mix it all together!

Done! Our new raised garden bed. PVC is in place to allow you to install arches and plastic for early spring cover. Pretty sweet. Total cost (with dirt) rounded out to roughly $150. Not cheap, but definitely worth it.

Speaking of rain, part of this project also included installing a new rain barrel on the southeast corner of the house. It’s the closest corner to the garden and an area prone to a lot of water. Rather than build a more complicated system of gutters and pipes to carry the water away from the foundation, we’ve opted to barrel it and use it for the garden.

Installing it gave Neil the opportunity to use the angle grinder I got him for Christmas.

Neil’s pro review: “The new Makita angle grinder makes very quick and clean work of the guttering.”

So there you have it. We spent quality time with family while learning how to build a bed from an expert. The hours I didn’t spend toiling were put to both productive and unproductive use elsewhere. And next year, we can do it on our own. I’d say asking for help was the right way to go don’t you? Sure, we’re not going to gain a lot of blog cred by not posting dozens of  photos of us making this project our bitch, but aren’t “how to {insert topic}” posts a little tired and presumptuous anyway?

Have you ever outsourced a project you knew was better left to an expert?

Note: All joking aside, if you’re interested in gardening and don’t know where to begin, contact your area Master Gardener chapter, or look into local University/college extension programs. They are a wealth of information and resources, and they are always happy to help!