We (okay, I) decided that this year, the vegetable garden was going to get a facelift. In the form of a raise bed! Tom was on board more so because he likes to build things than because he shares my vision of “living off the land”. (I’m still trying to convince him of how awesome it would be to clear some of our overgrown woods and put in an apple orchard).
After some debate and internet research, we (okay, I) decided (won) that cedar would be the way to go. I won’t attempt to give you a step-by-step of how we (Tom) built this thing. All I know is that I got to use the saw (powah tools!), Tom built a box with legs, and I spent most of the project working in the yard digging up some dead bulbs I planted last fall (obviously, I wouldn’t have planted them if I’d realized they were dead).
Once the building was done, we had to figure out how to level the ground where the box was going to go. This is where things got dicey/complicated/frustrating. I don’t have any pictures of this process. Or evidence of the questionable language I was hurling at the rocks embedded in the soil. I was too hot, sweaty, thirsty, dirty, and hangry to even think about grabbing my camera. After we dug for hours (not really) without much progress, we decided that the anchor stakes (legs) were too long. I swore, said I was done with this project. Tom got out his circular saw and shaved them down to a more manageable few inches. Thank goodness. Or we’d still be digging that trench in our yard.
Once we got the box “secured” in the ground, we had to shovel all the dirt back in, then top it off with a few bags each of gardening topsoil and “organic matter” (i.e. compost and manure). Then we collapsed, showered, and ordered pizza before dragging our aching bodies to bed.
But? It was worth it. Just look at that gorgeous thang! If only you could smell the cedar, too!
Oh, if you’re curious, this puppy is 6-ft long, 2-ft wide and 1-ft deep.
