Bill & Judy’s Garden: It’s all about Beds

In the last two weeks, Bill & Judy took advantage of sunny days and built four beds for growing vegetables and herbs. While I love gardening, I am no carpenter or even close to being handy…I still don’t know the difference between a Philip’s screwdriver and the other one. Luckily, two handy people who know what they’re doing built the beds. Kudos to Judy for being pretty darn handy. Let’s go step-by-step and see just how they built four raised beds for their brand new garden.

Supplies
Linseed oil
Sprayer or cloths
Sides: 2” X 6” X 12’ boards for the sides, as many as needed
Ends: Ends of the beds were built to be four feet across
Corner stakes: 2” X 4” X 36”
Each finished bed will measure 4 feet across, 12 feet long, and 12 inches deep.
Hardware: 2 ½” deck screws
Tools: Circular saw, level, string for positioning level, sledgehammer, regular hammer, screw gun, bar clamps, wheelbarrow, and cooler
Refreshment: A six pack of your favorite beer
The number or amount of supplies needed depends on the number of beds being built and how thirsty the builders get.

Building the Beds
1. Place beer in cooler along with plenty of ice

2. Before building, Bill and Judy treated the lumber with boiled linseed oil. You can find linseed oil at your local hardware store. Apply the linseed oil with a cloth or by spraying. Bill sprayed the boards and then relaxed with a beer while the boards sat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, he wiped the boards with a cloth, removing excess oil.

3. Now the fun really starts. Bill & Judy cut boards to the following dimensions: 2” X 6” X 12’ with the result being double stacked beds achieving the height of 12 inches. Each bed took between 2 ½ to 3 hours to build plus beer breaks.

4. After building the beds, they took them to the garden to be positioned. Stacking two beds created the 12 inch depth. Once the position of the bed satisfied them, they cleated the two beds together. Finally, a corner stake was hammered into the ground until the top was flush with the bed.

Filling with Soil
Bill & Judy ordered ten tons of soil from a local source allowing approximately 2 tons of soil per bed. The soil mixture consisted of topsoil, mulch, and humus. They added any remaining soil to the sweet corn patch.

The topsoil was dumped near the beds to eliminate a long trek from soil mound to beds. The backbreaking work of loading up a wheelbarrow of soil and unloading into the beds took the couple around ten days to complete.

Thoughts
The next time Bill & Judy build a bed they’ve decided to kill the grass first with an herbicide like Round-Up. Renting a Bobcat to move ten tons of soil from pile to bed would alleviate nights dealing with back pain and get the job done quicker, saving money on beer.

I arrived just as the last bit of dirt was being added to the last bed. The pile of dirt didn’t look so intimidating, but I wasn’t leaning on a shovel while massaging my lower back with my other hand. The four beds look great. Congratulations, Bill & Judy…your garden is off to a good start. I can’t wait to photograph the rewards of your hard work later this summer. I’ll be around soon to take a few photos of your fledgling plants, so have a beer ready…oh and I prefer a frosty mug, please. One more thing… if you could provide a comfy chair and…

Bill & Judy’s Garden: Raising the Beds

Just the Basics Folks

There are gardens of all kinds, some folks bring in top soil and mix it with the existing soil. Some gardeners opt to create a garden in containers. Other green thumbers take the time to build raised beds and that’s exactly what Bill & Judy did. Starting from scratch gave them a wealth of choices, but they decided upon raised beds that were tall enough to decrease the time spent in back aching positions. How did they do it? Read on for the basics of building raised beds.

Why Raise Beds?
The obvious answer to this question is that there’s less bending over when it comes to planting, weeding, and harvesting. Bill made his beds high enough that he can sit on a garden buddy ( I don’t know the actual name so I made one up), a wheeled bench with a compartment under the seat for storing garden tools, and do garden chores. According to Bill, the only thing missing on the rolling gardening seat is a holder for beer and maybe larger wheels for smoother rolling down the path.

Beyond the creature comforts for gardeners, raised beds offer solid benefits to plants. Drainage is not a problem with raised beds. Rain and watering, when needed, leeches through the soil, without becoming super saturated causing plants to stand around with their feet in water, something that most plants do not like.

Heavy garden equipment and even footsteps compact the ground in a garden. Raised beds keep the soil aerated and friable providing necessary air around the roots of plants.

Square-inch gardening or getting the most for the allotted space is much easier to achieve in raised beds where soil, fertilizer, and mulching can be controlled.

It’s possible to double the output of your raised garden.

Raised gardens look great in the yard. A well-planned and executed raised bed garden adds structural appeal and organization.

Believe it or not, plants grown in a raised bed poke out of the garden quicker or earlier and last longer into fall. Plants surrounded by wood, stone, or whatever the chosen medium receive just enough warmth to extend the growing season.

Materials for Raised Beds
What you use to frame your raised beds is a matter of taste. Before you decide, take a look at your yard and the style of your home. Creating a seamless look that embodies your personal style will keep you happy for years to come.

Almost anything can be used to form the beds: cement blocks, brick, stone, old railroad ties and of course, wood. Stay away from chemically treated wood, especially in a vegetable or herb garden where the intended use of plants is for eating. Creosote drenched railroad ties are better left out of your yard.

The Design
Again, the design of the beds is up to you. Most beds are laid out in geometric shapes of squares, rectangles, and L-shapes. You decide the size of your bed by making it appropriate to your yard. Keep in mind that you’ll want to be able to reach to at least the middle of the bed to pluck that plump red tomato. The length and depth is up to you. Take into consideration that most plants need a root zone of 6 to 12 inches.

Now that you know the basic basics, we’ll be checking in on the progress of Bill & Judy and their garden.

Garden Beginnings

As the world faces economic woes, individuals and families are doing their part to lighten the fiscal load. Grocery shopping puts a big dent into the budget and with soaring prices, opting to start a garden gets people back to nature. There have been surveys and articles written concerning the cost of gardening versus buying, but beyond the cost is knowing exactly what you’re putting on the table. If you’re a first-time gardener, getting started may seem daunting. You will have trials, tribulations, and triumphs. You will get dirt beneath your fingernails, a sore back, and joy from watching seedlings sprout.

My brother and his wife, Bill & Judy, are starting a garden from scratch. Follow along as I give weekly updates sharing with you building raised beds and how their garden grows.

Location, Location, Location
Let’s start with the location. A successful garden begins with a location conducive to growing. Your garden needs:

1. A level location.


2. At least six hours of sun each day.


3. Well-drained area. Plants with their feet wet tend to wither and turn yellow.


4. Rich soil.


5. A handy water supply.


6. As weed-free as possible. Do not to resort to using pesticides or herbicides to kill weeds, instead find a location well away from existing weeds. Remove sod before planting seeds and plants.

Preparing the Garden Location
Before you can plant, you need to layout your garden. Decide how large you want it to be. Will you build raise beds or add amenities to your existing soil? Take a sample of soil to your county’s Cooperative Extension office. You can find the closest Cooperative Extension office to you by using this site.

Go the do-it-yourself route with a soil testing kit from a garden center.

After testing the soil, you’ll receive a printout of the composition of your soil and what you need to do to make it fertile and ready for planting.

Garden Layout
How your garden looks is up to you. Most vegetables gardens are rectangular and lined with rows of vegetables. There’s the four square layout with paths running between beds, the three sister method of planting corn, beans, and squash, and whatever shape and size suits you and your yard.

Bill & Judy’s Garden
Bill & Judy decided on raised beds. After choosing the best location that met all the criteria, they measured out four rectangles using string and sticks. A can of orange paint marked the grass providing a guide for digging.

Once all four beds were marked off and the soil dry enough, Bill & Judy took turns tilling the ground. You may opt to spade off the top sod first and then till the soil. Once the soil was turned over, they plucked out grass and allowed the soil to dry.