Thinking Inside the Box

Since we are basically engaging in square-foot gardening, we decided raised beds were a necessity. Square-foot gardening requires controlling the growing medium to the extent that no actual dirt is involved. It also works on a grid system, which  raised beds facilitate nicely. We decided on four 8'x4' boxes this first year. I modified a design from Organic Gardening, and stole one of their photos as well. 

Note 1: except for the addition of the PVC, these boxes were actually constructed last fall. You might notice how they have already started to fade, from their original reddish hue, to their current dish-water blond, on the way to their eventual silver grey. 

Note 2: Before I forget, at least one viewer has complained that this blog doesn't align properly on Internet Explorer; please know that I don't care. Get a Mac.

I used cedar boards (certified sustainable). Each box uses three 8-foot 2x12s and an 8-foot 2x4. Cut one 2x12 in half for the ends. Cut the 2x4 into one 4-foot piece for a center brace. Cut the other 4-foot piece into four 11 1/2-inch pieces for corner supports. Attach these to each end of the 8-foot 2x12s with 2 1/2 inch deck screws. (Photo stolen from Organic Gardening)

Attach each end board using three-inch deck screws. This requires six screws, three into the 4-foot end boards, and three into the attached corner supports.

Check the box for squareness before adding the center brace.

Mark the center of each side board one inch up from the bottom.

Screw two 3-inch screws into each end of the center brace.

Attach three 11-inch pieces of PVC pipe to each side of the box using two 1-inch clamps and 1 1/2-inch deck screws

The final step is to cut three 10-foot pieces of 1/2-inch PVC to 8-foot lengths. These provide the ribs on which to drape a crop cover.