Over spring break our family built new raised beds. It was such a fun project, and the whole family pitched in. Our old raised beds had rotted out after about 5 years of use. They were only 7 inches tall. We decided to make the new beds 10 inches higher. Must be the old woman in me – I really appreciate not having to bend down so far. Raised beds are great in that respect.
Building raised beds is a bit of a time and money commitment. But they are so rewarding when you consider how much more produce you get. We are hoping that the plants will be able to grow even deeper roots in the taller boxes.
In the photos you can see the boards of our old beds. They rotted because we used plain untreated wood. I was a bit sad to see my old garden gate getting dismantled. But I am very happy about the new beds. The new raised beds are made of redwood.
Of course, they are not treated with chemicals either, yet they are supposed to last a lifetime. The wood was a bit more expensive but hopefully we don’t have to rebuild again in five years.
We built a total of four boxes. It cost us about $300 (for planks of redwood, new fenceposts, and screws) and three days of labor. That includes the time it took to take out the old beds.
We covered one of the beds with old storm windows we found in our basement. Now the beds work like a miniature greenhouse. On warm days we take the windows off and let the sunshine warm the bed. During the last 3 winterstorms we closed the bed up to shield our small seedlings from the cold and ice.
The children had fun using power tools to help build them. I am looking forward to the spinach, Swiss chard, and Kale already growing. Check out our first little seedlings! I can’t wait to plant more stuff.
I am getting ready to be in a local art show. It’s been a while since I exhibited my work at Madison& Main gallery. It’s a wonderful artist coop, and if you are in the vicinity make sure you check it out. I figured my little garden fairy would go nicely with this post. Maybe she can sprinkle some magic fairy dust to make our plants grow faster. If you would like to meet this sweet Garden Fairy in person you will find her after May 1rst at Madison & Main. Unfortunately I’ll have to miss the grand opening of this show since I’ll be traveling in Germany by then.
So cool! Thanks for sharing this!
Awesome, how fun to be able grow such yummy and healthy things!
your new garden beds are lovely! Your doll is beautiful too, congrats on the show!
Thanks for the lovely comments! I just made my first salad with the Kale we grew in our new beds. It was so yummy!
http://germandolls.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-rage-kale-salad.html