Our Raised Bed Garden DIY Kit

5/20/2020

My family and I recently began our raised bed gardening adventure and so far all I can say is it has been a very rewarding experience. In the past we have always grew a few tomatoes, some cucumbers and some onions, once we even ventured into square foot gardening. However, this time, it is less of a hobby or experiment and more of an attempt at a lifestyle change.

With the recent COVID 19 shutdown, I personally have found more time to focus on our preparedness transformation and so have my wife and kids. A recent trip to the super market was all it took for me to realize that we needed to up our game and start taking this more serious. One doesn’t have to look very long to realize that the cost of living is going up and one of the biggest expenses, food, is swiftly on the rise. There are many determining factors to this increase, inflation (brought on by the stimulus packages), high freight costs, shortage in truck drivers and reactionary hoarding or prepping due to the uncertainty of our time. Regardless of the cause, the opportunity presented itself and we have decided to change not only the way we eat, but what we eat as a family. This new change has led us to start producing more of our own vegetables and fruits.

I will be the first to say that we are not experts and are most assuredly learning as we go, but so far the journey has been fun and quite relaxing. I can personally see a de-stressing taking place with each passing day and have come to the understanding that not only is gardening cost effective it is also therapeutic.

With all of this being said, we have came up with a template to help you and your family on your gardening journey that will eliminate some trial and error and help you expedite the process. Just follow the directions below and give it a try, feel free to modify your dimensions and or replace plantings with your own personal preferences. The information below is just a template.

What you will need.

Our raised bed garden currently consists of 5 raised beds (we plan on expanding this process). The dimensions and items listed below will complete a 24 x 16 fenced in section with five (5) 4x8 raised bed gardens.

Raised Bed Material

You will need (15) 2x6 or 2x8 boards. (if you choose treated lumber, be sure that you are aware of the chemicals or process that is used to treat the lumber, if you feel comfortable proceed, if , you may want to go with untreated lumber, which has a shorter lifespan)
Screws/Nails - We recommend 2 1/2 “ inch screws instead of nails, as it will make it easier to replace damaged sections later
4 Mil Black Plastic - Purchase a roll of 4 mil plastic, this comes in rolls that when unfolded meet the dimensions of this build perfectly

Fencing Material

Five, 8 foot length 4x4’s (you will cut each of these in half giving you a total of Ten 4 foot poles
Four, 16 foot length 2x6’s or 1x6’s (these will be used to provide the bottom and top rails for the 16 foot sides of your fence)
Four, 12 foot length 2x6’s or 1x6’s (these will be used to provide the top and bottom rails for the 24 foot sides of your fence)
Screws/Nails - We recommend 2 ½ “ screws or nails
80 Feet of Chicken Wire or other suitable fencing material.

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How to build your garden.

Layout the 4Mil Plastic in the area that you want to place your garden, weigh the corners down with a rock or something to keep it from blowing away.
Construct the raised bed gardens by taking 3 of the eight foot length 2x6’s. Cut one in half and use it for the short end of your box, screw the ends together to get a 4x8 box. Be sure to use multiple screws to reinforce the frame. NOTE: We took scrap pieces of 4x4 that we had lying around and put them in corners and screwed to them, it really reinforced the frames and made the beds much stronger. (see photo)
Place the raised bed gardens on the plastic in a configuration that allows you to maneuver around each bed, be sure that each side of the box is accessible.
Now it is time to place the 4x4’s. Put one at each corner of the plastic, put one in the center of each 16 foot side and on the 24 foot side but one at 6 feet from each corner.
With the 4x4’s lying on the ground we will work on the 16 foot sides first. Take one 16 foot 1x6 or 2x6 (whichever one you chose) and screw it to the bottom of each 4x4, there should be one 4x4 at each end of the plastic and one 4x4 in the center at 8 foot
Once the bottoms are completed, then repeat the process with the tops on the 16 foot sides.
Now the 16 foot sides are done and lying on the ground.
Now have someone help you raise up one of the 16 foot sides, be sure to balance it as you are about to connect the 24 foot side of the fence to the corner of the 16 foot side of the fence.
The next step will be to take the 12 foot 1x6 or 2x6 (whichever one you chose) and connect them in the same manner on the 24 foot sides. You will have the corner posts and you will have a 4x4 attached 12 feet from each corner, giving you three posts on the 24 foot side. (If the fence seems too unstable, add a fourth post and do some cutting)
You should now have one 16 foot side standing and one 24 foot side standing, now repeat the process by connecting the 16 foot side, when done you will have a U shaped fence section with only the one side remaining.
Complete by adding the final 24 foot side.
When finished you will notice that you have two, 4x4’s remaining, use these 4x4’s to create an opening for the garden, we recommend making the gate wide enough to push a wheelbarrow through.
Final step, wrap the outside of the fence with the Chicken wire, we recommend using screws to hold down the wire because they are easier to remove.

Some of the advantages of using this method, which is very primitive, is that it does not require any hole digging and it can be done in about 2 hours. It is easy to take down, remember you used screws, and by putting the 1x6 or 2x6 boards at the bottom along the ground, it makes it very easy to trim or use a weed eater without getting clippings inside the garden area.

Although, we know this isn’t the end all be all of gardening, it is a snapshot of a simple set up that might help you and your family become more self-sufficient and don’t forget the fact that it is therapeutic.

Some other notes:
Some have asked about the plastic, in order to prevent it from holding moisture inside each box, we cut out a small section of plastic about 3 x 6 inside of each box, this allows the water to drain into the soil more effectively. Other options would be to put down a weed guard or to punch holes into the plastic to better help it drain.

*Feel free to add some corner pieces to reinforce the sturdiness of the fence if needed, you can recycle some old 2x4’s lying around to complete this task pretty effectively.

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