Raised Bed Gardening, Part One

Looks like it'll be warm enough to put those tomatoes in the ground in early May... er, which is just a week away! Always one to do things at the last minute, I spent the weekend putting in the two raised beds.

First step:  Deciding Placement & Size
I'd like to say that I spent lots of time finding the perfect location for the raised beds, but really there was only one spot to put 'em (the empty side yard), and they could only be so big.  I did check to see how much direct sunlight the beds would get, and it amounts to about 4.75 hours that the entire bed is covered... tomatoes need 6, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Who knows, maybe the plants will branch out enough to gather a few more rays.

Anyway, the rules to go by:
- Bed can be as long as you want, but no more than 4 feet wide (makes it hard to reach into the center)
- Keep 3 feet of space minimum between beds, so that there's enough space for you to comfortably get in between beds for easy harvesting
- Place in area not shaded by trees/houses/fencing, on level ground


Second Step:  Acquire the Parts
Here's what we found at Ace Hardware, for 2 2'x5' beds:
- Redwood 2"x6" boards (redwood is rot-resistant, which is important, and also lovely)... cut into 4 5' and 4 2' pieces
- Redwood 1"x1" post... cut into 8 6" pieces
- Wood screws... 32 (4 per corner)
- Copper tape... 2 rolls (for a slug barrier)

A little something like this

Third Step:  Assembly
As luck would have it, my husband morphed into his hunky and shirtless alter-ego, Man With Power Tools, and swooped in to save the day.  I would have just screwed the boards together, which leads to instability.

Husband's words of wisdom:
- Revv the Power Tool, cackle maniacally
- Arrange your wood... use a support post in the corners, or metal brackets for extra support
- Drill guide holes for the screws... smaller than the width of the screws (this'll keep the wood from splitting, and will keep the screw straight as it enters the wood)
- Guzzle some homemade Perfect Sun Tea which was prepared for the occasion
- Screw in the screws... 2-inch wood screws (we had some left over from the dismantling of our old bed)
- Apply copper tape around top edge to prevent slugs & snails from eating all your veggies
- Rejoice!

 The posts go here!

I think the copper tape adds just the right hint of steampunk.

Stay tuned for more raised bed stuff, for the next post will be how to fill your bed... it's a lot more complicated than one would think!