Building the raised bed

After several tries at a garden, I finally gave up on our terrible soil. So today we built our first raised bed!  I decided to make this one 12" tall so I could perhaps use it as a cold frame, or at least get a really early start in the spring; it is on the south side of the house and quite sheltered. 

 I had to clear and level our 8x3 plot. (I was sweating it out later when we put the frame in to check for levels...I was spot on!! A true miracle, for sure!)

Here are most of our materials. (Our composter is in the background.)













Terry is putting together the frame. It is made from cedar 1x12s with doubled 2x3s in the corners and screwed together.

Now he is putting in 3/4 inch PVC pipe to hold the hoops over the top.

Next we attached wire mesh to the bottom...to deter all our little underground critters!

Trimming the excess wire mesh.

Here's the finished frame, complete with hoops (1/2 inch PEX tubing--it is more flexible than PVC and was a lucky find because we didn't have a clue what we were looking for!). We may cut them down some--right now it looks rather like a conestoga wagon! We'll either put plastic over the top and sides to protect from freezing or use shade cloth  in really hot weather. They are easily removable.





Tomorrow, if it isn't raining we'll start working on the soil!