Vegetable Garden Project

Have I lost my mind? Well, quite possibly. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I might have had a spontaneous concussion which has led me to have an obsessive need to plant a vegetable garden. Maybe in the fantasy world in my head it looked easy and quite satisfying. It's time to find out. I have embarked on this possibly insane journey but I have made up my mind to see it through until the end...even if it almost kills me! Although I've never heard of death by planting a garden. Unless my garden turns into some kind of horror movie. Ha-ha.
     So I started by building raised garden beds. Since my gardening time is so limited I decided to do one at a time. That is, dig and weed, build one, plant in it, and then go to the next one. I figured I wanted four beds but if I only got two or three done at least something would get planted. Now the growing...well that's another story. I don't really have much experience in gardening. Really, I'm a beginner. Aside from herbs in pots and the occasional fern, I have never had my own vegetable garden. My mom had one growing up and my dad worked in agriculture for many years, so I would like to think something rubbed off. When I was young my dad and I would be driving down a road and he would quiz me on what veggie was growing in the fields. I got really good at identifying each one just at a glance in a moving car. But that was years ago. And I didn't plant them.
     I did some research online and everything suggested I make a list of what I want to plant and also a plan of my to-be garden. It was a good idea. So I measured the area I wanted to plant in and drew up a plan. Given that I went to Interior Design school it was easy to draw up. But if you don't have that experience, measure the space and just draw some boxes in. That was done, so now the real work.
     First let me explain the method to my madness...I wanted beds that were 4'x8' and portable (since this is a temporary living situation I'd like to be able to take them with me when I move). I went to Lowe's and bought 3-2x8x8 Green Douglas Fir boards. I had one cut in half (4').  I opted for the Douglas Fir because my local store didn't have Cedar. The "Green" means that it has not been treated with any chemical which can leach into the soil and subsequently into the veggies. I think it will last long enough since Southern California has a basically mild climate.
     The whole back yard was filled with weeds. After about two weeks of watering to soften the soil I got to digging and weeding the area. Whew! Talk about a workout! I did patch by patch. Once I had the area dug up, soil loose and weeded, I put in my boards. This was a bit hard, trying to get them straight and level, but I did. Now, I didn't put brackets, screws or nails to hold the beds together (remember, portability) but I may put some corner brackets or L-brackets on later. They seem to be sturdy enough now. I would recommend that you do put brackets if you plan on keeping the beds in the same place for a long time.

     Once the boards were in I added a bag of soil booster (a soil that has compost and nutrients added to it).   I used GreenAll , since I'm going organic. Luckily my soil already had a good mix of sand and clay and what seemed like a bit of mulch in places. The amendment can only make it better. Once it was nice and mixed in I got to planting! That was fun. I carefully planted everything I wanted in that bed and watered. Presto! 3 hours later, I had ONE raised bed...only three more to go...sigh! If this doesn't work out, I can always start my own chain gang.

The Plan

Dig a trench wide and deep enough to fit board.

Put your brackets where the boards meet to hold the frame sturdy

I chose to omit the brackets in order to keep it portable. I may still add them later if i feel it necessary.

Add your Soil Booster if needed and mix well then level the soil.

Now you can start planting your plants!

Here's a pic of my first bed and what I planted in it.