And so it begins....

Ta-dah! Our first box is built!!! My boyfriend is working on #2 now - grid construction would be next week. Now I just need the weather to warm up a bit so I can get to the fun part!

Jenn

Wow, nice box there. Very fancy. It looks like you'll be having fun this summer.

I am starting with you! We made 5 boxes yesterday. And picked most of the weeds out of the new garden place. Still recovering Raining today so hoping to take a little nap.

I will mix my "soil" and do my grids this week, the kids are on spring break so I will have helpers, hoping to plant a few things this next weekend. Lettuce, peas, etc.

Sandy

Hi Jenn,

Thanks for posting pictures. If you want to post full size pictures that are located in your personal album, open the pic in your album, underneath it is the code: BBCode of the Picture

Paste that into your post it will look like this

Code:

[url=http://squarefoot.forumotion.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-vfclead/Our-first-SFG-Box-003-pic_122.htm][img]http://squarefoot.forumotion.com/users/2912/12/27/03/album/101_0412.jpg[/img][/url]



and the pic posted will be:






One question for you: Is that particle board that you are using for the box bottom? If it is, I recommend replacing it with plywood. Particle board will absorb moisture, begin to swell, and then disintegrate.

Happy gardening

Thanks all! He finished box 2 just as the sky started to spit. Good timing!

@Boffer -- the wood on the bottom is just part of my boyfriend's workbench. The bottom will be a mesh wire (to keep out the critters) and garden cloth (to keep the mix in) laid directly on the cleared ground.

Jenn

Those boxs look great jenn grats keep us posted on the upcoming days as things keep going

was about to say the same thing boffer did about the particle board but he beat me to it

Gorgeous!

@vfclead wrote: the wood on the bottom is just part of my boyfriend's workbench.
Jenn

LOL I was debating whether to suggest drilling drain holes in the 'bottom'! Glad I didn't!

ohh, i likey!

Wow. That looks great. Now I'm questioning my skills.
I built a new 3'x3' box this weekend with my son, which my daughter promptly painted green. Mine was a very basic design and looks pretty sad compared to yours. Guess I need a girlfriend who enjoys woodworking.

Very nice! I keep seeing all these beautiful boxes and feeling self conscious about my yucky old pallet tops boxes. It ain't easy bein green i guess.

Those boxes look outstanding. You both should be very proud of them. Now go fill them with a bunch of green stuff!

I especially like the framing on the top, nice touch. It looks pretty and can also serve as a little sitting area while you work the bed. If your like me you wish it was just full of big beautiful plants overnight, but I know it doesn't work that way. Guess the anticipation is half the fun of it all tho

Those are some gorgeous boxes. Boyfriend sounds nice too! That's good he's helping you. My husband is already salvating just looking at my zuc seeds.

@jerzyjen wrote:Very nice! I keep seeing all these beautiful boxes and feeling self conscious about my yucky old pallet tops boxes. It ain't easy bein green i guess.

I think it doesn't matter what it's made of, as long as we are doing it! I think everything we can to do practice the three R's makes a difference. I'm starting with Pallet's. May have to upgrade eventually but will use "free" wood or just make new ones with pallets.

Amy is right, what our beds are made of
is secondary to the growing of our own food. I've seen some gorgeous
boxes and frames on this forum, some skillfully made from the finest
materials, others from what we could find to put together...from 5
gallon buckets to cement blocks...all are beautiful! Use
what you can find, fill it, plant it and it will grow. And then we eat!
In my little
corner I've one old ceramic (antique) utility sink, and two old cement
sinks, all filled with strawberries in fruit, an oak half barrel with
cilantro and onions, besides the wooden boxes we built with scrap lumber
for the other veggies.

My new beds in my old horse pasture will
be framed with the bricks my Dad has stacked around his place, until we
can get some termite proof material to frame the beds with.

Other than using TREX artificial decking material, anyone have suggestions for termite proof boxes? The bricks we are starting with can't be permanent (I promised my Dad I'd put them right back where I got them from!)

Sanded all the pencil marks and lumber grade markings off and sealed the wood with a tinted sealer. Also made the grids out of a spare 2x4 I had. I have since changed the grids to have 16 compartments obviously laid out in a 4 x 4 pattern. It turned out pretty good after some sanding.

Dirt will get mixed and they will be set up this weekend. A custom potting bench will be made to go adjacent to these gardens. The potting bench will be made partly out of the treated wood I originally bought for the garden beds. I've since found several things saying not to use treated wood for gardens due to toxic elements in the wood. Due to that fact I have a bunch of treated wood left over. More pics in the upcoming weeks.

Very nice! Can one have "raised bed envy?"

The beds look absolutely lovely, cant wait to see the bench...:-)

Ta dah -- boxes are done, lined with mesh to keep the critters below out and garden cloth to keep the grass and weeds out. I picked up Vermiculite and Peat Moss Friday and we found 3 types of Compost today (that was actually the hardest part, who knew it would be so hard to find compost!). Tomorrow we mix up the soil and put in the broccoli plants we picked up when we were out searching for compost. I sure hope my Burpee order shows up soon!!!


Big honkin' bag of Vermiculite...


Peat Moss...


3 types of Compost


The final resting place for our SFG - gets lot's of sun!

They are awesome! I can't wait to see them planted!!!

Well I spent a couple hours of shoveling today. First I spread a wheel barrow of top soil under the boxes to semi level the ground. Then mixing up the types of compost, then stiring up peat moss and water and finally mixing peat moss, vermiculite and the compost mix together. I was mixing it up in small bathes at a time(5 gal bucket of each) due to space and I didn't have a huge tarp. I got the first one mixed, filled and leveled with a 2x4. I went inside to take a break and came out about 20 minutes later to find my dog got in it and dug holes and kicked a bunch of the mix out of the box. She kept munching on the compost and had her nose sniffing around the dirt all day. I suspect I will have more issues with the dog and the garden then with rabbits or other wild animals in suburbia.


Here's a pic of the devil looking for something to get into next. I guess barking at the lawn mower isn't fulfilling enough.

Your beds look great!! You did a very nice job on them.
Your little one looks like a real pistol....good luck with that!

Nice box you have here. Will be looking forward on your updates.

Its so nice to see a new, eager gardener getting into the soil.
You'll love growing your own food. It tastes divine and you feel fulfilled.
Good job.

Well here's the start of the potting bench I mentioned. I would of had it complete today but I had an incident earlier this week when I started working on it. In the middle of a cut my saw died. I was able to order a part for the motor that arived today so I got it running and got back to work. I will try to get some wood for the top and shelves and try to finish tommorow.

Here's my progress so far: