Not abandoning hydroponics by any means, I decided to try to go organic this season with a raised bed. I built mine 2 ft. by 12 ft. to go along the edge of a patio.

Construction, after a bit of design brainstorming, was fairly straightforward, and I was filling it up with soil in about an hour and a half.

I used 6’x5.5″x5/8″ cedar fenceboards. Corners are pressure treated 12″ 2x4s screwed perpendicular to 12″ 2x6s. Bottoms of 2x6s have 3/8″ holes drilled 5″ deep into which 12″ 3/8″ re-bar is inserted. These will serve to stake the box to the ground. Due to the 12 ft. length, center supports made of 12″ 2x6s, again with the re-bar, tie the 6 ft. sections together in the middle. There’s some very minor bowing at the middle, so I may or may not add something across the top, front to back, to pull it in line. 1-1/4″ galvanized screws attach ends of cedar boards to insides of corners and center connectors, 1″ down from tops of corner pieces so another layer can be stacked on top later if desired. 6 mil plastic sheeting lines the inside walls, but not the bottom– two layers of heavy cardboard are laid out in the bottom to shut out the grass.

The local organic nursery delivered a yard and a half of organic garden mix in a super sack. Really nice stuff, and with the surplus, I’ll have enough to beef up the beds in front of the house and fill another 6×6 foot raised bed . Plus, I have the compost pile going since last summer, and a worm bin that puts out some really good stuff for fertilizer.