Not exactly fine woodworking but.....

[Terry Hatfield]

Cheryl and I love to garden but we like it as easy as possible. Raised beds make gardening life much better. We have control of the soil content and the pathways are covered with heavy mil plastic with mulch so the weeds don't win. We also have irrigation to all the beds. I'm a lazy gardener but it takes some work to get to the easy part.

We built this raised bed garden many years ago and it's in dire need of a major renovation. I've added more mulch and build some new beds over the years but this year is a major overhaul. I spent last Saturday scraping out the bulk of the mulch from the walkways. I'm going to remove the rest of it and the plastic underneath and start all over.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1513/24233848293_15867ca484_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/CVsNNz)

There are 11- 4'x4' beds and all of them are past the point of no return.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1652/24860691525_4fd9028f0e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DSRxsv)

Trip to my local Meeks lumberyard this morning netted me 22 - 8' doug fir 2x12's. Over to Lowes for 6 - doug fir 4x4's.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1662/24742816672_26db5111ed_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DGrpns)

Little time at the miter saw and we're ready to start building. I'm trying a couple of new things with these boxes including sealing all the end grain with Titebond II. We'll see if that helps them last a little longer.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1589/24860691885_642cbb9ff6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DSRxyH)

I'm assembling the boxes with 3" #6 deck screws and construction adhesive. I've just screwed the boxes together previously without the 4x4's in the corners. This seems like a much better method.

Beats me how anybody builds anything with dimensional lumber. Virtually no two boards are the same dimension. Good thing it's not furniture. lol... I used a couple screws in each corner to keep the 2x's aligned and then attached the 4x4's in the corners with more screws after slathering them with construction adhesive.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1555/24860691985_56a94c97d4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DSRxAr)

Sooooo.... 22 - 2x12's, 6 - 4x4's. 1 bottle of glue, 4 tubes of construction adhesive and 350 3" deck screws later we have 11 new boxes.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1461/24834435976_a9bf6dc966_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DQwYAC)

Next weekend the real fun begins. I have to shovel enough dirt out of each old box to remove the wood and replace with the new ones and then reverse the procedure...11 times. If anyone would like to come over I have an extra shovel. :D

[Andrew Hughes]

Looks nice Terry if you add another 2x on top you'll have a nice place to sit and lean into the garden.

[Jim Andrew]

How many years did you get from the old boards?

[Terry Hatfield]

Looks nice Terry if you add another 2x on top you'll have a nice place to sit and lean into the garden.

We've considered that but it doesn't take very long until the plats are at or overhanging the edges so not sure how much good we would get in the long run from the top boards.

[Terry Hatfield]

Jim,

Been getting 5 - 6 years or so from the doug fir boxes built with no sealer and just screwed in the corners. The rot always starts from the end grain which blows the corners apart. I soaked the long boxes that I'm still using with Thompson's water seal but that doesn't seem to me making much of a difference. They are 5 years old and hoping to get a few more years out of them. I'm thinking that the end grain seal and the 4x4's in the corners will help us get a few more years.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Jim,

Been getting 5 - 6 years or so from the doug fir boxes built with no sealer and just screwed in the corners. The rot always starts from the end grain which blows the corners apart. I soaked the long boxes that I'm still using with Thompson's water seal but that doesn't seem to me making much of a difference. They are 5 years old and hoping to get a few more years out of them. I'm thinking that the end grain seal and the 4x4's in the corners will help us get a few more years.

Your boxes look great. Here in Texas, I can get dimensional cedar dirt cheap. It works well for my raised beds. I just pulled up a couple of boxes that I put down in 2009, they are still structurally sound.

[Terry Hatfield]

Your boxes look great. Here in Texas, I can get dimensional cedar dirt cheap. It works well for my raised beds. I just pulled up a couple of boxes that I put down in 2009, they are still structurally sound.

Nice!! I can only dream of that here. I have $430.00 in these doug fir boxes. :rolleyes:

[kevin nee]

I feel your pain, I did a similar project this spring. It may not be fine woodworking but it sure is a lot of work.
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Good luck with your harvest.

[Terry Hatfield]

I feel your pain, I did a similar project this spring. It may not be fine woodworking but it sure is a lot of work.
331223 331221 331222
Good luck with your harvest.

Yup. I'd say that we are in the same boat but my boat is bigger. :)

[Terry Hatfield]

Garden boxes going in today. What a project!! The major pain is that you have to shovel most of the dirt out of the box to change out the rotten ones. We got the old mulch cleaned out and new 6 mil plastic down and 8 new boxes in with some nice new cedar mulch. Long way to go on the revamp but gaining.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1711/25154428835_2bcf1a1b7e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EjP2jT)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1562/24527574313_d8b2e1517f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Dnqeji)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1661/24786726179_293e95539b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DLjs8V)

[Terry Hatfield]

And we are done!!! What a massive bunch of shoveling. I worked on the in-betweens of the existing boxes last Saturday and we got the other 3 new boxes in today. Soooo glad to have this done.

New 6 mil plastic and the first of the 3 boxes in this area in.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1654/25419264472_70eb34ed51_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EJdnJy)

Major fun to shovel the bulk of the dirt out of the boxes being replaced into the other existing boxes and then reverse the procedure.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1557/25511669196_960c39b49a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ESnYrs)

And here is the shot I've been waiting for!!

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1522/24907265534_3f4b8622e5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/DWYfhE)

All the boxes topped off with a combination of my own wood shaving compost and some mushroom compost that I bought. Now onto the planting!!

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1469/25445033241_3e9732d534_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ELurTF)

[Jeff Monson]

Terry, I really like the boxes, nice work. But enough teasing, show us whats behind the lumber in your shop!! One looks like a mini RZR? Whats the other?

[Terry Hatfield]

Terry, I really like the boxes, nice work. But enough teasing, show us whats behind the lumber in your shop!! One looks like a mini RZR? Whats the other?

Thanks. Toys. Always have to have toys. That's my electric dragster and pit cart. The pit cart is a regular EZGO PDS golf cart on steroids. The dragster is a tube chassis with golf cart rear end and highly modified motor. It uses some golf cart body panels. Power for the dragster is 30 RC airplane LiPo battery modules. It's been 6.54 @ 99.91 mph in the 1/8th mile and currently holds the NEDRA "B" voltage class dragster world records.

Dragster...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/305/18792700783_739f3ca23a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/uCDvdt)

Pit cart...

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/10564381815_36d09ec204_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/h6xdE4)

Old school tow rig...

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5462/17750039375_9031b1ccee_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/t3vAiD)


The toys are explained better in my shop thread. There are more pics and video's in that thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?239181-Long-overdue-updated-shop-tour&highlight=

[Ray Vivian]

Terry those garden frames are awesome. That is a lot of work. My hat is off to you. Keep the good stuff growing.

[Terry Hatfield]

Terry those garden frames are awesome. That is a lot of work. My hat is off to you. Keep the good stuff growing.

Thanks Ray. The whole project is a lot of work and money for a few vegetables but Cheryl and I enjoy the garden very much. All the neighbors and friends that get in on the fresh veggies seem to like it as well. :)

[Jeff Monson]

Very nice Terry! The boxes and the dragster :)