Woodworking — The Starter Nest

This summer I was dead-set on improving my sad and neglected backyard with a proper garden. I split the small suburban yard in two halves, this side being the edible garden side in raised beds and the other side some hanging planter boxes (see those here) and a flower garden.

I hated the red square pavers which took up the majority of the space, and removed all those except the ones I used as a base for the raised boxes. They did serve two purposes - to level the boxes on a solid base and blocking out the gophers.

The first step involved using painters’ tape to mark out the shape of the boxes and take measurements. I planned to make these boxes wide and 16in tall to maximize my limited space, so I added a set of small stairs to get up into the boxes. After the large box was marked out, I relocated the unneeded pavers to make a base for the smaller rear box. Next was acquiring and cutting lumber and supplies.

I used quite a few 12’x6”x2” and 10’x6”x2” boards of Douglas fir for this build, but planned out the build so there was very little left over. My longest side was just shy of 11 feet long and the design I chose only involved one angled cut for the smaller rear box, to run along the diagonal portion of the fence. Each of the original pavers was 15 1/2” square, so that made it easy to measure the box sides.

When selecting materials, it’s important to do your research and choose materials which will last outdoors but also are food safe. There is some debate among sources about which sealants (if any) are acceptable and effective for food growing garden beds. I reviewed the options and decided on a particular deck sealant which I was comfortable with using and let it thoroughly dry and cure before adding any soil to the boxes. It is important to review all options and decide for yourself what you are comfortable with for you and your family - for me, I found this option acceptable.

I attached the boards together with deck screws at the outer corners and metal corner braces at the inside corners. The boards were also attached together with a liberal coating of Liquid Nails, which added a lot of strength. The seams were filled with a line of clear exterior caulking to prevent water and soil loss and to seal the stairs.

The rear bed also assembled and treated with the stain and sealant, I installed the panel trellises (I found a great deal on a pack of 16 on Amazon and used all of them between these two beds) along the most of the perimeter of the front box and 2 sides of the rear smaller box. I also assembled and installed a trellis arch to bridge the two boxes. A big element of maximizing the space in my small garden was using as much vertical space as possible.

The panel trellises were attached to the side walls of the boxes to keep them evenly spaced and straight vertical. This was done with loop tie downs on either side of the trellis frames. Those tie downs are covered in soil, but I’m happy I did them since it really kept everything in place.

Next was soil. I did a lot of research in preparation for this build and the main thing that kept coming back up over and over was to invest in good soil. The price tag for the 5 cubic yards of soil I needed in individual branded bags from the hardware store’s garden center was painfully high and labor intensive. However, I visited a local landscape supplier of soil and stone and found a much better soil mix for about half the price! This is absolutely what I would recommend as you are more likely to get a quality soil and have the chance to support a local business.

I did half topsoil, on the bottom of the box for stability, and the “Super Veggie” mix of certified organic compost, lava rock for water retention, perlite, and coco coir in a premium soil. Now that the plants are growing I definitely can see the difference that the good soil makes. The first watering took much more than I expected as the retention rate was much better than I expected, so I actually killed off a few transplants by drying them out when I was only wetting the top few inches of soil. After I added more water everything grew amazingly!

The movement of the soil was solid manual labor - small cart and spade driven to my driveway to fill and the through the garage to the back yard to put into the boxes. The buckets became necessary when the cart couldn’t fit back to the rear box and I needed to carry and dump. Overall, it was 3 days of moving dirt after work, but wasn’t as bad as I was dreading. The remaining bonus soil was spread over the rest of the yard for the new flower garden.

Now that the beds are finished and planted, I am happy to finally be enjoying my backyard. This season I am watering by hand, but in the future I think I’ll install an automatic system once the flower garden is in and I have finalized the configuration of everything.

I am taking thorough notes on the heirloom varieties I planted, and plan to provide reviews for all of them at the end of the growing season after I can assess their growth, yield, and tastiness!

This project wast the first step to enjoying more homemade food - including learning to do canning, pickling, and making sauces. So excited!