My 1st Raised Bed Experience

So for 3 months now I've been planning, dreaming, and scheming how to make raised beds for my garden. When I do new projects I research it to death. I've read my favorite sites like homegrown, and some of my inspiration blogs for ideas. I googled, and priced out online kits. I talked to my boss, my friends, and so on. 

Finally it was time to stop thinking and do it. So my 1st trip to Lowes I slipped in starting in the garden center and slowly walked my way through the store through every section I knew and felt comfortable in. Then I was at the part of the store that was a foreign world to me Lumber! The Lumber section is huge with stacks of wood in neat piles for 4 aisles. Now for those that know me I can't walk away from a good innuendo and me in a wood department is over load. The 1st trip I didn't ask questions, just walked around quietly trying not to look as out of place as I felt. I noticed the wood size I had planned on was nowhere in sight but I found 12 foot by 2 foot untreated boards. I apologizes if I'm not give the proper measurements I know nothing about building stuff in fact I think I have a mental block of fear to the whole subject. Maybe it is flash backs to algebra which I hated and struggled in, maybe it's my dyslexia who knows whatever it is it gets to me. My friend Drew and CSA garden partner says I don’t think in the “4^th Dimension” (brownie points for anyone who gets the reference. Admittedly I didn’t get where he got it but after he explained it hit me…Good Luck on your guesses.)  Seeing the lumber kind of helped me visualize what I was trying to do I had my mental picture  it is a 5 foot by 2 foot bed!  So once I knew where the 12 foot pieces were located and the price I B-lined back to the garden center to price out soil, peat moss, and fertilizer.  I also tried to Google how much dirt for a raised bed which nightmare of nightmares is algebra equation! So, one of my most hated things had to be used to figure out how much to buy.  I will admit that I used the equation but grumbled through it.  Mind you this proves how much I over think things I did all of this as a research run and never bought anything on this trip.

Three days later I went back with the cavalry my mom and the farm truck to haul my project pieces home. I was still a bit worried to now have to buy and build, but I wanted my raised beds dang it so vidi veni vici! I came in the lumber door this time walking right in with the 1^st cart I could find and the loudest cart there was. It was so loud that when I asked for help walking in they could not hear me over the squeal of the wheels.  I checked in at the lumber section help desk which had 3 people standing there but none of them could help so someone had to be called to come help me select my wood and cut it. So I waited and dreaded trying to explain what my project was if I was going to have someone who minded how lost I was, and so on.

 Eventually a nice 20 something year old man came up to help. He was very quite spoken and flat expressioned but willing to help. Lord he had no idea what he was walking into with me as a customer, I explained to him I had never got Wood before, didn’t know what I was doing, and didn’t know size or girth. Stating that I started to chuckle as I do at my own jokes, and he started turning red.  I went on that I didn’t know how to measure it, or what I should be looking for. This poor guy kept a straight face walked me to the 12 footers helped me pick them out and cut them.  After all that work on his part I wasn’t done I needed to know if it was better to screw my wood or nail it another sentence that as I said it I grinned. That poor guy…

 Once I had my wood, dirt, and supplies I came home then Drew came over to help me line up the boxes. We worked and laughed as I told him the tale of Lowes. Then I realized the nails I bought were way to small the guy at Lowes told me I should be good with 2 ½ inch nails.  Which after hammering a couple out just didn’t hold anything together. Even with the idea of another Lowes trip I felt so much relief getting everything laid out for the 1^st time I knew what and where and how this project was working out. That is such a great feeling. I got 3 ½ inch nails the next day then came home after work to finish hammering out the 3 boxes. Stained, and prepped them let them sit for a day then set them in their places and filled and planted them!  

 I have to send a special Thank You’s on this project to Kathryn, Drew, and the quite Lowes guy. Now I want to build 3 more beds! I’m so hooked, moral of my story no matter how head shy of a project you are you can do it!

 

{Didn't I find nice wood? :0)}