How Mojo Built His New Raised Beds

[Mojo]

So I moved. And my new place had no vegetable beds but tons of space. But then my wife said, "You are NOT turning the entire back yard into a farm plot!" So we talked. And talked. And we decided that I would make raised beds because a) I'm tired of getting grief from my master gardener pals about going flat (especially in this clay-bound area, my constant amending notwithstanding); and b) I'm basically ripping up established St. Augustine so I need to have some height in the form of boards to hold them at bay.

Step One: made a master matrix and decided that I could only have four beds without obstructing my view of the lake out back. Also realized I had to leave space for the fruit trees I'm planting, and that the beds would have to be widely spaced so a big mower could pass between.
Step Two: I figured I could build 30' beds with a width of 3.5' and I could work on them without having to walk inside and get my feet muddy. This would mean close to 270' of perimeter to build.
Step Three: Mr. Calculator and I had a discussion with Mr. Bankbook, with a special call-in from Mr. Lower Back. While cinder blocks would have been marginally cheaper, they would have been much more difficult to handle (no direct access for a delivery truck = many loads to be moved a long distance by barrow). 2x10 untreated boards it is! (Yes, I'll probably have to rebuild in a few years, but the hardware should still be good.)
Step Four: get out the tiller and tape and begin creating the beds
Step Four-A: give up on tiller as too slow and inefficient (will need to make multiple passes to ensure grass kill), go and rent sodcutter, use sod to fill spots in front yard.
Step Five: Go to Lowe's, spend money. I ended up ordering 16' timbers, and then somehow 3' 6" got executed as 3' 2.4", so my beds are 32' x3.2' x10". Also ordered 224 5/16x1 lag bolts, 32 6" corner brackets, 16 12" Simpson ties, and eight 3"x6" mending plates.
Step Six: hire nephew to come help me assemble frames. Two brackets per corner, six bolts per bracket; plus two ties on each side to connect the long timbers (along with two lag bolts and six 10d nails per tie). This took all day. Wisely we left the ends off each bed to facilitate the wheeling in of the dirt.
Step Seven: order dirt. ("And get the good dirt so you won't be cursing in a few years about lousy dirt and weed seeds!")
Step Eight: rehire nephew the following weekend to move dirt. It took us forty loads of an 8.5CF dump cart to fill the beds, and about six more to level nicely the next day. Only the first bed (tiller only) got the cardboard treatment. The rest I didn't worry about because I used a sodcutter and took out the fun layer (and then I ran the tiller over it anyway).


PICS!!! Here is my favorite helper assisting with the final touches. There are four beds total, we've only planted the one so far.

[Farmette]

Looking forward to your pix...what lake are you near?

[Mojo]

I back up onto a private lake in my local subdivision. Big catfish back there, also the odd gator.

[Farmette]

Gator...oh boy!

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Mojo

...also the odd gator.

Are the gators odd enough to like tomatoes?