New Project - Rolling Raised Beds

I love gardening but don't have a huge yard.  Actually, my "yard" is the flowerbed area on each side of my huge, pointless driveway.  For the past six years, my duplex neighbors and I have gardened every inch of arable (and not-so-arable) land on our postage stamp property.  If I owned the property, I would dig up the driveway and turn the whole front of the house into a garden.  Le sigh.

To our credit, we have tried to overcome our planting space deficiency - and beautify the unused driveway - by putting out planters.  Then, a couple of years ago, my neighbor's sister built a beautiful "raised bed" on casters.  It's a little smaller than your typical 4' x 4', because it has to be light enough to wheel around the driveway if necessary:

This sad little picture was taken just after we sowed our seeds this year.  In the late spring and summer, this box is bursting with produce!  This box measures approximately 2' x 2' x 4', which I calculated holds over 1000 lbs. of topsoil, but it's still relatively easy to maneuver on the casters, if you put your back into it.  I was planning to make one or two boxes measuring 2' x 2' x 3'.  I've heard that it's best to use cedar, which is more rot-resistant than other woods, and, of course, I need untreated wood.  I priced it at Home Depot at about $80.00 for one bed - for the lumber, screws, and casters - although I'm guessing that one of the building supply recycling centers could sell me the materials for less.

In depressing news, I also learned that I could buy a 20'' x 10'' x 24'' rolling raised bed made of plastic from Home Depot for $20.00.  Leaving aside the fact that the plastic will break down over time and leach into the soil, and that it may simply crack under the weight of the soil, I find this disheartening because it undermines my belief that I can save money and make a better product by building it myself.

To leave you on a happy note, here's an idea of what my happy and delicious garden will look like in a few months:

 

 

 

Crazy huge lettuce . . .

 

 

Lovely, sweet peas in the pod