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Build yourself a Garden Box -Pic Heavy

So last year I decided to make a garden box for the wife. I got an idea from another website that used cedar fence pickets. So I set out to make one. It currently houses our tomato plants that are growing at incredible rates! Anyway, so I know it is a little late, but Southern Louisiana has a REALLY long growing season for spring and summer vegetables. I wanted to detail this and but in a thread to show that a person with limited abilities (that’s me) with limited tools (hum…sounds familiar) can throw together in a relatively short amount of time a decent looking garden box that won’t break the bank. The cheap kits they sell in the store, which are not that cheap, cost about $40.00 or more. Depending on the materials you use and what you have laying around, you can make this box for a third or half as much. I already had some of my materials so my cost for this project was about $20.00. That is because I went with cedar pickets instead of pine. If I would have gone with pine, then it would have cost me only about $10.00.
What do I need?

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I can only post so many pictures so I need to do this in several posts...please stand by.
 
I need six cedar fence pickets (six feet in length) – I use cedar because they are bug resistant and look nice as they age.

A partial box of deck screws (1 ½ inch) I use deck screws because they don’t rust but you can really use any kind of screw…I just had these on hand…you can probably use a shorter one also…like I said, I already had these.

Enough 2x4s to make four – 12 inch sections (I guess that means 48 inches) – you can use whatever scrap wood you have laying around…2x4s are just easy to use.

Landscape fabric – this is optional but I still use it.

Tools – For this project I needed a circular saw, drill and drill bits, measuring tape, a carpenter square, a pencil and a couple of saw horses (I used the back of my truck, but I also used my cheap saw horses I got from harbor Freight for about a sawbuck - $10 – apiece), and a pencil.

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Take a picket and measure off one inch from the end of the dog ear and then cut it off with the circular saw.

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Now you have 5’11” boards. I guess you could take two inches of to make math a little easier later, but I didn’t do that.

Take two of your boards and cut them in half so that you will have four 35 ½ inch boards.

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Now take your 2x4s and cut them appropriately so that you have four 12 inch pieces.

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Take two of your long boards and position them on top of a 2x4 that you just cut and take your deck screws and join them together like in the below pictures. I use four screws for each board to make sure it is securely fixed.

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This next step is absolutely vital. You cannot skip this step once so ever. It is a must do no matter what. Have your wife, girlfriend, or significant other go to the little fridge in the garage and grab you a refreshing beer.

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Take your short ends and screw them to the long ends.

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And you are basically done.

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I don’t know why I bother because I always have pull weeds anyway, but I staple in some landscape fabric that you can get at Walmart or Home Depot or wherever (and as you can see very crudely).

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I am finished! And it is positioned in its final resting place next to the one I built last year. You can see the tomato plants that are spilling over.

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Well that is it. A couple of points to mention…please do not make fun of my cuts or my accuracy. Do you remember the Tom and Jerry episodes or maybe it was Loony Tunes, but someone would make a bird house that had springs sticking out of it or misplaced boards…yup that is me. This isn’t like building a house, if you are not the most attention oriented person in the world, you can still do this project. Also, as you saw, I don’t have the most expensive of tools. As matter of fact, I bought very few of them, most of them were bought by my father-in-law…he keeps saying he will make a man of me yet.

The whole point here is that for a very low cost and limited equipment and skills, you can also make something that you can use to grow your own vegetables or put plants in.

Now I have to go buy some dirt and soil or else I am not planting anything…I hope you all enjoyed!
 
Should have; weeds and grass are really enjoying the water and fertilizer in my "garden."


AA

While I still get a weed or two in my garden boxes...it really does eliminate most of them. Plus when I am doing things in the garden...I am not bending over as much, which is easier on the back!
 
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