My love for gardening has grown over the years as I've learned more about nutrition and where my food comes from. Michael Pollan's 2006 release of The Omnivore's Dilemma was one of what I consider a flagship book for me. A big chunk of the book talks about the author's attempt to raise and/or grow every ingredient necessary for a dinner: he cultures yeast for bread; he grows vegetables and herbs; he picks wild mushrooms; he hunts a wild boar. It was an expose of what really goes into preparing a home-cooked meal, and also made me question what our society considers "food."
I began gardening with a kitchen window herb garden. It wasn't much, but it allowed me to have a few fresh things to add to my meals, things I knew hadn't been genetically modified or touched by chemicals. Every season, I'd let the plants flower and collect seeds to replant again. Only a few times in the last few years have I bought basil, cilantro, parsley or chives at the store.
Naturally, that progressed into wanting to grow more of my own food. Since such a huge chunk of my diet is fresh vegetables and because I cook most of my meals, it was inconvenient (and sometimes, pricey) to have to run to the store every other day to restock my produce bin. I decided to venture into vegetable gardening, because it was an inexpensive way to get high yields of quality, organic produce.
In Chicago, I was able to grow a lot in containers. I sort of had to, considering my apartments never had lots of space. Container gardening is a great way to dabble in growing your own food while in a small space, and it's fairly easy! You can grow lots— peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, mini varieties of nightshade vegetables like eggplant, salad greens— you name it, and it can probably be done. But when Megan and I were looking for houses in Nashville we knew we wanted one with outdoor space. My main reason was to have a garden.
True, it's fall, but it's never too early to get things done, which is why this past weekend, while Scott was visiting I asked for help building raised garden beds.
Initially, I was going to buy two pre-assembled beds. I told Scott my plans. The conversation went something like this:
"I'm going to buy some raised garden beds." - me
"You're going to buy garden beds?" - Scott
"Uh, yeah." - me
"How much are they?" - Scott
"Like, $120 or something each, I don't know." - me
"Are you insane?" - Scott
Which is how I found myself en route to Home Depot, aka my favorite store (seriously— Megan and I have been there so many times since we moved that we know a few employees by name) and then in the lumber section, stacking boards on a cart as Scott handed them to me.
I ended up with two 4x4 beds, but for this post I'll be giving you instructions and a material list for just one. I like to grow a variety of veggies and herbs, but if you're just looking to have a few things at your disposal, you don't need a ton of room. Nature is abundant; you'll have more than you need if you're just gardening for you (get ready for your neighbors to be your best friends.) If you have more mouths to feed than just yourself, you may want to consider a bigger plot.
What you'll need:
- 2 2x12 (each cut in half)
- 1 2x4 (cut into 4 pieces)
- sledge hammer
- drill
- wood screws
- tape measure
- wood saw (optional; you can always have the nice fellas at the hardware store cut the boards for you. Usually it isn't more than $0.75 per cut.)
How to do it:
Gather your materials.
Cut your 2x12s in half if you didn't have it done at the store.
Measure your 2x4 into 4 equal pieces, and cut. Then, cut a "V" at the top of each piece (this doesn't have to look pretty— it's going into the ground.) These are your stakes.
Assemble your bed using the 4 pieces you cut from your 2x12. We drilled two wood screws into the top and bottom of each piece, but you can use more if you want extra support.
Drive your stakes into each corner using your sledge hammer, and attach with wood screws.
Pull the weeds out. Because I don't plan to plant anything until next season, Scott suggested I put down cardboard and cinderblocks to kill all the resident weeds and plants in the beds. Nashville is home to a plant called Creeping Charlie, a perennial ground creeper that invades EVERYWHERE. I wanted to nip it out long before sowing season.
That's it! The supplies should cost you about $25, provided you already have basic tools like a hammer and drill.
Raised beds are beneficial if you're choosing to grow your own food because they provide good drainage and block certain garden pests from destroying your plants. They tend to make weeding easier (and you have to do it less, because it's harder for them to grow.) Your soil won't wash away during heavy rains, and the beds prevent it from compacting. It's so worth it to invest in these and dedicate half a day to building them. Your health will thank you later :)
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