We decided to build a raised bed to grow vegetables in, on the south side of the house where there is lots of sun all summer long. We made the decision because I had read so much about the benefits of gardening in a raised bed: it's easier to keep weeded and mulched - less stooping and straining; the soil warms up earlier in the spring so you can plant earlier; the depth of the well drained soil is greater then most garden plots, so plant roots can spread easily; raised beds lend themselves well to organic gardening techniques including intensive planting, since you don't need to leave large rows to move around in; it's easier to put up barriers to keep out snails and slugs. Although we started out with one bed in mind, the space available, and aesthetic considerations changed that to two smaller ones, with a path of about 3 feet in between.

We built the beds out of pressure-treated landscape timbers. After doing some research on the topic, I discovered that there is some concern about the possibility of arsenic from the treated lumber leaching into the soil, and possibly into the food grown in it. To counter this possibility, I ended up lining the inside of the boxes with plastic (vapour barrier).

..next..

1. Building raised beds
2. Planning and site preparation
3. Building, filling and planting

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