How to build a raised veggie garden

Here’s a simple and effective way to construct a timber raised veggie garden that will be the envy of the neighborhood and provide you with loads of delicious produce.

What you will need for the job:

• 7 x Treated pine timber sleepers – 50mm x 200mm x 2400mm
• Box of 75mm galvanised timber screws
• 1 cubic meters of soil – I like to use ANL’s Complete Vegetable and Seedling Mix
• Tools – Shovel, wheelbarrow, builders square, tape measure, drill & drill bits, level, rake and a pencil or pen

Step 1:

Decide where you want to position your veggie garden, ensuring it’s in a position that gets lots of sun.  Level out an area that is at least 1400mm x 2800mm for the veggie garden to sit.  The final dimension of your raised garden bed will be 1200mm wide by 2400mm long and 400mm high.

Step 2:

Cut your sleepers into the following dimensions:

• 4 @ 2400mm (lengths)
• 4 @ 1200mm (widths)
• 6 @ 400mm (bracing pieces)

Step 3:

Lay 3 length pieces (2400mm long) and fix a bracing piece (400mm long) across the timbers using 2 screws in each length.  Position a bracing piece at each end and one in the middle.  Do the same again and you now have the two long sides of the raised planter.

Step 4:

Stand one of the long sides up and set true using your level.  If you are doing this on your own it’s often easier to grab a couple of bins to prop up the sides to stop them from falling over while you fix the end/width pieces.  Grab a width piece (1200mm long) and fix the end at a right angle to the long side using 2 galvanised screws.  Ensure the bracing pieces are on the inside and finished 50mm from the top so they are not visible once the raised veggie garden is filled with soil.

Step 5:

Attached the other long side to the width piece again using 2 screws.  It should now stand up on its own.  Continue fixing the widths to both ends until your box is complete.

Step 6:

Now’s the fun part, grab your wheelbarrow and start filling the planter with soil.  Leave the planter for  3 days before planting as the soil will need to settle.  If you don’t want to wait, try hosing the soil in as you install it.

For more details check out The Little Veggie Patch Co.  two guys based down in Melbourne who are taking the home grown edible garden world by storm.