Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Raised bed out of pallet boards

Ye Two Olde Dawgs build a raised bed out of pallet boards

Thinking of having a vegetable garden this year but don’t know where to plant them? Let the Two Olde Dawgs show you how to build a raised bed out of recycled pallet boards…

Chatting on the phone one morning Gord was all excited, like a little school boy was the thoughts I had in my mind. “So, what do you think, interested?” was how it came to light.

“Sorry what, I didn’t hear you, you were breaking up!” my reply.

“Jeez Louise, I said do you want to help me build a raised bed for vegetable garden with some of the pallet boards?” Gord remonstrated, with the words coming slowly so I had no way of saying no.

“In for a penny,” I replied. “When are you thinking of doing this new venture?”

“How about this afternoon? I don’t think it will take that long!” I think to myself, it usually takes longer, but hey, Gord and I are friends and if you can’t help your friends, what are you?

Here is what you will need:

8 pallet boards

1 box of wood screws

Lots of elbow grease

1 ball of string

Stakes for string line

Directions:

To start, as with all projects, strip all pallet boards of slats and place to one side. The remaining arms that hold the boards together cut into two. Each pallet board is typically four feet square, by dividing the arms into two you will end up with lots of two-foot long posts.

Mark out the area for the raised bed using the string line, ensuring you have enough space for the desired look you are going for. Gord wanted two small raised beds, as can be seen in the pictures. We worked on two eight-foot square gardens making it relatively easy to work with the timber we had at hand.

Place one of the inner boards at one corner of the soon to be garden and using a mini sledgehammer, beat into the ground. We went in one foot deep, leaving one foot above the ground. Complete this all the way around the corners and centres of each garden.

Collecting a pile of slats predrill the holes so as not to split the timber and commence affixing to the corner pieces, eventually you will have a complete square one foot tall raised bed. Fill in with soil and a good mix of compost and plant away. E