Just an update here on the raised beds.
got the second one put together today and placed both of them in their designated spots. As the title states these raised beds cost me nothing, that is unless you count the gas to get the lumber or the initial cost of the screws i had left over from a previous project. I get the lumber from a company here in Portland that does steel manufacturing and it is the dunage, the boards between the stacks of steel on the incoming trucks.
They usually have an abundance of these in the summer and fall but in the colder time of the year employees will take it home for firewood, luckily I stocked up last year. These are all cut to 7′ and are untreated pine but other than some scuffs from the steel being stacked on them they’re in pretty good shape. I used 5 total 2×6′s for each bed and for my end pieces i cut the 7′ boards in half to minimize any waste.
As you can see here i took two 42″ 2×6′s and attached them together using 2×4′s all about 9″ in length (just scrap pieces found in my garage left by previous owner) and only used two screws on each side. i did this a total of four times, using only four 2×6′s and the 8 pieces of scrap 2×4.
From there i stood the end pieces up and started to attach full 7′ 2×6′s for the sides with the help of the best damn drill man in the business, his bed is next but mine come first 
Now after going to all four corners and putting two screws in each end, using the 2×4 to anchor into too not just the side pieces, i then repeated the step with the top side’s. Here’s a little tip… If your working with bone dry pine, do yourself a favor and drill some pilot holes before you try to run your screws, it just might save you a couple of cuss words in front of the toddler (sorry mom) .
Here is the two finished beds before dirt in their place. I chose the back yard on the side of the garage since it gets the best sun on the whole lot, both summer and winter and figured the either the wall will radiate heat for the plants or i can grow climbing plants to shade the wall. These beds measure out to just over 22 cubic feet and like i said, they’re “free”, all you have to do is get creative with your materials.
Just for fun the next time you have a project tell yourself a month before you start “you’re going to hunt for free materials like crazy”, the worst that can happen is you don’t find what you need and have to buy it anyway. You will be surprised to see what you can accomplish for little to no money if you put some positive effort into it, just look at what i did for free.
Congrats on the new beds. Nice score on the wood too. I’m keeping my eyes open around here.
What is your plan for soil? Are you going to put down newspaper or cardboard to cover the grass in the boxes?
Grinning – Free is a good thing.
Are you making your own soil mix or buying some of that bagged stuff to fill your beds?
Happy gardening
You’ve run onto a great resource to recycle! Great work!! I’m interested in seeing your raised bed progress.
One thought that I had when I was looking at the pics for the raised beds that my parent ran into the first year was how much the centers bowed out due to the weight of the soil. The next year they put chains inside to hold the centers in.
Nice! Helpful hint. If you have any Bermuda grass near the beds, you need to completely destroy it before building the beds. Cardboard should take care of anything else. I have two beds that I should probably rip up and redo because of Bermuda grass. Very invasive.
That is something I miss about Portland. There are lots of places to gather free or cheap resources. The beds look great, I’m glad things have warmed up there enough for you to do these outdoor projects.
UPDATE:
Well the free beds didnt last too long. One winter and they pretty much fell apart so back to the drawing board i went. I rounded up some old cinder blocks (and had to go buy a few) and constructed a 4×4 bed instead. This took a total of 14 of them and i have to say i like it better even if i’d have to buy all of them new it’d be under $20 and a lot more stable. Now i have garlic growing in the holes on two sides of the bed and green onions on another side. I’m planning on flowers in the holes on the front side and even with everything growing on the borders i can still access the whole bed. I think this fall i will be adding a trellis to the north side and growing our beans and peas in the holes of the blocks as I have seen this on other peoples websites and it seems to be a great way to grow my climbing veggies without sacrificing room in the bed.