This year, on the farmstead, we are building quite a few new raised beds. That’s not exactly a real change of pace, since I seem to add new beds every year, but I thought this would be a good time to talk about some of the new additions to our garden.
Why Build New Raised Beds
I’ve mentioned before that our ground out here in Southern Oklahoma is basically all clay (out our way, anyhow). Therefore, we have to find other ways of gardening. I’ve been through a few different iterations, like straw bale gardening for example, and have found that the raised beds work best for us.
Raised beds are honestly quite easy to build and can be as simple or as elaborate as you want them to be. Personally, I like simple. It works great for me, and it fits in with the rest of our farm. You could also have a look at how we constructed our garden full of raised beds here.
Since the inside of my garden was already at capacity, I chose a couple of great spots near the garden and behind our new natural pool, for the new raised beds as well as the new raised beds around our garden arch and on the south side of our garden fence. (My husband is convinced that the entire acreage will eventually end up being one big garden.) The following are the basic steps that we went through to get it all pulled together.
Step 1
The first step is always the design or layout. For my strawberries, I planned two beds, 16 feet long by 3 feet wide. Being a semi-hoarder, I always save lumber to use for other projects and I was lucky enough to already have everything that I needed. I used 2×6 lumber, cut them to size and laid them out where I wanted them.
Step 2
With everything in place, I began constructing the raised beds. The first thing I did was splice my long cuts together with a splice board. You can see that in the video. Once the lengths were put together, I connected both sides with the two end pieces as well as another piece in the center. The center board helps to keep the bed rigid. I used 3 inch screws to put it all together.
Step 3
After I constructed the beds and positioned them exactly where I wanted them, my husband cut several stakes for me. We used a sledge hammer to drive them into the ground in all the corners, plus the middle and then screwed the frame of the raised beds directly to the stakes. This keeps everything exactly where I want it.
In Conclusion
I built both strawberry beds in a matter of about 30-45 minutes. My husband knocked out the other beds in about that same amount of time. It really is a simple project. The next step will just be laying in weed blocker and adding the topsoil. ….and then of course, waiting for the right time to transplant my strawberries!
NEVER MISS A THING!!
If you enjoy the simplicity of the homestead life, you may also enjoy my other blog, A Life on the Farm. On that blog, I discuss the more personal side of the simple life. Don’t forget to check out the other awesome content on Two Oaks Farm Talk as well. And don’t forget to go subscribe to the Two Oaks Farmstead Youtube Channel for all kinds of terrific content!!!
