Raised bed progress

Today, after sleeping in til almost 12 noon, I got up, ate "lunch" and then went out to cut the raised garden boards to length. I had to figure out how to support the long end of the boards as I cut them and found that two scraps of 2x6 and two pieces of 1/4 inch plywood did the trick. I should have screwed them all together to keep them from falling over when I was trying to position the board for the cut, but just dealt with it.

I got them all cut then realized I needed to go get more gravel before I could take them out and put the boards together. So I borrowed my neighbor's truck again and went to get a half yard of 3/4" Open gravel from the local landscape yard. It took 5 wheelbarrows full of gravel to empty the truck, with Sam's help. Sam then helped me sweep out the liner and get the truck ready to return.

With four of the five wheelbarrows of gravel in with landscape fabric underneath it, I was able to finally able to take the lumber out and start putting it together.  I made a drilling template to be able to evenly space out three screws to connect the lumber together. It made it really easy to get them located in the right place, square so the screws went in right and evenly spaced; aesthetics, you know.

While I was out there finishing up the drilling, I noticed there were a bunch of birds flying around above us. It turned out that it was 7 hawks of some kind just swirling around pretty close to each other. It is kinda hard to see them in the photo but the black specs are them.

With the drilling done, I had to put together and level out the gravel for the first level. It went much more smoothly than I expected for only having a 4 foot and two foot level out there to level the gravel around the perimeter of an 8 by 40 inch frame, two feet away from the other raised bed. After the leveling of the first layer, the other two levels went together even easier. The last wheelbarrow of gravel went in the bottom and put a final 2-3 inches in the bottom for drainage. There will be quite a bit more dirt in this one since I didn't fill it up with gravel like I did the other ones; a good depth of soil for carrots and beets.

They are just stacked on top of each other right now, but tomorrow if the rain holds off, I will be able to pocket screw them together like I did the other one in the picture. I ended up with the new bed two and a half inches lower than the bed beside it and the middle bed is an inch lower than the first bed, to the right of the picture. So I think I am going to make a three and a half inch spacer row for the last bed then put a small cap on the top to it is easier to lean on and sit on. Then I can make a cap with a 1 inch spacer to put on top of the second bed and just put a cap on the first bed. They should all end up about the same height.

Aimee weeded more of the rest of the yard; in front of the shed, a little under the cherry tree, next to the house in the back, more around the flowers by the deck area.  She had done the strawberries, out front by the house and finished along the back fence including the raised beds by the garden. It really is looking quite nice, especially since I haven't had to do much weeding this year.