I hinted earlier that I was saying goodbye to container gardening. I hope some of you aren’t too disappointed. My Father approached me with a bargain deal that I just couldn’t refuse. He offered to make me two raised beds, fill them with broken down manure (some of it isn’t quite broken down completely!), in exchange for some things things that I had. It wasn’t a loss to me, so I am very excited! We got the first bed done last night, and it is ready for my plants and seeds!
Once the bed was together, we put newspaper on the ground to keep the grass from growing up. We wet it and then filled it with dirt with a little sand mixed in (Quick Tip: Sand helps with drainage). We found opened bags of sand at Home Depot for $1 a bag. Regular price was $4.50 I believe.
One down, one more to go! But I already have a nice 4×12 area to hopefully begin planting in this weekend.
YTD Gardening Expenses: $5
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Aww ~ nice Dad! Happy Gardening!!
Frugal Girls!’s last blog post..Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies & Land O’Lakes Butter Giveaway! {2 lbs.}
I wish I had spent less, but here is the link to my adventures.
http://couponteacher.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-green-thumb.html
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Awesome! I’m so itching to get started, but in Michigan it’s still too early.
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Nice! Next time I would strongly recommend that you put a layer of gopher wire before the newspaper. Rather be safe than sorry!
Lucky you! We are remodeling our veggy garden area and building 9 4×18 beds. I wish ours were only costing 5 bucks each! If you have moles, gophers, ground hogs, etc in your area the hardware cloth is a great idea. That is by far the most expensive part for us but was really the main reason for us going to raised beds.
http://www.notthejetset.net/2009/04/garden-makeover-on-budget.html
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Yay!! That’s awesome!! You are going to have so much fun in those beds this summer! What a nice Dad to make you a deal.
Jenny
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Be careful that the manure doesn’t burn up your plants! I read that if it isn’t well composted it can be harmful. A friend of ours just built 2 this weekend and we are getting the plans to do our own! So excited!
Oh thank you! How do I know if it isn’t composted enough?
i told my husband about this, and he’s going to build me a bed this weekend! we have already planted tomatoes, peppers, and squash in a narrow bed along the front of our house, and have herbs in containers.
amy m campbell’s last blog post..Why I Love my Crockpot!
I also told my husband about this and I show him the photos you had. We try to do the same as you did yours. We’ll see how it tuns out since we don’t have to much experience.