After playing around with some pallets and figuring the height, I made one box 30 inches high. I liked it because it was higher and required less bending over, but the amount of work was exponentially higher. I used a sawzall to cut out the slats on the ends of the cut off 2x4 and then nailed them back together at 30". I found it MUCH easier to just cut them on the outside of the center bar.
I also found that obsessing about getting them square is a waste of time. I pull a string and get them "close" and then just sink posts into the ground (wooden stobs, actually). I use braces internally to keep the walls plumb (a lot of weight on them from the soil, pushing outwards), and then just cap them. The caps make them "look" perfectly square and perfectly plumb. I am putting hinged doors on the short side of the rectangle so that they fold out. I plan to just change out the soil every year, as it gets burned out if you get too many crops per year (I plan to make some PVC high tower tunnels for extending the growing season).
Some of you guys who have been doing this forever have me beat a million miles, I know, but I am VERY excited about this. Not only is raising your own veggies tasty, and very emotionally satisfying, the act of doing the physical labor outside, and observing what is coming together, is good for my soul.
Not sure why, but the act of doing it brings a kind of peace, an ability to think about things other than the jangling, buzzing, jarring world of electrons flashing off a screen.
I also found that obsessing about getting them square is a waste of time. I pull a string and get them "close" and then just sink posts into the ground (wooden stobs, actually). I use braces internally to keep the walls plumb (a lot of weight on them from the soil, pushing outwards), and then just cap them. The caps make them "look" perfectly square and perfectly plumb. I am putting hinged doors on the short side of the rectangle so that they fold out. I plan to just change out the soil every year, as it gets burned out if you get too many crops per year (I plan to make some PVC high tower tunnels for extending the growing season).
Some of you guys who have been doing this forever have me beat a million miles, I know, but I am VERY excited about this. Not only is raising your own veggies tasty, and very emotionally satisfying, the act of doing the physical labor outside, and observing what is coming together, is good for my soul.
Not sure why, but the act of doing it brings a kind of peace, an ability to think about things other than the jangling, buzzing, jarring world of electrons flashing off a screen.