I have been building a new raised bed to replace the "old" raised bed which after more than a decade of service started to rot and fall apart.
Probably the single greatest expense of a new raised bed is the soil. And as I am a frugal man, I do a nice little cheat. In the center of the bed I lay out logs that I have collected mostly from fallen branches but some were older from trees that had fallen. The logs had become so old that they were no longer good for firewood.
Next step is to cover the logs with some of the material from my compost pile. I walk over the logs and the compost to tamp down the material. The added bonus is that as the logs decompose they should provide good natural fertilizer to the garden.
Next I top everything off with some nice garden soil. I did have some leaks already growing in the "old bed" that need to be dug up and replanted in the new bed. And then for added kick to the new bed I added my very own homemade bio char.
Bio char is simply charcoal and is made the same way. I made mine from some old fallen pine branches. I did not need any special equipment, I used my Weber kettle grill to make the bio char.
So there you have it, my new raised bed.
Peace out!