Bryan_Glenda ... Hi!

Read thru the threads here ... great advice!

Also ... you can go to ...
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Lots of info there.
Click on New ADD-ONs on home page to see some photos of what other SFGer's have done. Our's is at Mt. Gilead, OH.

I built some 6" deep boxes and acquired some at 18" deep.
If I had to do it over, I would go a minimum of 8" deep.

We used Mel's Mix our first year, last year.
Don't think our homemade compost was cured enough.
In the one box that we used purchased compost, the plants grew better.

Wish I had had your gravel ... we used cardboard as a weed barrier in the ground level boxes and for our mulched walk area.

Below is a link to a very cool tool, scheduling guide for the lazy ... or smart gardener.

Best to you in all you do!

Here is a link that might be useful: Grow Guide - Weekend Gardener

Bryan,

Last year my husband built me 2 beds out of cedar. They measured the 4'x 8' and the wood was a foot high. I have since had him build me 4 more boxes but this time I went with the 8". The one foot high was difficult to fill with soil since there is no where around here for me to buy in bulk. Bagging it was no fun. Also I found it difficult to keep the beds watered adequately. Lets put it this way, my rosemary plant grew BEAUTIFULLY in the foot high beds and we know how arid they like things to be. My new beds have shredded leaves, kitchen waste and horse manure along with the bagged soil. So far everything is looking great. I'll have to let you know how well the 8" boxes do but I was not happy with the foot high. I'm sure whatever you decide will end up working out for you. Good luck.

I'm in the process of building 3 beds at 4ft x 10ft x 12" high out of redwood (2 x 12's). The redwood is so expensive I decided not to put a 2x6 on the top for sitting room. I'll have to work that out later if the 2" thick sides are too uncomfortable to sit on for short periods.

You might want to use metal braces for the corners instead of the 4x4's. That's what I decided to do because I didn't want the 4x4's taking up space in my 4 corner squares. Okay, I'm a little anal, I know. Anyway I found great inside corner braces at Home Depot in the section where they have decking brackets. I'm using an inside corner brace thats about 9" long. They were 1.87 each. Just a thought.

What's the purpose of the weed barrier?

You won't get weeds from below because they need light to sprout. Fabric won't stop other things from below, like viney plants or voles (not to say these are inevitable, you understand).

Over at Soil/Compost/Mulch forum (my usual habitat) landscape fabric and other fabric barriers are not much liked. Those who use it say it disintegrates into shreds in a year or two, and just makes a mess.