Looks great! thanks for posting the pics.

How exciting, very nice, good luck with your garden.

It really does look great!

Do you mind sharing what your homemade recipe for coating the wood is? When I purchased my pre-made garden collars, I was told that I could coat them with some linseed oil, but the more I read about linseed, the less I wanted to use it, so I just put them on the ground untreated. Also, what kind of wood is that? Is it pine?

And I totally agree with you about the dirt thing! Boy, was I in for a surprise when I started my own raised beds this year, only to find that dirt was close to $8 for 2cu ft.

Very pretty. Should provide many hours of pleasure. Got to ask though, what's wrong with the soil? Looks like you could have just tilled and planted? I'd LOVE to have native soil like that...:)

Good choice on the beds. I like to grow my tomatoes for the most part in the ground rather than in containers, they just taste better to me. The soil you put in those raised beds looks good too. Everything looks great and tell hubby he did a great job. Good luck and enjoy!

Damon

Thank you, everyone yes I'm enjoying a "real garden" again it's been so many years of container gardening and you're right sprtsguy76 tomatoes taste better grown inground.

structure, there is probably nothing really wrong with the soil as far as providing the proper nutrients to plants but the number of rocks per square foot boggles the mind and makes sore backs not to mention a few expletives loud enough for the neighbors to hear. ;) Raised beds were more for convenience and ease of working but it's interesting to note that neither my husband or me can recall seeing an earthworm in our soil because we had to dig a few holes around the yard to plant trees and we noticed that.

The soil we had brought in for the raised beds was loaded with earthworms so it was a mystery to me until a neighbor mentioned all our land had been used for farming. I did a little searching around and found an article which briefly explains that farming monoculture crops does horrible things to the soil such as compaction and also destroying earthworms from the chemical fertilizers.

spaghetina, you can find the homemade recipe for wood treatment at this website. The recipe says you can use boiled linseed oil or exterior varnish we chose the later of the two. I think the wood is pine but if money is no object then go for cedar and skip the treatment altogether (of course, I'd be soooo jealous if you had cedar raised beds, hehe)

http://www.organicgardening.com/featureprint/1,7759,s1-5-22-35,00.html

Thanks, for all the compliments on the workmanship my husband will be pleased to hear that his work was appreciated as he spent quite a few days along with my daughter coating all the boards then waiting for them to dry. The assembly was heavy work because those boards are heavier than they look. :)

Very nice sunsi!!
Hard work pays off does'nt it!
Good luck this season

Tom

I'm drooling. WAY awesome!

Thank you both :)

You must have tomatoes already ripe in your zone 8, azruss, now it's my turn to drool just thinking about it.

Yes, windclimber, the tomatoes will taste a little sweeter now after the hard work. I'm hoping we have a successful year after I have promised everyone I meet "lots of tomatoes to share", lol

Thanks for posting! Looks awesome. I notice your husband put the hurricane straps on the joists. I guess screws weren't enough? lol U must be upstate NY..Awesome land!

P.S - won't you be fighting creatures & bugs in the future with the raised beds anyway?