Build a Fenced Garden Patch

My landlord and I put our engineering hats together and built our first fenced garden patch. Rather than spending $50 on an already made Home Depot's garden box, we bought two 2x6 inches, 8-feet in length, pressure treated lumber and had them cut into halves. We purchased five 6-feet wooden stakes too. Everything came up to $15.

Once we arrived home, we assembled the box together. We placed 2 nails and a screw for every corner. Then we attached one stake per corner with 2 nails and a screw (for strength), this time on the opposite side so the nails and screw won't interfere with the others. The box measures 4 feet by 4 feet. The stakes hold the deer fence.

We transferred the box to a sunny spot so I could start planting my fruits and vegetables. I dug out the grass carefully so I could fill up bald spots in the yard with these grass. After digging up the 4 feet 2 inches x 4 feet 2 inches patch, I placed the box over the patch.

Then I poured garden soil (I like Miracle-Gro) to fill up the box. And wrapped the box with deer fence, twice around to properly prevent the deer from biting through it. I then stuck the top corners of the net to the tip of the stakes to avoid the fence from blowing away.

And that, my friends, is how you build a fenced garden patch. I could be even more creative by building a door but I didn't.

If you understand plants and fruits, you could really maximize the 4x4 ft of rich, garden soil. For my first year, I planted cherry tomatoes, peppers, strawberry, bok choy, spinach, zucchini and 2 varieties of green beans in May. The fruits and vegetables grow at different rates and are harvested at different times. I water them everyday and am pleased to see that many of the plants are doing quite well.

Nothing beats growing your own food and eating them fresh out of the garden. It gives me a fresh perspective and an appreciation for food.

Garden box over dug up patch

Fruits and vegetables popped up in late spring

Date: July 25, 2011

A few weeks later....