Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Cheaper Than Dirt

Last week I got an email from Casey, whoever he or she may be, passing along a widget for a site that did a post on making a raised garden bed for $50. 
Five Zero. 
Fifty Washingtons. 
One third of a month of groceries.
Half a yard can buy allot in my world so I kinda was put out that this site was holding out their example as a cost effective fugal gardening method. It's a cool looking graphic that breaks down the cost of constructing a garden bed from scratch. 
I'd be impressed if it didn't cost so much.


Think of this as just a box spring.
This is a bed Woodsrunner built me four years ago out of old fence material I had saved from the but-ugly fence that surrounded my city lot. I didn't save much of that old fence but it's been enough so far. Woodsrunner had odds & ends (screws) laying around his workshop. I think we did actually spend some greenbacks on dirt but knowing myself I'd lay even money down that it wasn't more than $5 for bagged topsoil. 


Bed Me Baby
This year Hubby added a second frame or as I like to say a mattress to the box spring using a few more of those old fence boards tucked up in the rafters of his man cave. Only this time he was outta hardware so he came up with a tight MacGyver move ...

Metal Biscuits 
Those shinny circles are aluminium lids & bottoms from assorted nut cans used to join the fence boards. He's a good man to steal from his scrap metal stash - estimated cost/scrap metal value < 1¢

Like before I'll fill this level up with bunny poop, compost materials, egg shells, wood ash, alternating with bagged top soil that I scored last Autumn for a buck a bag. If you click on this blog post  the second pic is of this exact same bed using the direct compost method. Slick way to say no middle man a.k.a. no compost bin.

On a side note I love my free mulch courtesy of the city who had tree stumps ground the next street over last month. Thank you to hubby for snagging a few cart fulls.


~~ pelenaka ~~