Thanks so much for getting straight into the video. I usually fast forward 45 seconds or so because it takes that long for the person to get into the content I came for.
oh my gosh, I couldn't agree more. "sorry I haven't posted in a while but everyone who knows me knows that I am super busy with finals and everyth" SKIPPPP! :)
@@SmartEasyDIYer and more helpful feedback: it looks great. I'm going to build something similar this fall. What do you think about using a concrete footer to keep the digging animals out?
@bob-xm7ny thanks! I don’t see why you couldn’t do that. Some people also use a really fine wire fence for the bottom to keep the small critters out which I might do next time.
After searching for a large garden enclosure plan with beds (daily for weeks), I'm happy to have found your video and freely shared instructions and materials list. I desperately need to keep my goats, moles, and other critters out of my garden. I will likely add some reinforcement by building up the wood base perimeter. I am starting the build this weekend. Grateful to you for doing this video.
Well thank you I’m glad you found this and I hope it’s helpful for you! I know what you mean about needing to keep the critters out. Good luck with your build!
Hi Paul, great build! I'm DIY gardener too, and live in Eastern PA. I have deer in my yard every day, so I can see why you needed to build such a "fortified compound." Just wanted to pass something on regarding the fill in your beds. I saw that you're using a lot of composted sawdust as a base. I just finished going through a Composting and Mulching Guide available from University of Minnesota (Full Title: Composting and Mulching: A Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes in case you want to download) which discusses using sawdust compost. It pointed out that sawdust compost is very low in nitrogen, much lower than other types of compost, so if you use it you may find that you need to mix in some other ingredients, since nitrogen is one of the most important soil components. I find that grass clippings, which are high in nitrogen, work well for me to break down piles of high-carbon materials such as leaves and other clippings. I happen to have several acres of lawn to mow, so have a steady and free supply -- whereas it looks like you're in the woods. Possibly you have another source. For years, before I got into organic gardening, I always thought having a big lawn was kind of a waste of time and resources, but now it has become a sustainable supply of mulch and compost. You may also be interested in Charles Dowding's channel on RUclips, where he explains about compost in simple detail and shows the results in his "no dig" garden. Good luck with your gardening and thanks for the instructional videos. I work alone on my projects and the examples are helpful!
Hey thank you so much for the comment. I appreciate all the info I’ll have to check into that some more. I did end up adding some organic cow manure compost to the top layer after the fact and also use some organic fertilizer which I think helped. But yes adding some grass clippings would help. I do have a short supply of that so far but I think I can source some. This is kind of an experimental year for us, we have done some gardening in the past but it’s been a while and in a different climate so it’s all a learning experience. Thanks for the info. Good luck with yours!
This is kind of a trial year for us but so far we have tomatoes, potatoes, bell and jalapeño peppers, cucumbers for pickles, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, green beans, kale, spinach, lettuce and carrots. We tried a few varieties on certain ones to see what does good. We’re planning to eat it fresh as much as we can but some stuff we’ll can and they cukes we’ll make some dill pickles etc. thanks
I so needed this! I’m full of rocks too and need a free standing garden fence. I can get some crazy winds, do you think I would need yo anchor this? Thanks for this helpful video.
You’re welcome. I hope it goes well. Keep an eye out for those squirrels. For our strawberries we just covered them with a netting when they were getting ripe. Worked well for us.
@Smart Easy DIY thanks! I'm trying strawberries again this year. I think last year was too hot and I was too late, none of the crowns took. I don't think Gurneys sells bad stuff, I have gardening friends who think they're great
@@brandywineblue so good to see gurneys mentioned. When I lived in the Midwest, they were my go to garden source. I was actually able to grow apricots in Iowa because I bought a Siberian apricot bush from gurneys. Love that company.
Thank you! We haven’t had problems with birds but we thought about if we ever did, we would put something across the top to support some light weight netting. Not quite sure what it would be thats long, strong and lightweight maybe some aluminum poles or some thing.
Thank you so much!! Yes if you could put something up over the top like some wood or PVC pipe to hold the top it would work for a greenhouse too. I’ve considered doing something like that for in the spring and fall to extend the season. Thanks for the comment.
@@SmartEasyDIYer And when the local pigeons find your cherry trees! They can strip a tree bare in a couple of days when the fruits first starts growing and are about the size of a pea. We have a cherry tree that we only ever managed to get one good crop out of because we didn't realise it was the damn pigeons that kept eating the new fruits so didn't net the tree early enough, this year we finally noticed what ate the new fruits and put up netting early enough so now the tree has a good crop if cherries for us.
A wire mesh roof keeps the tree squirrels out too. I've had the problem of squirrels climbing my deer fence to get inside the garden and eat EVERYTHING. Otherwise I love your free-standing idea vs. digging holes and cementing posts in!!! Great approach I'll use.
Nice project. I would of raised the beds to a level were you don't need to bend to plant and HARVEST your veggies. Also I would put in a drip irrigation to water your PLANT. I hope it produces many veggies for you and you Family. Save some for me. Lol
Hey Alan thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it. I thought about raising it up but we were OK with the height where it’s at. It’s just to give ideas so you could easily make it taller if you wanted to. Thank you yes I’m hopeful it produces a lot of good food! Thanks 😊
What kind of animals are you trying to keep out? And did you say you screened all the way to the top? I sax this do to late fall and spring frost on your early/late crops to try and put canvas or something over the top? Just curious. Thanks. GOD BLESS YOU! 🙏🏻🇺🇲
Hi Melinda thank you so much! Yes I put the fencing all the way to the top to discourage deer from jumping in. That’s the main ones I’m concerned about although we do have some rabbits and smaller animals as well that’s why I went with the 2“ x 3“ because I figure that’ll keep most things out. It wouldn’t keep squirrels out but they can climb over the top anyway and I don’t think they’ll bother anything that we are growing. 24 x 24 is the size of this one and I think that would be pretty far to cover something but you could maybe with some support in the middle, I’ve thought about it. Depending on the size that you do you could cover it easier too.
@Smart Easy DIY Darn squirrels go after EVERYTHING. I had a HUGE 1 pound tomato ripening on the vine and right before I went to pick it one of those brats took a big bite out of it. Caught him red handed too. Took off like a bat out of h-e-double hockey sticks. 🏒 plus they like to dig in your mulch and hide things....like their acorn stash...so you never know what will sprout next. Or which plant's roots will get ruined.
@@willg54 I have 1/2" x 1/2" hardware mesh. It's the last thing I need to put on. Been raining and it's a 2 person job. Gonna have to keep a cordless leaf blower on hand if you know what I mean. I'll post a video tour soon.
@@SmartEasyDIYer Thank You!! I rewatched the video and see what screws you used so I can find them. Thought your links might be affiliate links so I wanted to use them if that’s the case.
You're quite handy. I wish you could come to my house and property. We live in PA. Now if I can just get my husband to do your idea. I have gardened all my life and one way or the other I am going to keep these dang deer out of my garden. A few years ago we put up an 8 foot fence. The deer jumped it! I read on line to put up a wooden fence that the deer can't see through. I like your raised beds with the black fence. Have the deer jumped into it at all?
Thank you! 😊 no deer jumped in! We have a lot of them too. Mine ended up being close to 9’ 6’’ once the 8’ material was on top of the beds. I’m really happy how it turned out. I wish you the best with it!!
Yeah I’m hoping they’ll all survive. We’ve been having some cooler weather lately. We planted quite a few other things too that hadn’t come up at the time of making this video but they’re up now. 😊
This could be built to last longer. The beds should be higher than this. Its nice but could be better and done cheaper. Could cover top to keep birds out. Could have used pallets.
Yes this is just one way of many ways to do it. It’s just to inspire ideas and you can go from there. We like the height of the beds but you could easily add additional layers. Could’ve been done with cedar but much more expensive here, I don’t see pallets lasting very well but that’s just me. You could cover the top for a greenhouse too if you wanted. Thanks for the comment
I like the idea of killing off any weeds that may grow but I don't want to use plastic for the same reason you decided not to. HOWEVER, what I did as a compromise was I used cardboard boxes to line the bottom of my raised beds. These stay long enough to kill off weeds and then break down and allow worms through.
Thanks so much for getting straight into the video. I usually fast forward 45 seconds or so because it takes that long for the person to get into the content I came for.
You’re welcome. I know that is yes.
oh my gosh, I couldn't agree more. "sorry I haven't posted in a while but everyone who knows me knows that I am super busy with finals and everyth" SKIPPPP! :)
Thanks for the feedback
@@SmartEasyDIYer and more helpful feedback: it looks great. I'm going to build something similar this fall. What do you think about using a concrete footer to keep the digging animals out?
@bob-xm7ny thanks! I don’t see why you couldn’t do that. Some people also use a really fine wire fence for the bottom to keep the small critters out which I might do next time.
After searching for a large garden enclosure plan with beds (daily for weeks), I'm happy to have found your video and freely shared instructions and materials list. I desperately need to keep my goats, moles, and other critters out of my garden. I will likely add some reinforcement by building up the wood base perimeter. I am starting the build this weekend. Grateful to you for doing this video.
Well thank you I’m glad you found this and I hope it’s helpful for you! I know what you mean about needing to keep the critters out. Good luck with your build!
Followed this plan… excellent guide and very happy with the results! Thanks for your work!
Thank you for letting me know! Great job!!
Hi Paul, great build! I'm DIY gardener too, and live in Eastern PA. I have deer in my yard every day, so I can see why you needed to build such a "fortified compound." Just wanted to pass something on regarding the fill in your beds. I saw that you're using a lot of composted sawdust as a base. I just finished going through a Composting and Mulching Guide available from University of Minnesota (Full Title: Composting and Mulching: A Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes in case you want to download) which discusses using sawdust compost. It pointed out that sawdust compost is very low in nitrogen, much lower than other types of compost, so if you use it you may find that you need to mix in some other ingredients, since nitrogen is one of the most important soil components. I find that grass clippings, which are high in nitrogen, work well for me to break down piles of high-carbon materials such as leaves and other clippings. I happen to have several acres of lawn to mow, so have a steady and free supply -- whereas it looks like you're in the woods. Possibly you have another source. For years, before I got into organic gardening, I always thought having a big lawn was kind of a waste of time and resources, but now it has become a sustainable supply of mulch and compost. You may also be interested in Charles Dowding's channel on RUclips, where he explains about compost in simple detail and shows the results in his "no dig" garden. Good luck with your gardening and thanks for the instructional videos. I work alone on my projects and the examples are helpful!
Hey thank you so much for the comment. I appreciate all the info I’ll have to check into that some more. I did end up adding some organic cow manure compost to the top layer after the fact and also use some organic fertilizer which I think helped. But yes adding some grass clippings would help. I do have a short supply of that so far but I think I can source some. This is kind of an experimental year for us, we have done some gardening in the past but it’s been a while and in a different climate so it’s all a learning experience. Thanks for the info. Good luck with yours!
Thank you Bill for all this great information. I’m going to download the compost guide and check out Charles Dowding’s channel
Raised beds are very popular here in SW Oregon but we have to put a wire mesh down to keep gophers and moles out. Yours is very nice.
Interesting. You mean in the bottom before you put dirt in?
Smart Easy DIY. Yes.
Ok. Hopefully I won’t have the same issue
Smart Easy DIY. I’ve been told that gophers and moles eat worms and when you have one you have the other.
Paul, you have one sharp garden. I hope it produces many vegetables for you.
Thank you Don I appreciate that a lot! I’m very excited about it and yes I think it will produce a lot of good stuff! 😊👊
@@SmartEasyDIYer Have you got a plan on how to use the produce it will grow and what are you planning on planting / growing?
This is kind of a trial year for us but so far we have tomatoes, potatoes, bell and jalapeño peppers, cucumbers for pickles, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, green beans, kale, spinach, lettuce and carrots. We tried a few varieties on certain ones to see what does good. We’re planning to eat it fresh as much as we can but some stuff we’ll can and they cukes we’ll make some dill pickles etc. thanks
I so needed this! I’m full of rocks too and need a free standing garden fence. I can get some crazy winds, do you think I would need yo anchor this? Thanks for this helpful video.
this is my favorite garden build and what I’m going to do. thank you😊
Awesome! Thanks. I hope it goes well. 😊
I have concrete next to my house, then my garden beds. You solved a head scratcher problem for me with your idea on how to set the posts. Thank you
You’re welcome. I hope it goes well. Keep an eye out for those squirrels. For our strawberries we just covered them with a netting when they were getting ripe. Worked well for us.
@Smart Easy DIY thanks! I'm trying strawberries again this year. I think last year was too hot and I was too late, none of the crowns took. I don't think Gurneys sells bad stuff, I have gardening friends who think they're great
Yes, my parents used to buy from them all the time and they had good luck with them. Ours were really late but we ended up getting some.
@@brandywineblue so good to see gurneys mentioned. When I lived in the Midwest, they were my go to garden source. I was actually able to grow apricots in Iowa because I bought a Siberian apricot bush from gurneys. Love that company.
@rubybenge9301 wish me luck, I'm trying their Heaven Can Wait Blackberries and thornless raspberries this year
This is a great idea! Looks awesome too.
Thank you!
Wondering how this has worked out for you. Really like it.
Thanks! Yes it worked very well. I should’ve made it longerso we could plant more is the only thing. Lol
So glad! If I can swing it I will.
Awesome good luck!
Wow that’s so nice! Great job
Thank you so much!! 😊
This is a fantastic video. Do you by any chance have a drawing of this I can use to build my own?
Thank you! I don’t sorry. I have the dimensions or most things in the video or in the video description below the video I believe.
This is great work. Got some cool tips. Have a question- how do you protect from the veg from the birds without a top net?
Thank you! We haven’t had problems with birds but we thought about if we ever did, we would put something across the top to support some light weight netting. Not quite sure what it would be thats long, strong and lightweight maybe some aluminum poles or some thing.
sorry, but I'm stealing this design. thanks for posting this, it looks awesome, can't wait to build mine
Go for it use whatever you want! It’s all about sharing ideas with others. I wish you the best with it!! 👊
Great job! Love this idea! What’s the update of this project? How’s the wood holding up?
Thank you! It’s doing great! We love it more every year.
The deer in my area clear 9 and 10 ft.
So far no issues here.
I'm thinking this might work for a simple greenhouse? I'm thinking some trellises for vine plants to grow vertically too. Beautiful design.
Thank you so much!! Yes if you could put something up over the top like some wood or PVC pipe to hold the top it would work for a greenhouse too. I’ve considered doing something like that for in the spring and fall to extend the season. Thanks for the comment.
watch out for the sail effect from wind if you use plastic cover on the greenhouse.
I could see that!
Nice design! I would put the wire over the top to keep the birds out. 🦅
Thanks! We actually considered that but so far we don’t have many birds to worry about.
@Allen W Actually most Northern birds are quite beneficial to a vegetable garden. Look em up. You may find it quite interesting.
Interesting. The main problem I would have with them is when my strawberries are ripe. 😁
@@SmartEasyDIYer And when the local pigeons find your cherry trees! They can strip a tree bare in a couple of days when the fruits first starts growing and are about the size of a pea.
We have a cherry tree that we only ever managed to get one good crop out of because we didn't realise it was the damn pigeons that kept eating the new fruits so didn't net the tree early enough, this year we finally noticed what ate the new fruits and put up netting early enough so now the tree has a good crop if cherries for us.
A wire mesh roof keeps the tree squirrels out too. I've had the problem of squirrels climbing my deer fence to get inside the garden and eat EVERYTHING. Otherwise I love your free-standing idea vs. digging holes and cementing posts in!!! Great approach I'll use.
Nice project. I would of raised the beds to a level were you don't need to bend to plant and HARVEST your veggies. Also I would put in a drip irrigation to water your PLANT. I hope it produces many veggies for you and you Family. Save some for me. Lol
Hey Alan thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it. I thought about raising it up but we were OK with the height where it’s at. It’s just to give ideas so you could easily make it taller if you wanted to. Thank you yes I’m hopeful it produces a lot of good food! Thanks 😊
Also I plan to do drip irrigation maybe next year. This year was kind of a trial run to see how everything was going to work
Paul did you consider a 3rd 2x8 level of the planters to raise the beds to reduce the amount of bending/knee time?
Yes I did consider it and it could easily be done. For us it seemed like two layers were sufficient. Are you thinking of building one?
what is the width of the beds on the perimeter of the garden?
I believe they are 36 inches wide and the middle ones are 48 inches wide.
Great videos! I wanted to ask if its not too personal..... how much you have in your place cost wise with land n all? Thanks
Thank you! Yes you could email me perhaps. Info is in my about section. Thanks
@@SmartEasyDIYer Thnx very much!
What kind of animals are you trying to keep out? And did you say you screened all the way to the top? I sax this do to late fall and spring frost on your early/late crops to try and put canvas or something over the top? Just curious. Thanks. GOD BLESS YOU! 🙏🏻🇺🇲
Hi Melinda thank you so much! Yes I put the fencing all the way to the top to discourage deer from jumping in. That’s the main ones I’m concerned about although we do have some rabbits and smaller animals as well that’s why I went with the 2“ x 3“ because I figure that’ll keep most things out. It wouldn’t keep squirrels out but they can climb over the top anyway and I don’t think they’ll bother anything that we are growing. 24 x 24 is the size of this one and I think that would be pretty far to cover something but you could maybe with some support in the middle, I’ve thought about it. Depending on the size that you do you could cover it easier too.
@Smart Easy DIY Darn squirrels go after EVERYTHING. I had a HUGE 1 pound tomato ripening on the vine and right before I went to pick it one of those brats took a big bite out of it. Caught him red handed too. Took off like a bat out of h-e-double hockey sticks. 🏒 plus they like to dig in your mulch and hide things....like their acorn stash...so you never know what will sprout next. Or which plant's roots will get ruined.
Yes they can be a pain. In my location I only have the smaller ones but now chipmunks and mice are a bigger pain than anything for ripe tomatoes.
Nice. I built 1 exactly half that size with metal raised beds.I'm going to fully enclose the structure. No birds no leaves.
Very cool! I like the no bird idea. Mine is too wide for that I thought about it. Going smaller would help for that.
@@SmartEasyDIYer when it's finished I'll put a tour video on my completely unused unwatched channel.
Haha ok yes I’ll watch it. You can post a link on this comment so others can see it too. It’s all about sharing ideas. Good luck!
BADD1ONE I'm covering mine too, but not sure what with. What r u gonna use to cover yours?
@@willg54 I have 1/2" x 1/2" hardware mesh. It's the last thing I need to put on. Been raining and it's a 2 person job. Gonna have to keep a cordless leaf blower on hand if you know what I mean. I'll post a video tour soon.
Looks like the link for the screws has disappeared. Ay Chance you could send me the link? Thanks
I’ll see if I can find it and update it when I get a chance.
@@SmartEasyDIYer Thank You!! I rewatched the video and see what screws you used so I can find them. Thought your links might be affiliate links so I wanted to use them if that’s the case.
@@SmartEasyDIYer And thank you for the reply.
very nice
Thank you for the feedback! 👊
It’s a beautiful and perfect field✨Children can also help🥬Your wife would be happy😊
Thank you! Yes the children like to help and my wife loves it! 😊
Very nice!
Thank you Bianca!
I'm going build this like yours but turn it into a greenhouse for cannibis. $$$. Bling bling$$.....
Sounds like a plan! Good luck with it.
Awesome!!!
Thank you so much!
You're quite handy. I wish you could come to my house and property. We live in PA. Now if I can just get my husband to do your idea. I have gardened all my life and one way or the other I am going to keep these dang deer out of my garden. A few years ago we put up an 8 foot fence. The deer jumped it! I read on line to put up a wooden fence that the deer can't see through. I like your raised beds with the black fence. Have the deer jumped into it at all?
Thank you! 😊 no deer jumped in! We have a lot of them too. Mine ended up being close to 9’ 6’’ once the 8’ material was on top of the beds. I’m really happy how it turned out. I wish you the best with it!!
That's a lot of tomatoes! :-P
Yeah I’m hoping they’ll all survive. We’ve been having some cooler weather lately. We planted quite a few other things too that hadn’t come up at the time of making this video but they’re up now. 😊
Use cardboard or newspaper as weed barrier
Yes you sure can. Thanks
Never use fabric or plastic in the garden. Your garden needs to connect to the earth
That was my thoughts too. Thanks
This could be built to last longer. The beds should be higher than this. Its nice but could be better and done cheaper. Could cover top to keep birds out. Could have used pallets.
Yes this is just one way of many ways to do it. It’s just to inspire ideas and you can go from there. We like the height of the beds but you could easily add additional layers. Could’ve been done with cedar but much more expensive here, I don’t see pallets lasting very well but that’s just me. You could cover the top for a greenhouse too if you wanted. Thanks for the comment
The beds should be as high as the homeowner wants. Freedom of choice.
I like the idea of killing off any weeds that may grow but I don't want to use plastic for the same reason you decided not to. HOWEVER, what I did as a compromise was I used cardboard boxes to line the bottom of my raised beds. These stay long enough to kill off weeds and then break down and allow worms through.
Ok cool. I have heard of something similar. Thanks for sharing