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It all started with an Aldi upcoming catalogue, my wife noticed cheap raised garden beds of a colour matching (more or less) our new fence. We like to grow some veggies, but we don't have much room to have messy looking veggie beds in the now good looking backyard, so I planned to have something looking as tidy as possible.
After assembling the gardenbeds 128 bolts & nuts, I used the carboard box cut to suit the shape of the garden bed, to make a bottom (floor) for the frame, which would just sit on the pavers (leaving a gap were the shed ground gutter profile is). Then I put 2 bales of sugar cane (split evenly in 4 lots) to reduce the amount of soil needed, assuming they would not be squashed too much; in hindsight I think I should've put 3 or even 4, the soil is quite heavy. I put a fair amount of potting mix, together with the good soil from the few pots we we've been using for cherry tomatoes, lettuce and radishes.
Then the shadecloth frame was the next job, to protect the veggies from the sun and also to keep vermin away. I like to use electrical conduit because it's easy to cut, can be assembled as a Lego set and when not needed can be pulled apart or reassembled for something else. The first attempt was really flimsy and the shadecloth would not fit well, the second (with frame legs dipped in the soil near garden bed frame) is much better.
The shadecloth needs to be held in place with a couple of pegs in the meantime one puts the elastic strap around the gardenbed frame, it is a bit cumbersome but I'm not sure I want to waste any more time on this for now, I have many other jobs on the list. My wife, who's shoter than me and doesn't have my orangutan arms, can use some help from one of the kids (to hold shadecloth and strap hook).
All in all I've made 3 frames, the fourth gardenbed will have two stakes holding up some mesh where the beans will climb, the mesh I'll paint with the same colour of the fence, which will then match the shed once I paint that in Monument/Gunbarrel/Charcoal as well.
I expect to keep the gardenbeds as they are for a 2 or 3 years timeframe, after that I might want to take the contents out and re-lay the straw and soil, not sure. I expect for the frames to last 5 or 7 years, maybe if I add some black poly sheets inside to keep the soil from contacting the metal would improve the useful life.
I put together the price of the items I used, I had some bits already like a mitre box and stanley knife, measuring tape, extra soil from the previously used pots, a few metres of conduit. I was surprised by how much it cost, and as with many jobs, I would be much quicker now.
Notice how I cleaned up the swarf from cutting the tubing, not only because I'm an engineer and like jobs done properly, but also because the plastic swarf would jam in the fitting and make it harder to adjust the fittings position (everything can be adjusted and twisted, no glue used so far). All materials, aside the gardenbeds, are from Bunnings.
What a neat little project @Rolando! I'm sure you're pleased with the results.
Are you planning on leaving the shadecloth on in the daytime? If so, you might want to pick up some 50% instead of what looks to be closer to 90%. It might actually be 50%, and the angle of the photo makes it look like a thicker weave. I presume you're taking the shadecloth off in the daytime, but I thought I'd point it out since the plants will struggle to survive covered by a 90% shadecloth.
Great project, and I love your use of conduit. Well done.
Mitchell
