Innovation for Easy, Inexpensive Raised Beds

[NJCher]

It's a concrete block that sells for $3.38 each. Cost is about $12 and change for each bed plus your lumber cost. Available at Loews, HD, plus other outlets. You can see the block on the corner of the opening scene on this youtube video:

The following was just published yesterday at NY Times. I tried to "gift" it but there was no option. I'm hoping because it's Wirecutter it will come through for everyone:

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These Lego-Like Bricks Make Building a Raised Garden Bed a Snap

Being a Wirecutter writer, I'd love to tell you that I obsessively researched the subject before building my garden beds. I didn’t. Instead, my partner was at our local home-improvement super-center and stumbled upon Oldcastle’s planter wall blocks.

"Hey," she texted me, alongside a photo. These look like they might work?"

While she browsed the tomato starts, I scoured YouTube. I quickly discovered that people really love these bricks. In video after video, gardeners of all experience levels gushed over the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of these concrete blocks, and they shared tips on how to put them to best use. I was convinced. I rushed outside, measured our space, and texted her the dimensions. Several hours later (yes, that same day), the beds were complete.

As it turns out, I wasn't the only Wirecutter staffer who was bewitched by these marvels of modern engineering: Two of my coworkers were building their own block-based beds at the same time. In the end, all three of us were impressed by how cheaply and easily our gardens came together.

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Link: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/oldcastle-wall-blocks-raised-garden-bed/

[Phoenix61]

1. A friend of mine used them. Super easy. nt

[cilla4progress]

2. Very nice!

So the blocks are just at the corners.

We have raised beds inside a tall fence to protect them from our chickens, as well as deer! Our latest flock apparently is able (and willing!) to fly over the fence!

Our beds will need replacing eventually. The long sides are quite warped, but still function. The corners are wooden posts cut to bed height.

I will share this with my husband!

Thanks!

[Timewas]

3. Nice

But about $$50+ for the lumber... We are building out of cinder block 6x8x16 1.27 each takes about 20 for a 4x10 ft bed..

[NJCher]

6. depending on where you live

You can watch craigslist for free lumber. I am in a densely populated area where people offer free boards all the time. Many of the towns around here do not allow storage of buildiing materials outside the time of construction, so people are forced to get rid of them. Thus on the free section of craigslist, you can usually find what you need.

[Timewas]

7. All well and good

around here free wood is pretty scarce and cinder blocks last a lot longer than wood and don't need a truck or trailer to haul them...

[Chainfire]

4. It looks good, but how is the lumber attached to the blocks?

Is is just a friction fit? What keeps the whole thing from pushing apart from the weight of the dirt?

Some years ago we bought galvanized cattle troughs to plant in. They were a little pricey up front, but they last a long long time.

[Emile]

5. I use cement blocks for my firewood stacks using no tools!

https://www.firepitfanatic.com/cinder-block-firewood-rack.html