I a-DOOR My Raised Garden Bed!

Sometimes we get strangely mundane donations at the ReStore. A while ago, we received a bunch of solid-core doors from the Franciscan Sisters. When I say a bunch, I mean a BUNCH. We're talking 50+ doors, all of them weighing at least 40lbs. While we have sold a fair number of them, we have yet to clear them out. There's only so many people in this town with heavy-door needs.

Now, an obvious use for a thick door like this is a workbench top. I didn't really need a workbench, though. What I really needed was a garden bed.

I have a ton of plants, but I rarely get to enjoy the literal fruits of my labor; the rabbits are happy to do that for me. I've known for years I wanted a really tall garden bed to keep my produce safe, and these doors helped me do just that. It turned out so well, my parents asked me to make a pair for them as well!

---

All you need to do this yourself is:
2 solid-core doors
4 36" 4x4s
A box of 3" deck screws
Weatherproof paint
Drill/driver
Circular saw

For my garden bed, I knew I wanted it big and deep so I could throw all my yard waste from the winter inside before I topped it off with dirt. My parents' beds, though, I made half the height so we didn't have to use as much fill. To create the two beds, I used four doors in total, ripping all of them in half the long way, and then halving two of those pieces to make the ends of each bed. Really, you could make yours any dimensions your heart desires! Essentially the doors are just thick pieces of plywood.

Before putting everything together, I painted the pieces with exterior paint. I don't have a real idea of how long it will hold up, but so far so good. It's been in my yard for about a year at the time of writing this, and so far the only change is that it's dirtier than it used to be and there are a few spots where the veneer is peeling up. A fresh coat of paint should fix that.

To assemble things, I used 4x4s at each of the interior corners. I laid them out on the ground, then rested the long sides of the bed on top of them and screwed them together. When determining how far in to set the 4x4s from the edge, I measured the thickness of the door and used that as my guide. That way, when I screwed the short sides of the bed to the 4x4s, the edges all ended up flush.

---

Standing the bed up in my yard was tricky because I did it by myself, but with some careful maneuvering I propped up the long sides with the 4x4s attached and the unattached end caps between them. I eyeballed squaring things up, then screwed on the ends.

Once everything was together, I touched up the paint and waited for it to dry. Then the real work of filling it began. I took all my yard waste and shoved it inside, added dirt, waited for it to settle, added more dirt, waited for it to settle, added more dirt, waited for it to settle, and then topped it off with some mulch. A few sweet potato slips later, and I have a beautiful raised garden bed!

---

-by Kali Brokaw