I built a thing!
ALL ME.
Yes, that is just four boards nailed together but please note the following things:
-I am terrible about completing any projects that don’t result in me eating whatever it is that was created.
-This qualifies as a house project, and I am especially awful at following through on those (we haven’t had a front door since 2011).
-I did it by myself, which is a huge deal since I still ask my dad to come from out of town to help me change the batteries in my smoke detector.
I think it looks great. It was supposed to be a table, but I think I can work with it.
Oh, just kidding. It’s a frame for my raised bed garden. Every year I want to do better with my garden, and since my backyard has been overtaken by weeds (all of it) the raised bed was really the only option for vegetable gardening. My initial thought was “it just has to be four boards nailed together,” but despite that I still researched it and couldn’t find any plans for a raised bed that only involved that (seriously, they get really complicated). But I have some neighbors who have built them and they look good, and those are just four boards nailed together. I just had to make sure the wood was untreated.
I think the more-complicated plans are for beds that are expected to last for ten years or so. However, now that NPR has confirmed that the world will end shortly, I only need something that will last a few seasons.
My first trip to Lowes to get the wood ended badly. I was too anxious to commit to buying the supplies because the sooner I started on the project the sooner I would fail at it. I have no confidence in any house/homemaking projects, and was expecting that my first hit with the hammer would cause a small fire. I did ask someone to verify if the pine that I was looking at was untreated, and she said that it was.
My mom came down and shared her seeds and potato and onion starters with me, and since she is always my #1 source for gardening information and support, I thought since she did so much work to help me start my 2013 garden I could at least follow through and nail four boards together.
garden pre-work
So I did it! I was home alone with the baby, and during her nap time I got started. I took shop in middle school and still have a twelve-year-old girl’s understanding of how to build anything. I used every tool that has been gifted to me in the last 10 years. So, thanks, Dad, your investment in my skills has finally paid off. It was fun to use the drill for real.
Because I drilled the screw and nail holes first I even applied logic and stopped to make sure that the boards were facing the correct sides, which is something that I don’t normally do (think ahead when it involves important things). I’m glad that I was alone during the actual work because the methods that I used to nail four boards together were certainly incorrect, and definitely would make me the mayor of Dumb City (but, a FEMALE mayor. Take that, glass ceiling).
I am not going to give instructions for what I did because DO NOT take any advice from me re: woodworking. I’m pretty sure at one point I was holding a hammer in my mouth while I tried to balance two pieces of 1x4s. Still, I think it looks okay. It’s not ready to be made into a bed yet. Also, after I nailed the first layer of ground cloth (to keep out weeds) it occurred to me that the Lowes employee may have been wrong and I did buy treated wood. It wasn’t marked treated (like the other types) but it looks like Ikea bed slats. I guess there’s a good chance that I either instead just accidentally built the sandbox I have been thinking about building (for 2014) or I will poison my family with whatever we eat from the garden. But, again, NPR said Doomsday is coming up, so who cares?
Happy Spring, Everyone!
also I ruined her wading pool
Burgerphone 