Needing some ideas for a waist-high raised bed.

[odd_duck99]

Just had to put this out there... but you don't HAVE to build them all at once. You could build how ever many you can afford - that way you (or the wife ) want them, then add more as you can. That way you avoid having to build them all over again with better materials, or when you start using them and realize the design is flawed, or when you wish you had done it *that* way, etc.

 

[Joel_BC]

The set-up that moolie posted a picture of looks useful, as a way of starting to visualize something. I'd think about some kind of strapping (1x4 boards, or whatever) underneath, then sitting atop that a layer of stucco wire (or something similar), and then above this something like landscape cloth (or Tyvec with punched holes). The stucco wire has some body to it - and this way, with the strapping and the stucco wire, you'd have some support for the cloth-like material that will hold the soil in. But it will still drain, which you'd want.

You'd have to replace wood 1x4 every few years, because due to contact with soil suspended in drain water, it's going to slowly rot. Flat steel would last longer, though obviously would rust. Flat aluminum stock could be good, if you could find it.

Possibly you could find the understructure reinforcement, the stucco wire, and the landscape cloth from salvage. Still, in the quantity you're likely to require, I don't think it would be a substantial investment to acquire these materials new (if you bought 1x4 for the strapping). But only you know what you can afford.

 

[sleuth]

Thanks for the ideas everybody. Keep'em coming.
Everything is still on paper.

Right now my most affordable option seems to be pallets with the sfg frames on top of them. I'll just have to build legs for them.

 

[Joel_BC]

Right now my most affordable option seems to be pallets with the sfg frames on top of them. I'll just have to build legs for them.

Often pallets have the slats close together enough that they could substitute for the strapping idea I posted before. I'd think that landscape cloth or Tyvec above the pallets might work, though depending on the pallet (and how close the slats in the upper surface actually are), your set-up might still benefit from stucco wire. Just my thoughts.

 

[chickenjoe]

How about some plastic or metal barrels cut in half lenght wise.