Veggie gardens

Our native gardens have been coming along really well so I figured it was time to work on veggie beds

Here's the finished product

Often they recommend veg beds be made from hardwood - but the only sleepers I could find were 10cm thick - overkill for holding in soil.

The problem with regular Treated Pine sleepers is the arsenic used in the treatment. There are studies that say they are safe for use in veggie gardens - but a good alternative is ACQ (arsenic free) sleepers. We picked ours up from The Log Factory in Gosford. Even though they had to come from Gosford - after shipping they were still cheaper than buying locally.

The beds are 2.4m long and 1m wide - relatively small when it comes to veggie beds but they were built to fit the space. They were very easy to make - simply bolted together 4 sides, levelled it out and then put another frame of 4 on top. A nice weekend job.

Also - the ledge on the end of the beds will serve as extra seating for our outdoor area when we have large parties. I'll probably make up some cushions for them later on.

Now the next thing is to fill the beds and put a gravel path around them - no lawn as it's too tricky to mow in the walk ways.

A friend has great composted straw and manure at her stables in Palm Beach - just need to figure out a way to get it here! I'll have to start looking into ute and trailer hire (and get my shovelling shoulders and arms ready!)