Where Does Your Garden Grow? Make a Raised Bed Garden in a Pallet Crate

We have an evidently-fertile group (flock? pod? swarm?) of chipmunks, rabbits,  and squirrels in our yard, which has made it quite difficult for us to have a garden.  I have known that I needed to do a raised-bed garden, even though I know some of those suckers can climb, but I at least wanted to make it a bit more difficult for them to feast. I did not, however, want to spend money on wood. When our church did some renovations this spring, I saw my chance for a nearly-free raised garden when new tiles were delivered and came in the most sturdy-looking crates.

I asked my husband to bring a few of these home as they were emptied.
I decided to begin with three (but so wish I had a few more now).  We bought a roll of landscaping cloth at Home Depot*, along with some bags of gardening soil. Using the staple gun, I attached the landscaping cloth to the inside of the crates to line them, overlapping so that there were no spaces for the dirt to escape.  Once the landscaping cloth was attached securely, we poured the gardening soil in and planted some small vegetable plants such as tomatoes, squash, peppers, and zucchini.  I also decided to try my hand at planting some seeds (cukes and green onions). 

I wish I had a "just finished" picture, but, alas, I was not forward thinking.  Here are pics from this week, which is six weeks after planting.  

As you can see, the garden is thriving!  I have seen some places where the chipmunks or squirrels have been digging, but since I cut my sons' hair, I gathered up the results and scattered them around the outside of the crates to ward them off.  I have seen very little varmint activity since then. 

My first squash:

Not the same excitement as the birth of my children, but pretty exciting all-the-same!


*Update:  Mary Ann, a reader on the website Hometalk, suggested using pieces of cardboard and newspaper to line the pallets with.  Brilliant!  This would save the cost of the landscaping cloth AND would recycle materials that might otherwise go to the landfill.  She said to use cardboard to form a "frame" inside the pallet, then place several layers of cardboard on the bottom, wetting each layer as you go.  Follow this with several layers of newspaper, also wetting as you go.  This not only lines the crate, but also creates compost over time.  Thanks, Mary Ann!!