Done!

We finished the raised garden bed today! I had previously bought Easy Gardener 7-by-100 foot deer netting (cost: less than $20). We do have deer wandering the neighborhood and I'm not about to lose my vegetables to them (and hopefully also not the squirrels, rabbits, or birds). I opted just to wrap the netting around the bed rather than cover the top because I want the bees to still be able to get in. The netting feels kinda flimsy, but I'm really happy with how easy it was to install and the fact that it is pretty much invisible. Eric attached it to the posts with little horseshoe tacks, leaving one side open. On that side, there are nails so I can hook the netting over them to keep the bed enclosed and easily unhook it when I want to get in.

As you can see in the photo, I laid 1x1 foot stepping stones down the center of the bed so I'd have somewhere to walk without stepping on the plants on either side. (The stepping stones were left over from an unfinished project from last summer that is moving back up to the top of my to-do list now that this garden bed is finished).

I hope this wasn't premature, but I went ahead and planted some of the seeds I started. The peas were growing much too fast to have no trellis so they were first in the ground. The "trellis" is just more of the cedar 1x2s I bought to wrap the deer netting around, cut down into stakes and strung with more deer netting. In front of the peas are two lettuce plants that made it through the winter in my greenhouse.

Eric snaked the sprinkler under the netting to water everything. Works great! I think we're both very happy with the result. And glad it's done! Now hopefully everything will grow!