- 1). Locate a well-ventilated, well-draining vegetable bed, protected from prevailing winds and that has primarily morning sunlight and at least eight to 12 hours of total sunlight daily.
- 2). Mark the perimeter of the raised vegetable bed with wood stakes and string.
- 3). Cut away existing vegetation at ground level with a saw or garden shears, and then dig up the roots with a pitchfork and dispose of them.
- 4). Amend the existing vegetable bed soil by tilling it to a depth of 4 to 6 inches and adding approximately one-third organic material or perlite.
- 5). Dig a trench approximately 12 inches deep and 16 inches wide that follows the string marking off the vegetable bed’s perimeter. Make the trench’s bottom level and the sides straight up and down.
- 6). Pour a footing of quick-mix concrete approximately to the trench’s top. Trowel the top of the footing smooth. Wet the concrete daily and allow it to cure for three to four days.
- 7). Trowel mortar for approximately 3 feet on top of the footing along one side of the vegetable bed. Place a brick on one end on top of and along the center of the footing. Press the brick gently into the mortar so that approximately one-half inch of mortar remains between the brick and the footing.
- 8). Tap the brick with the trowel to set it evenly. Scrape off the mortar squeezed from between the bricks. Apply mortar to the side of the brick and continue to build the first layer of the wall. Build the wall to a height of 8 to 12 inches.
- 9). Fill the bricked-in vegetable bed with a soil mixture of one-third each of sandy loam clay soil, perlite and organic material such as tree bark or mature compost.
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