In this project I built a standing raised bed. We planted food bearing plants in it (strawberries, etc.) and wanted something which was off the ground to deter pests from eating the food. This is how I turned out, I am pretty happy with how it turned out and have had it for three years now.

Building the standing raised garden bed was pretty simple.

1. Build the legs: I wanted the bed to last a long time so I used thick legs. I used four by fours, which I cut to 5 feet high.
2. Add supports to the legs for the flooring: I cut two 2 x 4s for each side. I screwed them into the legs, making sure that the support boards would be the same height on both sets of legs.
3. Add additional support: Since dirt is heavy I wanted to add additional support boards for the flooring. I added two 2 x 4s, which you see in the photo.
4. Add the garden bed flooring: I added the garden bed flooring. I used thick boards (the same thickness as the 2 x 4) again as the dirt would be a lot of weight and I wanted this to last a long time.
5. Add the sides: I added the sides next. These boards were not as thick as the 2 x 4 (they were about half an inch thick) as they would have less weight pushing on them than the flooring.
6. Paint everything: Lastly I painted everything. I used a water based paint, since this would be holding food. If I could do it again I wouldn’t have painted the inside of the garden bed where the dirt is, as the paint could potentially leach into the soil and then leach into the food. However, I did paint the inside but later learned that wasn’t the best idea.

Either way, I really liked this project. We use this regularly and have not had any issues with animals eating the food we are growing.

Below is a video which provides more details: