The first step was to dig out the 4 x 8 rectangles, which meant digging up the sod. They looked quite nice and rectangular, until we put the boxes in, lol. But that's ok.

We substituted even more stuff to try to get the Cheap Version of the Ultimate Raised Bed even cheaper. We are actually doing 4 beds, but one is for our downstairs neighbors, and they wanted to do the work of double digging deeper than we did, and making their bed half the height of ours, which saved money on that bed. The original plans also called for 4x4 posts stuck into the ground, which we substituted with 2x4 sections, and they didn't need to be long enough to stick in the ground (where is the bed going to go?).

In the end, here were the costs of four 4x8 bed frames from stuff we picked up from Home Depot (these are Canadian prices):
Two 2x4x8 = $4
Twenty-one 2x6x96 Spruce = $62
Two 1x10 pvc = $8
Steel strap for the pipe = $3
Screws = $5

TOTAL = $82
Per box = $20.50

That's significantly cheaper than $75! The one thing we didn't get yet was the hoops for the hoop frames - we just installed their pipe holders inside the box. The most expensive part is the dirt.. we bought 4 1/2 yards of garden soil bulk and had it trucked in which cost $300. Three boxes are 12 inches high, and one is 6 inches high, plus we have some pots to fill but all in all, each box cost about $75 for dirt, which is about what I estimated before. But instead of $600 we only spent $382 so we got one of those nice black compost bins too.





The 2x4's were cut into 12 inch sections, and some of the 2x6s into 4' sections for the ends of the boxes. We needed eight 4' and sixteen 12 inch sections. The 12 inch sections were then screwed onto the 8 foot sections.



Then the 8 foot sides were added. They were built upside down and some of the 2x4x8' support lengths were actually a bit longer, but it didn't really matter once the box was flipped and set in the right spot, which is why the corner post sticks out.





Lastly the PVC pipe was screwed on. We cut 12 inch sections and put 3 on each side of the box. Then the box was flipped over and set into the bed.

Repeat 3 more times, and there's our garden! We still have plans to mulch around the sides for little pathways, and we would like to get the hoops and put up some bird netting, but first we'll worry about getting planted first.