"Several issues ago you had a story about a reader who made a raised garden bed from an old bale elevator. I wanted to show your readers the raised garden beds I made out of some scrap lumber I had laying around," says Steve Ten Dolle, Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

"The beds measure 8 ft. long by 4 ft. wide and they're 10 in. deep. They stand about 4 ft. high on legs made from old telephone poles. I put landscape fabric at the bottom of each bed to hold in the soil, then filled them with dirt from our neighbor's cow yard. Because they're off the ground, they warm up faster and also dry out faster. They're perfect for early season planting of radishes, lettuce and peas, or any early planting crop.

"Total cost of the project was only for the landscaping fabric. The rest was scrap. They're working so well they'll probably be joined by a couple more in the backyard next year," says Ten Dolle.