Our Kitchen Garden

There’s something magical about stepping outside to harvest fresh vegetables, herbs, or even flowers right from your backyard. But when I set out to create our garden, I wanted more than just utility—I wanted it to feel designed, balanced, and beautiful. Almost like an outdoor room that we’d love spending time in as a family.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how we planned, built, and finished our raised garden bed garden. From leveling the ground to adding the final trellis, every detail mattered. If you’d like the step-by-step building guide with measurements and cut list instructions, I’ve created a DIY Raised Garden Bed Tutorial you can grab here:

👉 Get the Raised Garden Bed Tutorial

Step 1: Planning the Layout

Before picking up a single tool, we started with a plan. Layout is everything—it’s what makes a garden functional and enjoyable to use.

Here’s the layout we designed for our raised beds:

We chose four large 4.5’ x 4.5’ beds as the anchors of the design, surrounded by smaller squares for herbs, flowers, and quick crops like lettuce. This gave us a total of 81 square feet of raised bed growing space.

Our goals were:

  • Accessibility: 3-foot-wide walkways for wheelbarrows, watering cans, and little helpers.
  • Balance: Symmetry between large anchor beds and paver walkway
  • Productivity: Enough space for vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers.
  • Beauty: A layout that feels intentional, almost like a garden “room.”
Step 2: Preparing the Space

A big mistake I see people make is plopping beds down on uneven ground and calling it done. We wanted this garden to last, so we treated the prep work like we were laying the foundation for an outdoor kitchen or patio.

Here’s what we did:

  1. Leveled the area to ensure all beds and walkways sat evenly.
  2. Added stone and gravel for drainage and to discourage weeds.
  3. Installed pavers down the central walkway—this gave us a sturdy path that’s both practical and beautiful.
  4. Framed everything with mulch beds around the edges, which softened the look and tied the whole design together.

This step transformed the space from “patch of yard” into a structured garden that feels permanent and polished.

Unleveled Layout
Leveled Layout
Step 3: Building the Raised Beds

For the beds themselves, we built 18” tall boxes from 1×6 boards cut to size. Each large bed measures 4.5’ x 4.5’, while the smaller ones add visual rhythm.

Material choices: Cedar is naturally rot-resistant and beautiful, though pricier.

If you’d like the step-by-step building guide with measurements and cut list instructions, I’ve created a DIY Raised Garden Bed Tutorial you can grab here:

👉 Get the Raised Garden Bed Tutorial

For sealing the cedar, we used EcoWood Treatment (1 Part EcoWood / 5 Part Water).

Step 4: Filling the Beds

Soil is where the magic happens. Instead of filling beds with plain topsoil, we used a layered method (sometimes called “lasagna gardening”):

  • Base layer: Hay or straw bales to improve drainage and add organic matter as they decompose.
  • Middle layer: A mix of topsoil and mushroom compost for nutrients.
  • Top layer: A lighter garden mix with perlite for aeration and root health.

This combination ensures plants have everything they need: good drainage, fertility, and oxygen.

Step 5: The Finishing Touch — Adding a Trellis

The last detail we added was a simple cedar trellis, and honestly, it was the element that changed everything.

The trellis adds vertical interest, frames the space, and provides a place for climbing vegetables like cucumbers or beans. Over time, as plants fill in, it creates a cozy, enclosed feeling—a little secret garden tucked into our backyard.

If you’re designing your own space, don’t underestimate one vertical feature (a trellis, arbor, or even climbing roses). It’s often the piece that takes the garden from practical to beautiful.

Step 6: Design Meets Lifestyle

For us, this garden isn’t just about growing food—it’s about creating a place to live life.

I imagine the kids picking cherry tomatoes straight off the vine, filling baskets with herbs for dinner, or running down the paver walkway barefoot in summer. I picture gathering zinnias and dahlias for the kitchen table, or sipping coffee in the evening while checking on the beans climbing the trellis.

That’s why we designed it this way. It’s not only a functional garden—it’s a family space, a source of beauty, and a rhythm in our daily life.

Step 7: Want to Build Your Own?

If you’re inspired to create something similar, I’ve bundled everything into a DIY Raised Garden Bed Tutorial:

👉 Shop the tutorial here

Inside, you’ll find:

  • Exact cut lists + supply checklist
  • Printable visuals
  • Designed for longevity and style

It’s the resource I wish I had when I started—so you can skip the guesswork and get straight to building.

Materials We Used
Tools We Used
Wrap-Up

Building our raised bed garden was more than a weekend project—it was the start of something lasting. By planning the layout, preparing the foundation, and adding finishing touches like the trellis, we created a garden that feels like an extension of our home.

Now the fun begins: planting, harvesting, and enjoying the space as a family.

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