1. Beautiful Wood

Cedar is beautiful and smells great. Plus, there are so many grain and color variations in cedar that every box we build is unique. This combination makes a beautiful complimentary piece to gardens. And the smell….often the wonderful smell of cedar is the first comment folks make when walking into our workshop.

2. Natural and Durable

We love that cedar is a natural product. Many pressure-treated wood products are actually treated with chemicals, some of which could find their way into adjacent soil. Cedar doesn’t require this type of pressure treatment for its durability. Cedar is known to have longevity in outdoor conditions. It is durable and thrives in damp climates (perfect for a garden!). It’s lightweight but stable with a high decay resistance.

3. Stays Cool

Cedar won’t overheat the soil and roots of your plants on hot summer days. Cedar stays cooler than many other garden box materials as it doesn’t absorb much heat, even on very hot days. That is a benefit to Idahoans with our hot summers!

4. Natural Repellent

Cedar is a natural repellent to pests. The oil and natural chemicals in cedar wood is known to control ants, moths, mosquitoes, and termites. Cedar has even been known to repel mice and snakes. Cedar oil is actually sold as a natural pest control solution. And, it doesn’t negatively impact pollinators, which is so important to the growth of our plants.

5. Sustainable Harvesting

Cedar is able to be harvested using sustainable practices. Our suppliers are certified in using sustainable methods for managing and harvesting cedar. They support sustainable forestry practices on forestland they manage, and promote it on other lands.   We appreciate these practices and work hard ourselves to use byproducts from our building in ways that eliminates almost all of our waste.  This, to us, is a big win for everyone.

We hope you see the value in investing in 100% cedar raised garden boxes. Reach out to us with any questions, to talk about cedar or our products, or to place your order today!

The post Why We Use Cedar Wood first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

I didn’t grow up gardening. My family didn’t garden and it wasn’t encouraged in my youth. I happened upon growing my own plants after stomach issues had me rethinking the food I was eating. Once I started growing a few of my own vegetables, I was hooked! I didn’t start small with just a few plants….not my style. Instead, I somehow managed to plant a little bit of every vegetable I thought I could grow into a newly cleared spot in our backyard. By the end of that first summer, I was overwhelmed trying to figure out why the tomato plants weren’t producing fruit, keeping animals out of the garden after they successfully ate all my beans, and running out to water daily so the plants wouldn’t die. Still, I produced enough to find it worth my while. Soon, I started learning about vegetables that complement each other, how much heat and/or cold many types of vegetable plants liked, and the need for regular watering and feeding, among many other things. I learned so many lessons my first couple of years, and continue to do so many years later.

Raised Garden Boxes

Four years ago, we moved from our large piece of property into a house closer to town with an average size backyard surrounded by fences on all sides. As excited as we were to live with the conveniences of being closer to town, I was quite unsure how my gardening adventures would continue. Enter a wonderful company, Gold Feather Gardens. Jamie Brennan, Founder and CEO, was just starting her kitchen garden consulting business, using raised garden boxes in her garden designs, and I loved this, new-to-me, idea of gardening vertically to use less ground space. As it turns out, our much smaller yard combined with my continued desire to grow a wide variety of vegetables ended up to be a perfect fit for us.

Mike loved the idea, too, and promptly started learning about building raised garden boxes. While designing our garden space, Mike did a great job researching and through many iterations working on different sizes and shapes, we finally decided on a variety that worked for our garden space. Once constructed and installed, we added trellises to help with the vertical growth (and therefore much more growing space) of our smaller footprint in the back corner of our yard.

Working with Gold Feather Gardens combined with all our planning and research paid off! Our garden exploded with so many vegetables that first year and we were inspired to do more. After sharing our raised garden box growing success with many interested neighbors and family members, we started building garden boxes for them. Word got out and people noticed the quality of the product we were building. We slowly expanded by selling our garden boxes to customers all throughout the Treasure Valley area and selling to a few D&B Supply stores.

Today, we continue to grow our business organically and still operate as a family-run shop. We now sell our raised garden boxes at all the D&B Supply stores, North End Organic Nursery (NEON), and through many garden landscape contractors who also recognize the value of incorporating garden boxes into their yard designs. We continue to share success stories, now coming from our customers’ garden successes.

Backyard gardening is now our livelihood, and we are so grateful our path led us here. For more information on our raised garden boxes, submit an order request or contact us today!

The post Our Journey to Garden Boxes first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

When I first found garden boxes, I was skeptical about getting the variety and the yield I wanted. I thought this small space couldn’t possibly do what I wanted. Oh, was I wrong! Planting for vertical growth changed everything for me.

Top reasons why I fell in love with raised garden boxes:

1. Less garden space needed
2. Control over the soil
3. Flexible garden space
4. Year-round gardening

Let’s dive into the details…

Less Garden Space Needed

The yield is fantastic for this small space. I wasn’t looking for the same size yield as my last garden so I was surprised at how much I could actually grow. When growing vertically, you are adding additional space to your garden. So, when growing melons, for example, you can leave inches rather than feet between the plants as the wandering plants will grow up the trellises rather than spread across the ground. In my humble estimation, I’ve tripled the size of my garden in raised garden boxes vs. the ground footprint I’d need for comparable growth.

Control Over the Soil

Another great benefit is I control exactly what dirt and fertilizers go into these boxes. This gives me control of what goes into my fruits and vegetables, and ultimately what goes into my family’s bodies!

Flexible Garden Space

My raised garden boxes fit within my existing yard so I can grow what I’d like without having to change the landscape design. I have an open space where I put a group of garden boxes, some connected by trellises to provide that vertical growth. I also utilize the smaller spaces throughout my yard where I want to place small planter boxes for herbs, “space invader plants“, and flowers to attract more bees.

Year-Round Gardening

Using raised garden boxes incentivizes me to extend the green and beauty of the garden by gardening year-round. I can have better control over the temperature of the soil by using box covers at night when the temperature drops lower than the plants like and using the trellises to provide natural shade. I love the look of the raised garden boxes in my yard with the beautiful, simple trellises going from box to box. Walking through any garden is always relaxing, so add in greenery covered trellises to walk under and it feels like a garden wonderland!

For all these reasons, raised garden boxes have been a great choice for me and I can’t believe I haven’t tried them until now!

The post Why I Chose Raised Garden Boxes first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

First, I check the irrigation in the box to make sure everything is I good working order. Most repairs are as simple as popping off and replacing a new hose or replacing an end cap that has popped off.

Next, I loosen up the soil by running a hand rake through it, then add more soil, if needed. Normally, I try to keep my soil level 3-4” from the top. You can see this one needs soil.

I then mix in a good, general organic fertilizer with the soil. I prefer to use a liquid seaweed here as it provides so many good nutrients.

Then, I let the box sit for a couple of weeks while I design my next season of planting.

I read a lot of garden books, but my go to is one my kids gave me several years ago. I’ve recently seen this and other great gardening books at some D&B Supply stores.

Among other things, it provides advice on what NOT to plant after certain vegetables. Some veggies just don’t get along well with others and require different amounts of shade and nutrients. I’ve learned the value of this over the years.

Before I start planting, I check the box to see if it needs any maintenance. This one needs a coat of raw linseed oil, so I’ll take care of that, too, while the bed is resting. The oil provides a nice protective coating on the boxes to help them better withstand weathering over time and keeps their pretty cedar coloring.

It doesn’t take a great deal of time, just a little patience to prepare for a successful fall garden.

The post Fall Preparation first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

There are many options for staining. When choosing to stain or seal your boxes, please pay attention to leaching not so pleasant chemicals into the soil. This can be reduced or eliminated by lining the boxes with a good commercial grade landscape fabric after staining or sealing, keeping the stain or sealant on the outside of the beds, and using natural sealant options with fewer harmful chemicals. I’ve had luck with the following options.

Raw Linseed Oil

Raw linseed oil is a safe option that was used for years prior to the use of synthetic sealers. Raw linseed oil is inexpensive, easy to apply with a brush, and is readily available. You can also find organic versions. The downside is the drying time for this product, sometimes taking a few weeks to completely dry. Be aware that there is a large difference between the raw and boiled forms of linseed oil. Although boiled will dry faster, this version containing potentially toxic chemicals that are added during the boiling process.

Beeswax and Jojoba Oil Wood Conditioner

You may also create your own wood sealer. The best recipe I’ve found uses a beeswax and jojoba or
mineral oil.

In a double boiler, melt 4 ounces of beeswax. Once melted, remove from heat and immediately stir in 16 ounces of mineral oil. If the wax hardens before the mixture is completely combined, melt again, removing from heat immediately upon melting. Once completely stirred together, store in a container with a lid. Apply with a brush and allow to dry for several hours. A second coat may then be applied, as needed.

Before using either option, be sure to test in an inconspicuous spot on the garden box first.

Enjoy your cedar garden boxes!

The post Staining Your Cedar Garden Boxes first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

All good questions.  Here are some items to consider:

Sizes

If you are accessing from one side, consider how far you can reach into a bed of fully grown vegetables to pick all the ripe veggies. In this situation, I recommend no more than a 3’ width, preferably 2- 2 1/2 ‘. Accessing from one side is beneficial when the bed is positioned close to a fence, house, or at the edge of a garden space.

You can access your beds from one (long) side or both sides. Both are great practices.

If you are planning to maintain your garden from both sides, a wider bed could be used with greater ease. I have some 4’ wide beds and can easily reach to the middle from either side of the bed.

Side note: If you are planting in the winter, you will want to plant about 6” in from the side to protect from frost. I use my larger beds in the winder for this reason.

Spacing between beds

Simply put, compost and dirt are heavy! To help, having enough room between your beds to fit a wheelbarrow or other utility tool to assist with moving this stuff can save you a lot of extra work. I have a minimum of 42” between my beds and could almost use a little more space.

When spacing, please also consider irrigation. Your beds have the potential of producing a great amount of flora. With this, water is required. Make it easy on yourself by putting your beds in a spot where you can easily access your water supply.

Single or multiple beds

Both plans work great. There is no wrong answer. When planting, there are some plants who don’t like being next to each other. Just be sure to accommodate those nuances. I’ve opted for many beds, from 4’x6’ and 2’x8’ to 4’x2’ and have arranged them in an aesthetically pleasing way. I had a smaller square space to work with and wanted to make it fun. I also like to plant a single type of vegetable in some of my smaller beds and let them go wild (tomatillos and tomatoes were numerous in our household this year using this method). We’ve also built several 16’ beds for folks with the available space and they are absolutely beautiful.

Height

I’ve seen incredibly beautiful beds with a very low profile. The 12” tall beds work well for them as the growing plants don’t block other views in their yard.

I use 24” beds for a few purposes…..first, our dog. The taller beds are not bothered by our Baxter and his puppy friends that visit on occasion. Next, I like controlling the dirt as the dirt in our yard is sooo hard. We also use our garden to beautify our backyard and just like the look of the taller bed.

Designing a garden can be daunting, but first deciding how you want to use it really helps to form the vision. And, you can break it down into steps and build it up over time. Enjoy the process!

Please contact us for more information on custom bed sizes.

The post What’s the right garden bed size for me? first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.

Welcome to Silver Saw Wood Products!

We are a small garden box manufacturer supplying boxes, beds, and planters to the Treasure Valley and surrounding communities. Our passion is bringing beauty to people’s land. And, we’re glad you’re joining us.

Cedar is an amazing wood. It is naturally resilient to the elements, so it tends to last longer with less maintenance. Cedar is a type of coniferous wood that can have beautiful lines of pink, purple and reddish hues, and a wonderful smell. I love walking into our workshop at the start of the day and smelling the wonderful fresh scent of cedar.

Our beds our made using 100% cedar wood and we love the finished look of a cedar product. Our beds are also created using high quality deck screws, not nails, to provide additional durability. Please view our website for more information about Silver Saw Wood Products and the work we do.

Interested in more information?  Please contact us with questions on your future garden beds for your space.

The post Welcome to Silver Saw Wood Products first appeared on Silver Saw Wood Products.