I bought two horse troughs from Tracker Supply store

I got something like this for our plot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Greenland-Gardener-42-in-x-42-in-Raised-Bed-Garden-Kit-105981/203139762?N=5yc1vZbx7c

Anonymous wrote:We would like to do this too - how do you keep the animals out? Any recommendations for books etc for brand newbies?

Depends on the animals.

If you have deer, well, you're in trouble. Deer can hop over an 8 foot fence, no problem. My neighbor uses Liquid Fence, which also helps keep bunnies out. Racoons are a problem I have no idea how to deal with, ditto gophers, which we've had in the past, but I think this bad winter might have killed off our gopher friend.

Liquid Fence:
http://www.liquidfence.com/Products/Natural-Animal-Repellents/Deer-and-Rabbit-Repellent.aspx

I bought these corners online from Gardener's Supply (they come in many sizes), and then bought lumber from Home Depot. Slipped the lumber into the corners, and that was it. Raised beds! Very easy to do, although I needed DH to help me put them together. Get untreated lumber, though, if you are growing vegetables, or cedar if you want it to last longer, but cedar is much more expensive, and not readily available in the right sizes.

http://www.gardeners.com/buy/raised-bed-corners/36-643VS.html?start=6&q=corners

I love the book One Magic Square
http://www.amazon.com/One-Magic-Square-Organic-3-Foot/dp/1615190120/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431708307&sr=1-1&keywords=One+Magic+Square

The book is full of information, but it's not fussy. She grows seeds in old toilet paper tubes, for example, uses old bottles for edging raised beds. She is very relaxed and tells readers not to worry about making mistakes, gardening is something you learn by doing. You can adapt her plans to gardens large and small.

Good Luck, OP! Having a vegetable garden is a great experience, and so much fun to eat what you grow!

We trash picked wooden drawers, popped out the bottoms, and then filled them with a Square Foot Gardening inspired soil mix. We have two 4x8' bed as well, but if you plant with high density then even 4' can feel too wide to weed / water / care.