Camp Daddy Wood Shop

We are building skills, here at Camp Daddy, starting with woodworking. So we decided to construct a raised vegetable garden. Seems easy, right?

This was the perfect project for our limited attention spans. All we needed for this project was:

• 12 - 1" x 3" x 8' pine boards.

• 2 - 1"x 1" x 3' boards

• 20 - 3" x #10 wood screws

• 12 - bags organic soil

The steps were so simple they seemed to good to be true:

1. Cut four of the 8-foot boards in half.

2. Cut the 1" x 1" boards into 1 foot long pieces.

3. Use screws (nails will work too!) to connect two 8-foot boards and two 4-foot boards into a large rectangle. Repeat 4 times.

4. Stack the four frames and connect to the 1" x 1" x 1' strips in each corner and in the center of each long side of the rectangle.

5. Fill with soil.

6. Enjoy your garden!

Too good to be true

In reality, however, the steps of the process went something more like this:

Day One

1. Convince campers that they need a break from Legos.

2. Patiently explain our project.

3. Cut first 8-foot board in half.

4. Patiently explain our project again.

5. Take break for water because "it is soooo hot."

6. Cut second 8-foot board in half.

7. Kill two spiders discovered in garage.

8. Disarm campers engaged in sword fight with screw drivers.

9. Lunch break - answer various questions about "why are we doing this?"

10. Cut third 8-foot board in half.

11. Settle fight over tape measure by obtaining second tape measure from basement.

12. Answer "how much longer will this take?"

13. Find safety goggles which somehow migrated into the bathroom.

14. Cut last 8-foot board in half.

15. Negotiate rotation for Ethan and Noah between the "longer" tape measure and the shorter one.

16. Drill pilot holes in each 8-foot board while having various parts of my body measured by dueling tape measures. (Fun fact: I am told that the length of my head is either 3 or 17, while the width of my head is definitely 1.)

17. Begin to connect first frame with wood screws.

18. Use pliers to remove stripped screw from first frame.

19. Answer "how much longer will this take?"

20. Disarm campers engaged in light saber duel with extended tape measures.

21. Finish connecting first frame.

22. Kill additional spiders.

23. Insert screws for second frame.

24. Drill batteries are dead. Take break for night.

Day Two

1. Convince campers that they need a break from Legos.

2. Patiently explain our project.

3. Fill water bottles because "it is sooo hot."

4. Finish connecting second frame using wood screws.

5. Disarm camper wielding hammer.

6. Explain difference between nail and screw.

7. Patiently explain why we are using screws instead of nails.

8. Work out rotation for using drill.

9. Remove stripped screw.

10. Patiently explain why we are using screws instead of nails again.

11. Explain "Daddy should not have said that word in front of you."

12. Send kids inside to watch TV.

13. Connect remaining frames using nails.

14. Stack the four frames and connect to the 1" x 1" x 1' strips in each corner and in the center of each long side of the rectangle using wood screws, nails, glue, duct tape, or twine.

15. OPTIONAL STEP: Paint or decorate. Blood and tears add artistic flair to your project.

16. Fill with soil.

17. Let weeds take over in new soil.

18. Act like this project never happened.

Noah carrying one of the frames from the garage to their final location in the back yard.