Veggie Garden On My Deck

I'm pretty stoked about this year's adventure in gardening.  I have no idea if it will survive the summer, but at least we tried.  My goal was to use materials we had around the house, except for soil and seeds.  I wanted to build this because:

• I'm super absent-minded, and if a veggie garden has any chance of surviving, it needs to be in direct line of sight multiple times a day.
• Because of #1 above, I also wanted to add a water reservoir capability for when I do space out for a few days.
• We live in the country, and hopefully this will make it less likely that critters will get in and steal stuff.

Ours is a 2'x5' bed, and I decided what to plant using this amazing site.  (Seriously.  Amazing.). So here's how we made it happen...

1. We have a giant pile of scrap wood so first we had to wade through that.  Then we tidied up what was left.  Felt good for the soul!
2. Using some 1x12 for the walls and 4 decking boards (yes, pressure treated), we built a box. 
3. The we built a separate stand which was essentially 2x2 legs and 1x2 trim pieces.  This way when we go to move the box around it's less cumbersome.  
4. After setting it in the stand we realized that it needed 1x2 trim around the top as well for symmetry. (I mean, let's be serious, this is not fancy carpentry by any means.  Total hack job.  But even hacks have standards.)  The hubster then got the job of sanding before paint.  Step 4A included enlisting wee helpers to paint.  I forgot to put that picture in the collage, but you can see it below.
5. Next we added pipes to create a reservoir at the bottom.  I googled "self-watering planters" and then scoured pictures and articles to get a general understanding of the concept, then tweaked it for our situation.  I found this graphic to be the most helpful.  First step was to put thick rubber liner in (teal stuff - leftover from a shower project a few years ago).  We glued it using pond liner glue.  This keeps our dirt away from the pressure treated wood, and keeps the wood from rotting because it's in contact with damp soil all the time.  After that I drilled some holes in PVC pipes and laid them on the bottom.
6. Next we added woodblock fabric to keep the dirt out of the water and keep from clogging the pipe holes.  We pushed it down to the bottom in the center so that the soil will be down in the water and wick up to the roots above.  Is this the right way to go about it?  I don't know.  We think so, but...
7. Then I went slightly insane at the tool store getting soil and seeds.  SO MANY SEEDS!  SO LITTLE TIME!  I was so eager to do this project that I thought I would start from seeds instead of waiting to buy the starter plants in a few weeks.  It was a crazy project of remembering which seed was where (I did make a map), then it was too cold but they got big, so I put them in a flower box (indoors).  Then my cats attacked them, dug up a ton of the seedlings, and scattered dirt across my house.  Freaking cats.  Each seed packet was $1.60.  The plants cost $3.60.  Next time I'm buying the plants.
8. Fill the box with soil.
9. Create a trellis from wooden dowels, zip ties, and twine.
10. Plant seedlings.  Plant extra seeds so that you crowd your box because you aren't confident they will actually sprout.  (My plan is to pinch back extras eventually.)

Originally I was going to paint it white, but then we decided to make it blend in by using the Rustoleum 4X Restore porch paint we had leftover from last year.  Free paint is my favorite!

The view from my kitchen

My cute little veggie garden!