Casie's birthday is this week and she's wanted a garden for some time... and now's a good time to start planting. We've planned a decent spot in the side yard, but the plan called for the construction of a retaining wall... which also meant clearing a lot of dirt, etc... but Monday (and a lack of fence boards) found me starting (and nearly finishing) the wall... materials off the truck by 11am and the last screw drilled at 6pm...
The wall is made of three stacked redwood posts (4X4), so it's about 12in tall (9, once we get pavers/gravel in), but it helps to level out the otherwise uneven yard and created a nice barrier. The first course of posts is anchored into the ground with several 1/2in rebar supports (drilled and pounded... I used 2 foot pieces, so they go a good 20in into the ground. The second course is bolted to the first with 1/4inX6in galvanized bolts and the top course is toe-screwed from the inside to the course below it... all in all creating a fastener-less-looking wall with some visual heft. I backfilled with a bit of left-over fence post mix (and instaled on a bit of paver-base), so hopefully it'll be stable. We also had lots of dirt left over from the front walkway dig-out (post to come), so we have some good backfill for the non-garden area.
This weekend will be plumbing for a drip irrigation system... and hopefully by Sunday (her bday), she'll be planting tomatoes.
Edit: Jeremy asked for more specific information... here goes.