Raising the Garden

If anyone remembers the video I made last summer of our garden will remember that it resembled a wasteland.  I have removed the video because I was afraid I might be charged with cruelty to garden plants.  It was sad to see the poor little things starve to death in the thin excuse for soil we have around here.

This year, however, will be different.  I hauled a bunch of poles from the bush this Spring and assembled them into my version of raised beds.  I cut the ends so they fit together, drilled one inch holes through the end cuts and inserted short lengths of aluminum pipe I had kicking around to hold them in place.  We now have one six-by-ten and two four-by-ten foot  raised beds.  We bought three yards of good topsoil to fill them.  Diane planted peas and swiss chard already. 

Raised beds are such a great way to garden.  You don't have to bend down so far, plantings can be closer together so they are more productive and it's easier to control weeds.   Since you walk around them you don't compact the soil. It's not a big garden by any means but with close plantings and succession crops we hope it will help us in our quest to be self-sufficient in food by Thanksgiving.

If all goes well our little plants won't die of starvation this year... and neither will we.