Raised Bed Gardens: A family affair
It was such a lovely day today, that our whole family spent the morning outdoors working on the new raised bed gardens!
There was a bit of work done in advance, in terms of clearing space! But for the most part, this whole project was started around 10am and completed by 1pm!
Further evidence of work done to clear the area!
Have I ever mentioned how overgrown this whole area was when we bought the house?
For a refresher, click here.
Mr. DD started with 6, 2x12 planks of pressure treated wood, and quickly turned them into 2, 4'x5' beds and 1, 4'x4' bed.
Once the frames were constructed, we stapled chicken wire to what will be the underside of the boxes. This should help to keep any little critters from digging under and up into our gardens.
Flipped over and in it's new resting spot.
Our daughter was a big help - as always!
One of my books suggested applying wet newspaper as a first layer. This will ensure nothing grows up from the ground below and also adds a nice composting layer.
(The wetting part is really just to keep the paper in place)
Next, we added 2-3 wheel barrows of soil per bed.
Again, our helper ensured that this would be a smooth process!
Then we added a layer to each box from the composter that I started last summer.
So excited to actually use it after all these months!
To read more about how I am making composting work for me, click here.
Once the compost was tilled in, we added another 1-2 wheel barrows of soil to each box.
Here they are all filled up and looking ready for some plantings!
We left about a 18" between each box for easy access to all sides.
The view from my kitchen!
Future plans include a chicken wire fence surrounding the entire garden.
And of course, doing a bit of planting and growing.
Until next time,