The Freshness of a Garden

I've always loved having a garden, but it hasn't always been practical. My house has no land, but it does have a nice deck.

Garden solution? Raised beds, of course.

My house is at 1600 feet elevation, and I don't like to work outside in the cold. So, I didn't get this started until the last week of May. But I talked to a local lady gardener who said she plants her pole beans every year on June 1st. I figured I'd give it a go, since it works for her.

I wish I had pics of the construction process, but I didn't think that far ahead. The boxes are basically made of 2x12's with 2x4's as supports for the bottom. The bottom itself is hardware cloth to aid with drainage so my plants don't get "wet feet."

The bottom layer is discarded straw from my son's sheep and goat barn. Then a layer of topsoil, which, frankly, has way too much bark and twigs in it, but it was what I could get at the time. Then a layer of compost and a top layer of soil. Vermiculite has also been mixed in to select areas.  Peat moss and soil from my son's farm will be added square by square. I'm not going to get an amazing yield the first year, but I'm a long term planner.