2012 - The Raised Bed

Our garden bed is RAISED!   We filled it with our previously removed 'clay muck' and used it as the base mixed with old leaves and garden debris from the butterfly garden.  We then filled it in with ten cubic feet Garden Soil.  For the past two days it has been raining and I have not put the seeds in for growing.  I plan on doing so Friday.  I am still working a plan on where all the plants will best suit the garden.  The space seems so small in person, but on paper, it seems it can hold a lot more.

I am also figuring a path for around the garden to keep from having to mow the area and stomp around in the mud while working in the garden for weeds and other care.  The next consideration is how to put up a deer fence around the area and a way to keep other small critters from eating our food.  The competition is fierce here.  I am going to put a drip system in as well, if I can find the system at the store.  I looked, but didn't ask for help.  I have seen it at the store before.  I wanted to get that and put it in with a digital timer to ensure the plants get the right amount of water in the summer and not have the water sitting on the leaves evaporating.  Money is also out, so a lot of this will have to wait until more money comes in to pay for the new tools.  I did buy a long hose to reach around the patio and allow for easier water retrieval in the hot days.  Right now it sits on the other side of the A/C unit and is very difficult to pull out of the housing that rolls up the hose while it is not in use.  Eventually, I will have that new hose connect to the drip system.  What I really would like is a rain barrel to catch the rain water and wouldn't have to use so much city water.
 

The Green Onion, Spearmint, Lemon Balm, and Oregano sit and wait to be planted.  They are troopers.  Hang in there!

The path for the butterfly garden and the area around the raised bed.  I am contemplating a mulch path to wrap around the raised bed.  The two flowers I planted on the curve of the path will have to move to make room for the mulch path.  I hope I can keep them alive.

While working on the raised bed as Evan was breaking up the dirt, I cleaned out the butterfly garden and put all the debris in the bed to be stirred into the new dirt.  I added mulch and it looks great now!  It's a real flower bed!

Our raised bed is filled and now waits for the seeds and plants to grow!

Pixie and Panda had a tiring day as the sun was pretty intense, but they enjoyed their day outside.

This was one of our new toys.  It is awesome for breaking up the 'clay muck'.  It gets in there and twists and turns and makes it so nice for leveling a path or stirring our dirt in the new raised bed.  We got it at Home Depot.  Lowe's was out of stock, but I think this one will be much better than the one that Lowe's had.  It is an all metal handle attached with a solid weld to hold it to the base and the points are not super sharp, but are adequate for turning the soil.